Theatre-to-DVD release time for films shrinking

Aditya Kohli, a finance professional with a multinational firm in Mumbai, was thrilled to see the DVDs and VCDs of a new movie LSD (Love, Sex Aur Dhoka) on a bookstore shelf recently.

Kohli, who had read rave reviews of the movie, wasn’t able to catch the film on the big screen as he was travelling overseas.

“I was told that new film DVDs/VCDs hit the market after 2-3 months of the theatrical release. When I saw the original copies of LSD at the store I just picked it up. I must say, the film is brilliant,” he said.

The film’s DVD and VCD are being priced at Rs 149 and Rs 69, respectively.

The home video products (DVD/VCD) of LSD were released by Moser Baer Entertainment.

G Dhananjayan, chief executive of film business for Moser Baer Entertainment, told DNA that the home video products of LSD were released within 10 days from the theatrical release.

“LSD is the second movie that we have experimented with. The first one was Hide N Seek,” said Dhananjayan.

The gap between theatrical and home video releases is likely to get shorter in the near future, experts say.

However, the media and entertainment fraternity feels there is still some time for the industry to move to simultaneous releases of theatrical and home video products.

According to a trade analyst, the same day release on home video cannot become reality yet as theatrical revenues still contribute significantly to a film’s success. “Most theatrical distributors ask producers to hold back home video release and the time frame ranges 4-8 weeks of the theatrical release depending on the film’s business potential. Hence the gap will continue though it may get reduced, particularly with low budget movies,” said the trade analyst.

Theatres contribute 50-60% of the revenue of a film and it is a general perception that early release of a film on home video can cannibalise the theatrical release.

That’s why the release date of a particular film on home video is decided by the producer, distributor and exhibitor.

For instance, films like the Shah Rukh Khan starrer My Name Is Khan (MNIK) or the Aamir Khan starrer 3 Idiots hitting the home video market within a couple of weeks of their theatrical release would be a big trend setter.

The DVDs/VCDs of both the movies haven’t been released even after couple of months of their release in theatres, particularly 3 Idiots which premiered in January.

Industry sources said that Big Home Video is looking to launch MNIK DVDs/VCDs after the April 16 while 3 Idiots will be available on home video in May-June.

Hiren Gada, director, Shemaroo Entertainment Pvt Ltd, said the early home video release helps capture legitimate revenues and bridge the losses suffered due to piracy.

“The strategy works in some cases particularly the non-blockbuster movies and low-budget movies. It could become a larger trend if the blockbusters start seeing a home video release in that timeframe. This approach will lead to incremental revenues of about 25%,” Gada said.

Earlier, same day release was pursued by distributors during the VHS tape days. It had to be discontinued owing to increasing pressure from the filmexhibitors.

This led to widening of the gap between theatrical and home video release, an opportunity pirates used to mint a lot of money.
The gap continued even after DVD/VCD wiped out the VHS tape format.

This phase only increased the earning of the pirates, thereby forcing distributors to narrow the home video release date from two years to a year and eventually six months.

“The timeframe now has thus been reduced to a couple of weeks and less with a select few titles,” said a senior entertainment company official.