When small is Bountiful

Amit Khanna

The battle for minds and wallets will only grow with technology-triggering convergence

Life is changing fast in the 21st century. In spite of political conflicts and economic wars, we are truly a global society today. With 3 billion phones, 2 billion TVs and 1 billion PCs, never before has the world been so interconnected. We are networked, yes, but not homogenised. There are some totemic symbols of universal acceptability: transnational brands, food, clothes, music and movies.

However, there is an interesting twist to this. While we are virtually flooded with various options to engage our minds, a disturbing trend is emerging. An increasingly pan-global world is witnessing a rise in ethnocentricity and parochialism. This is reflected in our media options. There is a flurry of customised, segmented media addressing specific communities -demarcated along ethnic, economic, political and even gender lines. 

I have often said that we are living in an 'attention economy', which in itself is a result of the advent of a Digital Age. However, we are moving from instant gratification to constant gratification of all our senses. In this transition, stressed out and deprived, we are creating new avenues for expending our leisure even as traditional forms of entertainment like stage, films and even TV are reinventing themselves. Sifting through cyber chaff, one thing becomes apparent: digital intervention in almost all aspects of our life is irrevocable. The consumer has a wider choice of not only content but also of means of access.

The much anticipated digital convergence is ubiquitous. From mobile multi-media devices, which have streaming audio-video, to digital theatres, it is all there to experience right here in India.

Technology and innovation always play an interchangeable role in society. Like other economic factors, they too are cyclical. As a recent  PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report says, "Entertainment and media (E&M) spending in BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries will account for 24 per cent of global growth in the sector during the next five years with increase at a 14.7 per cent CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) reaching a figure of $2 trillion."

The rapid evolution of digital technologies is compelling media companies to reinvent themselves. Who would have imagined even five years ago that three Indian companies -Eros, UTV and Television Eighteen -would between themselves raise $300 million at AIMS (a London-based stock exchange) to produce movies! The first signs of scaling up are already visible as we slowly try to create large integrated media companies. There will be some consolidation and some burnouts in this sector too. But Indian entertainment is compelling the world to see and listen to our films and music, to read our books and newspapers, to savour our foods and festivals.

India's growing economic power together with its socio-cultural diversity and young demographics makes it a media and entertainment paradise. Amidst all its divisive heterogeneity, its passion for films and cricket is unique. Just recently, we have seen the Tamil superstar Rajnikanth create almost mass hysteria with his film Sivaji: The Boss. From Amitabh Bachchan to earlier matinee idols like Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, and Raj Kapoor or regional superstars NTR and MGR the tradition of stardom continues unabated today, compounded more by the omnipresence of media. 

TV, too, has created its own solar system of stars and meteors. From stand-up comedy to talent hunts, there is a new entertainment fix for the 400 million who watch Indian television daily. We have over 200 channels with another 100 waiting in the transponder queue. While theadvent of the conditional access system (CAS), Direct-to-Home
television (DTH), and internet protocol television (IPTV) will give a fillip to niche channels, be prepared for more of K-soaps, cricket, movies, talent hunts and crime shows.

In the months to come, hopefully, India would have sorted out its spectrum conundrum even as consumers begin to taste newer services. More bandwidth, higher digital compression and faster microchips will enable democratisation of the most esoteric art forms and media. 'Anytime anywhere' has moved from being the slogan of a media giant to real time entertainment.

Yet the battle for share of mind and wallet is making entertainers stretch beyond the reasonable. Interesting is turning to trivial even as a sliver of artistes extends the boundaries of creativity.

No wonder the neighbourhood multiplex now offers you an overwhelming choice of films in many languages from around the world. But while cinema will remain a popular medium well into the next decade, its mode and form will change. Films will no longer be made on film. In the next 10 years, almost all feature films and TV shows will have large chunks created on computers. There are over 10,000 cinema theatres worldwide and 1,000 in India which actually do not screen any 'film' as such but project digital images.

In a few years, all films will be projected, after being sourced digitally from a secure server. Often, they would be delivered by satellite or served through fibre optic backbones - each stream customised to suit different audience profiles. On the one hand, you have video-on-demand and on the other, there is a single worldwide simulcast of the new blockbuster. Or you could watch an Ray classic or the latest Hritik blockbuster sitting at home accessing an archive through your broadband device, perhaps on your wall-sized TV screen.

The art of story-telling and the craft of telling it well will remain important. There may not be any radical change in our stories, but the changing demographics and the widespread rise of multiplexes will lead to more youth-oriented films, as the young are the biggest consumers of entertainment. There will be a lot more experimentation as customised delivery of content becomes easy and affordable.

I would not be surprised if the next major blockbuster is made in India.

Amit Khanna is a lyricist, filmmaker  and media expert.