India’s soft power is making its presence felt in the entertainment world of Asia, particularly in South East Asia. This was on show as a clutch of producers of entertainment content for kids went into a huddle with buyers from across Asia on the sidelines of a trade show on TV content here.
“I am flying to Mumbai tomorrow to finalise a deal that will take Indian content to Japan,” said Kazufumi Nagasawa, chief content officer of Hulu, one of the biggest players of subscription video-on-demand in Japan.
Though both the content developers and buyers were secretive about the numbers involved, the popularity of Indian content was very much evident.
Joe Suteestarpon showed the image of a bejewelled Indian woman with sindoor and Sasural Simar Ka written in Thai. “It is one of the most popular shows in Thailand. There is a Facebook page where women convey their anger at the evil woman and give suggestions to the good woman how to solve her problem,” says Mr. Suteestarpon, CEO of Mediaplex that sources content from across the world for Thailand market. “Culturally, we are similar. People can identify the gods and goddesses. One of the channels that is sourcing Bollywood movies and dubbing them in Thai is now among the top 20,” informed Mr. Suteestarpon.
The popularity of Indian content is not just limited to serials and movies. Even indigenous format reality shows are a big hit with the overseas audience.
“Dance Deewaney and Dance India Dance are some of the shows which are a big hit in Indonesia. We are looking at original formats to acquire for Indonesian audiences. Our purchases are driven by gut feeling,” says Rani Jagtiani of Spectrum Film.
“Shaheer Sheikh who played Arjuna in Mahabharat is more popular in Indonesia than he might be in India,” says Rajesh Jagtiani, who began the trend of sourcing Indian content in Indonesia. “Before 2014, there was no Indian content in Indonesia. We began showing Mahabharat and now there is no Indonesian channel without Indian content. All Indian content has been sold out,” says Mr. Jagtiani of Spectrum Film.
In all this interest for Indian content, animation and entertainment formats, Hyderabad is emerging a key player. “The emergence of Hyderabad as a hub for animation has drawn this event here. We were holding the event in Singapore but now India is also a big creator of content,” said Yeow Hui Leng of Reed Exhibitions, which brought the event to the city.
