North American theatres hurt by Bollywood dispute

Even as Slumdog Millionaire and its Bollywood-inspired style has made a whole swath of people more aware of Indian cinema, North American theatres specializing in Bollywood films are hurting badly.

A dispute over revenue sharing between Bollywood film producers and the operators of multiplex cinemas within India is now entering its third month and has cut off the flow of new Bollywood pictures. For the small Indian cinemas dotting North America half a world away, this has meant a sudden dearth of major films.

"It has really taken a toll on us," said Farzan Dehmoubed, vice-president of Golden Theatres, a small chain in the Toronto area. This includes the Albion Cinema, which specializes in Bollywood, and the Woodside Cinema, which has had to switch to first-run Hollywood fare.

"It has really been a difficult time, and it has extended a lot longer than everybody had expected. We all thought by June, for sure, this would be resolved. Right around now is the time when some of the biggest movies of the year should be releasing," Mr. Dehmoubed said.

The Raja, Vancouver's Bollywood specialty cinema, announced earlier in May that it would close for half of the month because of the strike in Mumbai. It hopes to reopen in June. The switch by the Woodside Cinema in Toronto to Hollywood films might be permanent if the strike continues, Mr. Dehmoubed said. In New York, the Eagle Theater and its Bollywood films have gone dark for good.

Although these are relatively small cinemas here and there across North America, the theatres are important cultural anchors for large South Asian communities.

"The main reason we've tried to keep the Albion and Woodside open is to make sure there's a constant flow of [South Asian] movies, and somewhere people can go to enjoy their movies," Mr. Dehmoubed said. "Without Albion and Woodside, a lot of these movies wouldn't even release in Toronto. The mainstream theatres do sometimes open to Bollywood movies, but they seem to be only interested in the big, big [Indian] blockbuster movies."

Estimates are that the Mumbai-based industry has lost more than $3.5-billion (U.S.) since April. The problem is that Bollywood producers want to make the massive Indian film industry more financially transparent, as opposed to impressions that business is done behind closed doors and marked by increasingly unreliable investment from private backers. The producers want a system more like the one Hollywood studios share with exhibitors. The producers are seeking half of the box-office take from multiplex cinemas that are geared more to middle-class Indians. The cinema operators are balking.

The timing of the dispute is deliberate. As with Hollywood films, summer is the season for Indian blockbusters. No new films means no major summer releases, such as the highly anticipated New York, featuring Bollywood superstar John Abraham, and Kambakkht Ishq starring Akshay Kumar.

The Albion Cinema has been playing smaller Punjabi and Tamil movies to keep the doors open and maintain its South Asian emphasis. Ticket prices have also been reduced.

"We are just trying to get people back in and come and see the movies we currently have," Mr. Dehmoubed said. "It has really become difficult to keep bringing these movies [here], with the way piracy is going. That's also affecting us heavily. With Bollywood, there's a lot of piracy happening, not just in Canada, but throughout the U.S."