Dubai's Kreo Films FZ has big plans for international filmproduction, after joining the upcoming Bollywood movie Bombairiya as a co-producer.
The company is the regional arm of London's Kreo Films, which has produced hit films including London Fields, starring Johnny Depp, and the comedy Hector and the Search for Happiness, with Simon Pegg and Madelaine Pike.
Bombairiya, an Indian/UK/UAE co-production, marks the directorial debut of Pia Sukanya and stars Radhika Apte, Ravi Khishan and Akshay Oberoi. The comedy follows the misadventures of a Mumbai PR professional as she attempts to recover her lost phone. Indo-British producer Michael Ward is the writer and producer.
Ward tells us that the film is already about 75 per cent complete, with another week’s shooting in Mumbai due at the start of next month, before the final scenes are filmed in the city in November.
So how did a Dubai production company get evolved?
“I’ve been based in Mumbai for past eight or nine years and have worked with Kreo’s London office a lot over that time,” says Ward.
“I actually gave them a presentation in Dubai about two years ago about Bollywood, and said: ‘If you’re interested in this region, think about Bollywood as well as your international films.’
"Two years later, we had backing from the UK and India for this film, but I really wanted to get Kreo involved for their international experience, as Bombairiya is a film that could do really well outside India. I wanted to reach further markets – and also the UAE is a very big market for Bollywood nowadays, too.
“Kreo are relying on me to make sure we get the right distribution and audiences in India, and I’m relying on them for their strong sales connections abroad.”
Kreo is not the first foreign production company to try to break into Bollywood, a move that does not always pay off – but Ward is confident it can succeed. "The Bollywood market is a bit of a mystery to foreign companies," he says. "A lot have tried to break through but with limited success. We think the key is to keep it small budget but high concept. We don't want to compete with the Welcome Backs and the big musicals. We're looking to appeal to a niche urban audience that would be just as happy watching Hollywood films.
“I think the era of the Indian indie is fast arriving. The independently financed and made film is rapidly making its way into the domestic market, which until recently had all been studio-financed bigger movies.”
Ward says changing audience tastes in India are also having an effect: "You sense the big stars have had an incredibly long run, but their bigger-budget pictures are not working as well as they used to, and some huge movies have flopped very badly. "There are tens of millions of metropolitan 15 to 30 year olds who have been educated in, and think in, English. They're not so familiar with Hindi [the dialogue in Bombairiya will be in a mix of English and Hindi]. That's why they watch lots of Hollywood, and they're the ones driving the demand for different types of films, and we have confidence we can give them that.
“That segment is consuming Hollywood movies at a much faster growth rate than Bollywood, which is stagnating at under one per cent year-on-year, while Hollywood consumption is growing at 20 per cent.”
Ward projects a distinctly indie aesthetic, but Bombairiya boasts some big Bollywood star names.
“We’ve almost been too successful there,” he says. “We went to Ravi Kishan and asked him to play a fading Hindi film actor and he said ‘fantastic’.
He was craving to do something more character-driven and realistic. That certainly has helped with marketing as well as pulling in some fine rising talent, such as Rhadike Apte, who has just had TIFF success with [English- language film] Parched and is thrilled to now be doing a different kind of Indian film."
With Kreo’s Dubai office looking at other international scripts Ward has given them, this could prove to be the start of a beautiful film friendship.
cnewbould@thenational.ae
