The Hindu Business Line : <I>Virumaandi</I> to go abroad

RAAJKAMAL Films International is set to go global with its 20th production, Virumaandi, which it plans to distribute overseas. It will also sell the film's DVD rights abroad, according to the producer, director and actor, Mr Kamal Haasan.

Mr Haasan said that his company, Raajkamal Films, is looking at markets in the US, Canada and Singapore. In Singapore, the movie will be released through a business associate.

He is also considering selling the DVD rights for Virumaandi overseas. In the domestic market, the industry is not ready for it. Distributors and trade bodies believe that making the movie available on DVD will bring down the numbers of viewers in the cinemas, he said.

But this need not be so. A few years back when satellite television emerged, many in the film industry felt that it would wean away people from movies. Today, the cable is a business opportunity to filmmakers who sell movie rights to the satellite television companies. Similarly, DVD rights should be considered the next business opportunity.

With the makers themselves deciding to distribute the film overseas, they can be a little choosy on the quality of cinemas where the movie will be screened, he said.

This will help to attract a wider section of the filmgoers, and not just the Indians or the Tamil film regulars. Often distributors overseas are penny-pinch, and are not careful about the quality of the cinemas.

So only a diehard Tamil film fan would come to the cinemas where a Tamil film is released, he said.