Earlier this month Rupert Murdoch's News Corp struck a multi-movie deal with a top Bollywood producer. Which means we are talking about a $7bn box office."ĭisney's new film is part of a trend that has seen tinseltown and India's "place of illusions" grow ever closer. expected to go up to 80 rupees in five years.
Mahesh Samat, Disney's managing director in India, said: "India annually sees 3.6bn movie admissions. strong in building creative properties".Īnd with a slump in cinema takings expected in the west there is a rush to tap into the Bollywood box office. In a tacit admission that a talking mouse could not be repackaged for Indian audiences, Roadside Romeo features Bollywood songs and dance numbers and the voices of its leading couple, Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor.ĭisney said it wanted to build a "brand that touches Indian families everyday, reach and relevance. Released today, for the start of India's Diwali holiday weekend, the film is a joint venture between Walt Disney Pictures and Yash Raj Films.īeing made in India meant the budget, thought to be $7m (£4m), was 15 times less than the average cost of Disney's Pixar movies such as Ratatouille. The movie, which took two years to make, tells the story of a pampered pet dog after he is abandoned on the streets of Mumbai. Bollywood and Hollywood, which have long peddled shared visions of chaste romance and unlikely friendships, today finally ties the knot with Disney's first Indian-made animated feature film in Hindi: Roadside Romeo.