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Bollywood Goes Mobile: Barcelona launch sees World's largest film industry opening on the small scre |
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Written by Adam Gosling
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Tuesday, 13 February 2007 |
PRESS RELEASE From 3GSM World Congress, Barcelona, 12 February 2007 - The
world's largest film industry joined forces with the global mobile
communications world today in spectacular fashion - as Bollywood
premiered its first feature films for mobile viewers at the 3GSM World
Congress (February 12-15) in Barcelona.
The Congress marks the start of the adaptation of thousands of vibrant
Bollywood productions for the mobile screen - a development that could
have a huge impact on the global mobile entertainment market, already
worth some $US23 billion.
The Bollywood Mobile Initiative is driven by Roamware, the global
leader in roaming and mobile connectivity solutions; Hungama Mobile,
the world's largest aggregator, developer and publisher of Indian
entertainment and Bollywood content; Sanjay Gupta, a leading Bollywood
director; and the GSM Association (GSMA), the global trade association
for mobile operators.
Roamware's Media Call technology is providing the capability to
integrate the cinematic content into the everyday mobile experience for
film fans.
"Media Call redefines mobile communications from voice to visual media,
enabling the sharing and promotion of film clips to accelerate the
growth of the mobile movie market," said Bobby Srinivasan, CEO of
Roamware.
Two Bollywood short films "Zahir" & "Matriomony" were premiered in
Barcelona today. These films are a part of the feature film 'Dus
Kahaniyaan' (10 Stories) produced by Sanjay Gupta of White Feather
Films, starring more than 20 leading Bollywood stars including Dia
Mirza, Suneil Shetty, Sanjay Dutt, Neha Mandira Bedi, Aftab Shivdasani
and many others. Sanjay Gupta is one of Bollywood's leading filmmakers
who has produced and directed many hugely popular movies such as
Kaante, Musafir and Zinda.
The films demonstrate the viral potential for Bollywood movies on the
'fourth screen' - the mobile device. Set pieces with action and
dialogue scenes interspersed with song and dance make the vibrant, fast
moving movies a compelling entertainment experience for the mobile
viewer.
"Bollywood today is the world's largest movie industry, producing more
than a thousand movies a year with an audience of more than two billion
viewers across 127 countries. Formatting that content for the mobile
audience and ensuring simplicity of delivery and accessibility provides
staggering reach and revenue possibilities," said Bobby Srinivasan, CEO
and Chairman, Roamware.
"The GSMA is delighted to welcome the stars and directors from the
Bollywood world to the world's largest mobile event," said Bill Gajda,
Chief Marketing Officer of the GSMA. "We are excited by the tremendous
potential for Bollywood entertainment on mobile phones, and delighted
to support the efforts of Roamware and Hungama Mobile in their
commitment to bringing a rich array of Indian film entertainment to the
fourth screen for a global audience of millions."
"India is the fastest growing market in the mobile world, and the
world's fourth largest market. It has the potential to be the largest
market globally by 2010. It is the most logical market from which to
launch the mobile movie industry and present a brand new avenue of
cinematic entertainment for mobile users everywhere. The potential is
truly amazing. Hungama Mobile has already launched a Bollywood channel
directly on operator decks around the world in nearly 30 countries,
with over 70 operators. This channel contains music, imagery, video and
games from Bollywood. Showcasing Bollywood movies on mobile is a
natural extension both as a tremendous new marketing opportunity as
also revenue for all the stakeholders," said Neeraj Roy, Managing
Director & CEO, Hungama Mobile.
Hungama Mobile's content assets and a two year foray in taking
Bollywood to the mobile world, coupled with Roamware's global reach,
holds huge promise for the mobile market. The dramatic evolution of
communications technology, from download speeds and battery life to
compact form factors, screen sizes and resolution, as well as memory
enhancements, means mobile devices are now capable of delivering a
compelling, high quality and uniquely personal viewing experience.
Bollywood is one of the fastest growing entertainment industry segments
and has an appeal not only for the 150 million mobile phone users in
India but for markets across all continents. Indian cinema is now
dubbed in over 35 languages and accounts for as much as 16.5% of
theatrical business in markets such as UK. Indian films have made it
into the top 10 charts in markets such as USA, UK, Germany, Australia,
Singapore and South Africa. More than 3.6 billion admission tickets are
sold each year, across the world and now Hungama Mobile and Roamware
will take this to some 2.5 billion mobile screens.
About the GSM Association
The GSM Association (GSMA) is
the global trade association representing more than 700 GSM mobile
phone operators across 217 countries and territories of the world. In
addition, more than 180 manufacturers and suppliers support the
Association's initiatives as key partners.
The primary goals of the GSMA are to ensure mobile phones and wireless
services work globally and are easily accessible, enhancing their value
to individual customers and national economies, while creating new
business opportunities for operators and their suppliers. The
Association's members serve more than 2 billion customers - more than
80% of the world's mobile phone users.
About Hungama Mobile
Hungama Mobile is the largest
aggregator, developer and publisher of Indian Entertainment and
Bollywood content globally. It has exclusive worldwide rights to nearly
70% of all Bollywood content for all formats of mobile and digital and
IP rights. Hungama Mobile has today over 100 content alliances with
leading Bollywood, Hollywood and TV studios. Hungama Mobile is the
exclusive worldwide licensee to Sony Pictures International for 21
countries, including titles such as James Bond, Spiderman etc.
Hungama Mobile is the only company in the world that has created a
mobile and digital distribution platform for Bollywood content in over
30 countries. Today it runs a dedicated channel with over 70 operators
and publishers worldwide. www.hungamamobile.com
About Roamware
Founded in 2001, Roamware is the leading
and fastest-growing global roaming & value added solutions
provider, servicing more than 250 networks in over 100 countries
servicing 700 million + mobile consumers globally. For more information
on Roamware, please visit www.roamware.com
For further information please contact:
For the GSM Association : Mark Smith or David Pringle
Tel:   +44 7850 229 724 / +44 795 755 6069 or
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For Hungama Mobile : Vaishali Killawala at Hanmer & Partners
Tel : +91-98196 30256 or
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For Roamware : Helen Hopkins at Companycare Communications
Tel: +44 7977505 288 or
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