As you probably know or can guess, foreign films face an uphill battle in the United States, and being a fan of foreign films — especially Indian films — is sometimes difficult. Sometimes it can be virtually impossible to have access to the new releases you've been anticipating for months at a time.
It's especially hard in Gainesville.
Despite the aura of "multiculturalism" that UF lends to Gainesville, to my knowledge there isn't a local theater that screens foreign films, let alone Indian ones. (However, if you're interested in foreign films, the Latina Women's League is currently hosting a film festival that features Latin American films.) So if you want Bollywood (or other foreign) new releases, you're going to have to travel.
For an example, let's take the film "Mausam" [Season], which released Friday after anticipation built and built as the release was delayed several times, including being pulled from the Toronto International Film Festival last week. Even being highly anticipated, "Mausam" — starring Shahid Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor — is only playing in about 75 theaters across the U.S., according to Sulekha.com. Of those, two are in Florida: the AMC Regency 24 in Jacksonville and Touchstar Cinemas' Colonial Promenade 6 in Orlando. These two theaters, to my knowledge, are the only ones in Florida that regularly play Indian films.
The AMC Regency — to which I've often made the trek for new releases — usually carries one or two Indian films. The theater is about an hour and 45 minutes' drive from Gainesville (and an hour from my hometown north of Jacksonville). I can't vouch for Orlando's Colonial Promenade 6, not having been there, but it's about a two-hour drive away. As you can imagine, it's not very practical for students or residents to drive two hours just to see a film.
But Gainesville arguably has an audience that could be more receptive to foreign films than that of Jacksonville. UF students are obviously interested in the international world, given that an international studies major was added this semester. UF also has about 3,500 international students, according to the International Center. Census data show that Gainesville also has a greater percentage of foreign-born residents than Jacksonville does.
After Bollywood opened my eyes to foreign film, I realized that American audiences rarely give foreign film the consideration it deserves. According to Box Office Mojo, the highest-grossing foreign film ever in the U.S. was the multi-country-produced film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," and even its $128 million lifetime gross is only good enough for spot No. 304 on a list of the highest-grossing films in the U.S.
To give you an idea of how underappreciated foreign films are, here's a list of eight Bollywood films I saw over the summer (mostly while interning in New York; some probably didn't make it to Florida) and the number of theaters they debuted in, according to Box Office Mojo.
Some 2011 Bollywood releases with number of theaters opened in:
"Ready" - 97 theaters
"Always Kabhi Kabhi" [Always Sometimes] - 29 theaters
"Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara" [You Won't Live Life Twice] - 100 theaters
"Delhi Belly" - 89 theaters
"Murder 2" - 26 theaters
"Singham" [The Lion] - 50 theaters
"Bodyguard" - 88 theaters
"Mere Brother Ki Dulhan" [My Brother's Bride] - 74 theaters
These eight Bollywood films opened at an average of 69 screens each (ranging from "Murder 2" at 26 theaters to "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara" [You Won't Live Life Twice] at 100 theaters). Even "Bodyguard" — which shattered opening day, opening weekend and single-day grossing records in India and stars Salman Khan, one of India's favorite stars, and Kareena Kapoor, an actress riding several mega hits — opened at just 88 U.S. theaters. To give you a couple American comparisons, "Moneyball" opened at 2,993 theaters and "Abduction" at 3,118.
The Bollywood film that holds the record for the widest U.S. debut is "My Name is Khan" with 120 theaters, and even the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time, "3 Idiots" starring Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor, debuted in only 119 theaters, though it eventually made its way into 156 theaters.
The upcoming film "Ra.One," starring Shahrukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor and featuring music from Akon, as I discussed in a previous post, is optimistically hoping for a large U.S. impact. A marketing executive involved with the film told Toronto.com that "Ra.One" would open at about 400 theaters in the U.S. - a number that would obviously shatter previous records. Even though a marketing executive's projections should be taken with a grain of salt, the number shows ambition. And while I cynically expect the closest theater will still be AMC Regency 24 in Jacksonville, I sincerely hope "Ra.One" will make it to those 400 theaters and to one in Gainesville. Even more, I hope that subsequent films will do even better.
Because Gainesville deserves more foreign films, and foreign films deserve a greater chance.
For more on some of the films mentioned in this post, check out reviews from this blogger on the blog Bollywood Queens.
Posts in The Filmi Gator appear on Mondays.
