MUMBAI: Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Devdas’ was the last film that released in Israel. That was 10 years ago. Since then no Hindi film has made its way to Israeli theatres. But movie enthusiasts, and the Indian community living in Israel have a reason to celebrate.
Karan Johar’s upcoming film ‘Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani’ is set to release in Israel. The film will be dubbed in Hebrew, the local language and will have a theatrical release on the same day when it releases in India.
Eros International is distributing the film internationally. They have also partnered with Shai Motion Pictures, an Israeli distributor.
‘Earlier Bollywood content was available on DVD’s and Indian channels, but this would well be the beginning of the theatrical age for Hindi films in Israel”, Eros International, President-Business Development, Kumar Ahuja said.
“Devdas released in Israel 10 years ago. But since then there was no quality international distributor in Israel. Getting movie prints also had been an expensive affair. But with Shai Motion Pictures investing on a portable projector, it seems the beginning of a new association”, added Ahuja.
“We are looking forward to it. It’s after 10 years any Indian film is releasing in Isreal, which itself is a celebration. We are anticipating good numbers,” said Shai Solomon of Shai Solomon Motion Pictures.
Whether ‘Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani’ manages to win audience’s heart in Israel, will be interesting to see. For now, this is nothing short of a big achievement for Indian cinema, and will benefit Bollywood in times to come.
