What is the current size of the home video market in India?
The current size of the home video market is estimated at around Rs 2.50 billion (Rs 250 crores), at consumer buying price. However, this figure does account for pirated products.  

What is Excel’S present share in the market?
We have over 45 per cent market share in the international category and 18 per cent overall – that is – local and international combined.  

Is the home video industry poised for growth in the near future and what are the variables that will provide this growth?
Despite of VOD (video on demand), PPV (pay per view) and piracy, the home video market is expected to grow at 25 per cent CAGR till 2010.

The areas that should bring about this growth would be increasing hardware penetration (dropping DVD player prices), increase in retail base especially with the entry of so many new players and also as all MPA members have come together to collective licensing. Other areas that will account for the growth of the industry are legalisation and the entry of organised rental players.  

What’s more, DVDs now makes a fantastic gifting and collection proposition for many corporates.

How will the home video market be impacted by the advent of new platforms like video on demand and movie downloads on the internet?
VOD and PPV are coming but as you can see from developed markets like USA and Europe where VOD and PPV have existed for over half a decade; home entertainment yet contributes over 55 per cent of the total industry revenue for Hollywood.  Besides, India also has infrastructure issues and hence I think there is still some time till it starts making any significant impact on the home video business.  

Excel presently has a reach in India and Sri Lanka. Are there any plans of expanding your reach to other countries?
Excel currently enjoys the largest home entertainment distribution network in the country, probably 33 per cent bigger than its nearest competitor. And still there are so many potential pockets and locations yet unexplored. We will continue to grow our distribution penetration in India and Sri Lanka as leaders in the category.  Of course with the international exposure and superior understanding of the product, we can definitely take local content to international markets, though that entails a large and elaborate business plan but we are very capable of it.  

What are the latest marketing initiatives undertaken by Excel?
We have had a fantastic run this year with plenty of marketing innovations. We re-released some of our Hollywood content when their sequels were released theatrically. This was a great success. 

Narnia was another big initiative, wherein we tied up with Disney Channel to buy-watch-and-win creating a fantastic buzz among kids to purchase the DVD. We are soon launching Ice Age 2 with a similar but more elaborate concept.  

Additionally, we are also doing a three for the price of two promotion with MTV as their channel partner. Here, a consumer can choose any three DVDs from our collection of 50 blockbuster titles and pays for only two DVDs. This is a nationwide program and will be widely available starting with Diwali and ending with Christmas. What are the new releases from India that are lined up from Excel?
In the Indian content, we have Lagaan, which is releasing for the first time on DVDs in India. On 7 November, we will also be launching Nagesh Kukunoor’s critically acclaimed film Dor.  What about international releases?
We have The Little Mermaid, Ice Age 2, X-Men 3, Cars, Pirates Of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest launching soon and Garfield 2 will be launched later this year. Around these releases, we have interspersed many first time Classics and Direct To Video releases too, which are scheduled to launch between 1 October 2006 and 31 Jan 2007.  In short, it doesn’t get any bigger…  What are the new avenues for growth that you have identified for Excel in the coming years?Recently we diversified in distributing local content. We will be looking at acquiring more content and aiming at consolidation in this space.  We also ventured into retailing with our Movies and More division. It is a shop-in-shop retail concept where it uses only 100 to 200 sq. ft. floor space and stocks only home entertainment products. At present we have about nine such locations active. We are looking at a presence in about 40 locations by the end of this calendar year.  Besides, this we are contemplating an entry into rental business ourselves through the Movies & More platform. With the knowledge and passion we have for movies, this place is being envisioned as the ideal place for a true movie buff for him buy or rent a movie.  

Then we also have our Interactive Gaming division, which will launch next month. For this, we have tied up with the largest gaming brand in the world – Electronic Arts (EA). This association will only compliment our presence in the home video space and vice versa. We are very excited… to say the least.