MUMBAI: Post the clean sweep that Slumdog Millionaire did at the Golden Globe Awards recently, the demand for the film among Indian distributors has gone up manifold.
According to sources, Fox Star Studios, which is releasing the movie in India, is in the process of re-strategizing the release of the film after the Globes were announced.
"Since Slumdog Millionaire bagged all four awards that it was nominated for at the Golden Globes, the demand for the film among Indian distributors have increased and a lot more enquiries have been flowing in since yesterday," says the source.
As has already been reported by Businessofcinema.com, Fox Star Studios will release the film in its original English version as well as the Hindi dubbed version that has been christened Slumdog Crorepati. Apart from the top eight markets including major metros, the movie will also be released in Class 1 towns across India with more than 200 prints.
The movie was released in countries like the US and the UK last year and has done rounds of festivals like the Telluride Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, Austin Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, London Film Festival, AFI Film Festival and Oslo International Film Festival amongst others.
While India will witness a late theatrical release for the film, is it likely that the theatrical response to the film gets marred due to the film’s free online presence and also on DVDs? A source says, "While there are people who have managed to see the film online, there are many others who haven’t yet seen it. Moreover, a lot of people who have already seen the movie online are keen on watching the movie on the big screen all over again. The positive buzz around the movie is very strong, which is going to help its run at the box office."
Slumdog Millionaire bagged four Globes including Best Composer (AR Rahman), Best Director (Danny Boyle), Best Screenplay (Simon Beaufoy) and Best Motion Picture in the drama category. The Globes honor adds only to the countless number of awards the movie has won last year.
The movie has so far grossed $34.08 million in North America. The past weekend (9 – 11 January, 2009), Slumdog Millionaire surpassed the $32.5 million gross of Bend it Like Beckham. It has also exceeded the combined grosses of The Namesake ($13.6 million) and Monsoon Wedding ($13.9 million) as well.
