Neelam Verjee
Mumbai: Slumdog Millionaire’, the film about the travails of a slumdweller, is set to be re-released in cinemas across India as its distributors look to cash in on renewed interest from audiences.
Fox Star Studios, which backed and distributed the low-budget Danny Boyle film, is in talks with multiplexes to show the film on another 35 screens.
Winners all: A still from the movie Slumdog Millionaire. AP
“We are looking at a 10% increase in screens across the country,” said Vivek Krishnani, head of distribution, marketing and syndication at Fox Star Studios, the motion picture joint venture between 20th Century Fox and Star India. “There is increased demand from the multiplexes for the film but we are still waiting for the final negotiations. The final figure could end up being much more as there is huge demand.”The increased distribution of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, which is at present showing on about 350 screens across the country, both in English and as its Hindi version ‘Slumdog Crorepati’, would take the film into at least a further 35 cinemas, with the strongest interest coming from the north and east of the country.
Krishnani, who added that the majority of demand from cinemas was for the Hindi version of the film, also confirmed that the studio was mulling the release of a version of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ dubbed into Tamil.
It comes just days after ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ was the toast of tinsel town with wins in eight categories at the Oscars, including best director and best picture, providing its backers and financiers with an enormous fillip. It has earned $160 million (Rs798.4 crore) in box office revenues to 20 February, with the US accounting for $98 million of the total while India has contributed just $6 million in ticket sales. ‘Slumdog’, which faced the prospect of going straight to DVD after its original backers Warner Independent Pictures shut down, was picked up by Fox Star Studios, with momentum continuing to build after the film took the audience award at the Toronto Festival in the early autumn.