Fox Star India CEO Vijay Singh calls films a ‘recession proof’ industry: FICCI Conference on Copyright and the Creative Economy

A day-long conference was held on 21 July, Friday, on the subject of Copyright and the Creative Economy, at the Sofitel Hotel, Mumbai. It was organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), a Delhi-based apex body, in association with Government of India’s Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

Singh was speaking in the first session, titled Driving Economic Growth through Creative Industries. He went on to add that cinemas were the only places where local authorities were allowed to impose taxes, in addition to the recently introduced pan-nation singular Goods and Services Tax (GST). “This industry generates lots of employment, but is still treated as a tribe of naachney gaaneyvaaley (dancers and singers). Moreover, the alacrity with which films are pirated is alarming.”

Answering a question by this writer, he said, “We have made some progress in matters of infringement of copyright and unauthorised remakes. A lot still needs to be done. Films like (The State v/s) Jolly LL.B. (second edition of Fox Star’s hit franchise, with its third instalment under production) should not have to battle cases in places like Aurangabad, on the eve of the film’s release, merely because some lawyers (in Nanded) felt that the film was maligning their profession.”

He went on to add that Hollywood hit a plateau some years ago, and realised that it needed to tap the overseas market. “Today, 70% of the revenue of Hollywood films comes from abroad. Indian film industry can grow too, has the potential to grow three-fold, but there are several issues that prove stumbling blocks. Within the country, whenever a serious issue arises, the Tamil Nadu (Tamil language) film industry rises in unison, while the Mumbai-based (Bollywood/Hindi) production centre lacks such unity.”

India does not have a single entity to regulate the media and entertainment industry, and the role of a regulator was itself debated. Mr. Singh felt that the word ‘regulator’ needed to be replaced by ‘enabler’. “Market forces are the strongest ‘regulator’,” he opined. Lauding the industry for being truly “nimble”, he elaborated, “The media and entertainment industry has adopted the maximum number of technological advances, and with great speed. In fact, when we talk of medium term, it is three years that we look at. No other industry, including the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) can match this outlook.” In the middle of this positive commentary, Vijay Singh also sounded an alarm, that unless serious measures are taken to help it survive, the Indian film industry might “die in a few years.”

Local public relations were handled by Aurum Media/Austrum, and the invitation to attend the event came from them.