by Olusegun Akanji

Created on: June 23, 2008

Call a spade a spade and give unto Ceaser what is rightfully Ceaser's. How simplistic it most be to judge the progress of an entire movie industry simply by the volume of its audience or its predilection for dance routines. Without a doubt, Bollywood is a strong contender for the top spot in the international movie business however, the race is far from being won as some patrons would like to believe. The primary reasons for the recent flourish in Bollywood movies are the reduced cost of production of the movies sold and an ever increasing population of young Asian movie lovers who are drawn to their roots. Since Bollywood movies are cheaper to make and cut per CD or DVD, it is more affordable for the Asian continent and subcontinents who find such movies interesting. In addition, the Asian community in Western Countries like the United Kingdom and the United States of America is gratly rising. At first glance, the fact that these lovers of Bollywood movies only watch these movies and no other kind of movies creates a false impression that Bollywood products have pervaded every cranny of the big and small screen.Same can be said of Nollywood in Nigeria.

However, this is the truth. Hollywood movies do not rely on movie watchers to make revenue. Ticket sales only form a certain percentage of their take home money. Since Western countries especially the United States contain the major companies that finance endorsement deals, much of the lucrative part of Hollywood movie business comes from the uncountable endorsement deals associated with the movies. Not only do the movies themselves engulf endorsement deals, the biggest actors and actress (all of which are Hollywood A listers)command a significant level of endorsements that are in many ways affiliated to the movies they make. Star wars movies and the merchandise from Toys, Games etc is a little example of how Hollywood grabs much of its revenue. Bollywood unfortunately is not situated in a vantage point to make the most of these lucrative deals. Infact, for a Bollywood movie or actor to reach that status wherein endorsement deals come calling, that movie or actor has to be recognised by players in the United States. Although, things are changing now as these actors are becoming recognised themselves but Americans have a way of only accepting stars from their country as the only real stars in the world. You only need to investigate how only few actors, musicians from abroad have managed to break into the American

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