Indian soaps are working up more lather than ever in foreign countries, with television viewers from Serbia to Kenya lapping up typically domestic fare such as BalikaVadhu and Uttaran, opening up newer markets for the producers.
The actors playing the parts of Anandi and the duo of Tapasya and Ichcha in these television serials are fast becoming household names beyond the country's shores, following in the footsteps of trailblazers from the silver screen such as Raj Kapoor, Rajinikanth and Shah Rukh Khan.
What draws global viewers?
The industry estimates this popularity will result in a rise in the overseas business for Zee, Colors, Sony and Star TV, the four big domestic channels, to an annual revenue of 200 crore in five years, up from 60-70 crore in 2012.
"The market has grown beyond our Asian diaspora," says producer Rajan Shahi of Director's Kut Productions, which has made three of Star's top-rated shows, and reasons, "Our serials are rooted in human emotions and are very identifiable. We don't ape or rip off from English serials whereas our films do. Television represents more Indian culture and more Indian than our films."
Analysts say what draws a Romanian viewer to Star's Diya Aur Bati or a young Afghan girl to Sony's Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin is the structured stories and family conflicts with female protagonists.
Balika Vadhu running in 16 languages across 18 countries
"A long while ago, we adapted a popular serial, Hum Log, inspired by a South American story. Now, it is the turn of our cultural products, which have always had value, to find relevance outside. Demand is an evidence of it," says social commentator Santosh Desai.
A leading Kenyan general entertainment channel from the Radio Africa Group has acquired Uttaran's story for adaptation while Balika Vadhu is already running in 16 languages across 18 countries.
"We have made a deal for 200 episodes of the over 1,000 episodes of Uttaran shown in India. After adaptation, it will be run in Swahili as a daily in a prime time slot this year across the sub-Saharan regions," says Gaurav Gandhi, COO of IndiaCast, a multi-platform content asset monetisation entity, jointly owned by TV18 and Viacom18.
Though a script sale usually fetches an average of $350 (about 19,000) per episode, about half the amount earned through syndication, Gandhi will retain the right to the script and get to share the right to the adapted story.
Indian soaps compete among others with the market leader, Turkey, which made about 270 crore from overseas sales of its TV serials in 2011. East Europe, Russia, Croatia, Latin America, Africa and even developed markets such as Italy have, however, evinced interest in Indian content.
Pavitra Rishta has found a market in Afghanistan
Zee, which possibly has the largest library, has spread its footprint across most markets, with its popular serials such as Pavitra Rishta finding a market in Afghanistan and East Europe.
Star has sold format shows like Nach Baliye
Star has sold format shows, Nach Baliye, to Malaysia and received an offer for Master Chef India from Italy. In a business where most established domestic players complain of underpricing by newer rivals, Nitesh Kriplani, senior vice-president (syndication) at Sony, says he had retained premium positioning, netting $1,000-2,000 per episode.
Ashutosh Mordekar, the channel's senior vice-president, commercial and syndication, agrees, saying, "We are not even 25% of Turkey yet. And this is mainly because of underpricing. Our range is $100-600 (up to about Rs 32,000) per episode, while they are over a $1,000 or sometimes much more."
Story has come a long way from Kyunki Saas Bhi
The length of Indian shows, at more than 800 episodes in several cases, and that too without division into different seasons also makes it harder to sell them, producers say. Everybody agrees, however, that the market is growing and with almost all countries digitising transmission, there is money to be made from subscription revenue as well as advertisements.
The story has surely come a long way since China became one of the first foreign markets to open up for Indian soaps, starting with Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhie Bahu Thi a decade ago.
Indian TV soaps become serial hits across the world - Indian TV soaps become serial hits across the world | The Economic Times
The actors playing the parts of Anandi and the duo of Tapasya and Ichcha in these television serials are fast becoming household names beyond the country's shores, following in the footsteps of trailblazers from the silver screen such as Raj Kapoor, Rajinikanth and Shah Rukh Khan.
What draws global viewers?
The industry estimates this popularity will result in a rise in the overseas business for Zee, Colors, Sony and Star TV, the four big domestic channels, to an annual revenue of 200 crore in five years, up from 60-70 crore in 2012.
"The market has grown beyond our Asian diaspora," says producer Rajan Shahi of Director's Kut Productions, which has made three of Star's top-rated shows, and reasons, "Our serials are rooted in human emotions and are very identifiable. We don't ape or rip off from English serials whereas our films do. Television represents more Indian culture and more Indian than our films."
Analysts say what draws a Romanian viewer to Star's Diya Aur Bati or a young Afghan girl to Sony's Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin is the structured stories and family conflicts with female protagonists.
Balika Vadhu running in 16 languages across 18 countries
"A long while ago, we adapted a popular serial, Hum Log, inspired by a South American story. Now, it is the turn of our cultural products, which have always had value, to find relevance outside. Demand is an evidence of it," says social commentator Santosh Desai.
A leading Kenyan general entertainment channel from the Radio Africa Group has acquired Uttaran's story for adaptation while Balika Vadhu is already running in 16 languages across 18 countries.
"We have made a deal for 200 episodes of the over 1,000 episodes of Uttaran shown in India. After adaptation, it will be run in Swahili as a daily in a prime time slot this year across the sub-Saharan regions," says Gaurav Gandhi, COO of IndiaCast, a multi-platform content asset monetisation entity, jointly owned by TV18 and Viacom18.
Though a script sale usually fetches an average of $350 (about 19,000) per episode, about half the amount earned through syndication, Gandhi will retain the right to the script and get to share the right to the adapted story.
Indian soaps compete among others with the market leader, Turkey, which made about 270 crore from overseas sales of its TV serials in 2011. East Europe, Russia, Croatia, Latin America, Africa and even developed markets such as Italy have, however, evinced interest in Indian content.
Pavitra Rishta has found a market in Afghanistan
Zee, which possibly has the largest library, has spread its footprint across most markets, with its popular serials such as Pavitra Rishta finding a market in Afghanistan and East Europe.
Star has sold format shows like Nach Baliye
Star has sold format shows, Nach Baliye, to Malaysia and received an offer for Master Chef India from Italy. In a business where most established domestic players complain of underpricing by newer rivals, Nitesh Kriplani, senior vice-president (syndication) at Sony, says he had retained premium positioning, netting $1,000-2,000 per episode.
Ashutosh Mordekar, the channel's senior vice-president, commercial and syndication, agrees, saying, "We are not even 25% of Turkey yet. And this is mainly because of underpricing. Our range is $100-600 (up to about Rs 32,000) per episode, while they are over a $1,000 or sometimes much more."
Story has come a long way from Kyunki Saas Bhi
The length of Indian shows, at more than 800 episodes in several cases, and that too without division into different seasons also makes it harder to sell them, producers say. Everybody agrees, however, that the market is growing and with almost all countries digitising transmission, there is money to be made from subscription revenue as well as advertisements.
The story has surely come a long way since China became one of the first foreign markets to open up for Indian soaps, starting with Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhie Bahu Thi a decade ago.
Indian TV soaps become serial hits across the world - Indian TV soaps become serial hits across the world | The Economic Times
I am awful at learning other languages, Chinese and English is already a lot for me to handle.
, nobody understand my pain
