It is not just movies that are faring well internationally. Indian TV serials are much in demand in the Middle-East with several channels like Zee Network making the most of the demand and launching Arab Zee Aflam in 2008.
Today, there are 35 channels that show Bollywood and Indian content in Arabic. To begin with, the Emirates used to watch Hindi films, but now there are many Arab expatriates from Egypt and North Africa who are hooked on to our serials and the reason is cultural similarities.
Our daily soaps have found many takers in China too, especially with the Chinese being in love with mythological dramas like Devon Ke Dev Mahadev, Buddha-Rajaon Ka Raja and fantasies like Naagin.
However, it is not as if China is only watching Chinese and Indian shows. Drama from countries like the US, the UK, South Korea and Japan is popular as well. But it is the Indian serials that are gaining vertical popularity.
This is because Indian mythology is fascinating. It is full of philosophy, grand sets, and a message to deliver, thereby opening a new world for the audience abroad. There are, of course, groups that give the subtitles in Chinese or any other required language depending on the territory the show is being aired on. This is no easy task due to the difference in languages. First, the Indian daily soaps are translated into English or Russian and from there into local languages.
The most viewed is Naagin 2, which has gained about 1,80,000 views as of May 1, 2017. But before this was, Devon Ke Dev Mahadev, which premiered in 2011 and ran a total of 820 episodes.
Over the years, broadcasters and producers have been steadily tapping markets across the globe. You have viewers in Poland glued to their seats watching the dubbed version of Balika Vadhu on prime time TV. While tradtional markets like the US, Canada, the UK, Singapore and Australia continue to bring in money, but it is markets like Turkey, latin America and Egypt that have been raking in money lately.
The market for Indian content abroad stands at around Rs1700 crore, expected to touch the Rs3,000 crore mark soon. So, it is not surprising that shows like Uttaran, Sasural Simar Ka, Madhubala, Bigg Boss and Khatron Ke Khiladi have many takers.
This, in turn, has opened up markets like Serbia, Bosnia, Romania, Macedonia, Georgia and Croatia, to name just a few countries.