Cine goers have had a tough time ever since the Manipur based outfit, the Revolutionary People's Front, banned screening of Hindi films in September 2000. Cinema hall owners perforce converted halls into schools or shopping malls to keep the cash registers jingling. However, the movie goers' woes have diminished with the market being flooded with South Asian films.
South Asian films, especially those from South Korea, are pirated and copied in Burma and smuggled into border states of northeast India , especially Manipur and Nagaland. It is a hit with Generation X. Added to the woe of not being able to see Hindi films is the dismal production of the Manipur film industry. Though it produces world quality films, it comes up with only a couple of 35 mm films a year.
While digital films have come up in a big way to bridge this gap, it is left to films, especially DVDs from South Korea, Thailand and Burma to win the hearts of yuppies with its youthful romance, thrillers and action-packed movies. "Mostly young guys come to rent CDs from us," says a 26-year old local dealer in Shachin, Imphal. These CD's, which can be rented for as low as five rupees in Indian currency or ten rupees for a night, are a rage with the audience. Even the local cable television networks have been cashing in on this new craze by airing these films on their network on prime time.
Instead of current Bollywood favourites like "Omkara" and "Chup Chup Ke" it is movies like "My Girl and I," "My Tutor Friend," "Lure of the Wolf," "Love So Divine," and "He was Cool" that are sought after by teenagers. Posters of actors and actresses like Gweon Sang-woo, Cha Tae-hyun, Jeon Ji Hyun, Jung Da Bin and Song Seung Hun have replaced those of John Abraham, Kareena Kapoor and Aishwaria Rai.
Arirang, a Korean Channel which is aired through ISTV, a local channel, has not only been instrumental in bringing closer to home the rich South Asian culture, tradition and cuisine, but has also promoted its music, films, drama and language programmes. Perhaps it is because of the youthful images in the movies, or the similarity in facial features with the people, predominantly of mongoloid origin here, that South Asian movies are selling like hot cakes.
"I like watching them as they are so cool," gushes a 22-year old Atono, an office assistant in Nagaland's commercial hub who loves watching Song Seung Hun. South Korean actress 25-year old Jun Ji Hyun or Jeon Ji Hyun has starred in the hit 2001 Korean film," My Sassy Girl : Yupki Girl," a movie directed by Kwak Jae-yong based on a series of real-life incidents posted on the Internet by Kim Ho-sik.
For some others like Lukhoi, a worker in a printing press, it is films on kickboxing from Thailand that takes the cake. "It is easy for us to follow the storyline with the remarkable English subtitles," he adds. "We bring these from Myanmar (Burma ). These movies come in special DVD formats consisting of around 8 to 10 movies in a DVD. We make copies of each one and either sell them or rent them out," says another dealer who did not want to be named. However there are also some dissenting voices against the market being flooded with these movies.
[Subhaschandra M, Mizzima News]
Source: http://nagarealm.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3479
South Asian films, especially those from South Korea, are pirated and copied in Burma and smuggled into border states of northeast India , especially Manipur and Nagaland. It is a hit with Generation X. Added to the woe of not being able to see Hindi films is the dismal production of the Manipur film industry. Though it produces world quality films, it comes up with only a couple of 35 mm films a year.
While digital films have come up in a big way to bridge this gap, it is left to films, especially DVDs from South Korea, Thailand and Burma to win the hearts of yuppies with its youthful romance, thrillers and action-packed movies. "Mostly young guys come to rent CDs from us," says a 26-year old local dealer in Shachin, Imphal. These CD's, which can be rented for as low as five rupees in Indian currency or ten rupees for a night, are a rage with the audience. Even the local cable television networks have been cashing in on this new craze by airing these films on their network on prime time.
Instead of current Bollywood favourites like "Omkara" and "Chup Chup Ke" it is movies like "My Girl and I," "My Tutor Friend," "Lure of the Wolf," "Love So Divine," and "He was Cool" that are sought after by teenagers. Posters of actors and actresses like Gweon Sang-woo, Cha Tae-hyun, Jeon Ji Hyun, Jung Da Bin and Song Seung Hun have replaced those of John Abraham, Kareena Kapoor and Aishwaria Rai.
Arirang, a Korean Channel which is aired through ISTV, a local channel, has not only been instrumental in bringing closer to home the rich South Asian culture, tradition and cuisine, but has also promoted its music, films, drama and language programmes. Perhaps it is because of the youthful images in the movies, or the similarity in facial features with the people, predominantly of mongoloid origin here, that South Asian movies are selling like hot cakes.
"I like watching them as they are so cool," gushes a 22-year old Atono, an office assistant in Nagaland's commercial hub who loves watching Song Seung Hun. South Korean actress 25-year old Jun Ji Hyun or Jeon Ji Hyun has starred in the hit 2001 Korean film," My Sassy Girl : Yupki Girl," a movie directed by Kwak Jae-yong based on a series of real-life incidents posted on the Internet by Kim Ho-sik.
For some others like Lukhoi, a worker in a printing press, it is films on kickboxing from Thailand that takes the cake. "It is easy for us to follow the storyline with the remarkable English subtitles," he adds. "We bring these from Myanmar (Burma ). These movies come in special DVD formats consisting of around 8 to 10 movies in a DVD. We make copies of each one and either sell them or rent them out," says another dealer who did not want to be named. However there are also some dissenting voices against the market being flooded with these movies.
[Subhaschandra M, Mizzima News]
Source: http://nagarealm.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3479
