Fifty years may be a long time in an individual's or even an institution's life but it is a mere blip in history. What was started by a handful of awakened filmmakers, as a platform for sharing thoughts and concerns of a vibrant new medium in Independent India, today represents the best in contemporary TV and Films.
Many of these stalwarts are no longer with us but their celluloid creations continue to entertain and inspire us even in this Digital Age. The past is glorious, the present scintillating and the future exciting!
The Indian Media and Entertainment Industry is worth US$ 5 billion and growing at over 15% annually against a global CAGR of 5%. As disposable incomes rise, and better technology enables wider reach, the India Media & Entertainment Industry is changing its contours. There is an incremental growth in wireless devices, multiplexes and Satellite TV, offering newer revenue streams for content creators. Better marketing, increased digitization and rapid deregulation are opening up global markets for Indian films, music and TV software, even as we battle with an inorganic structure, tardy IPR protection and technological obsolescence.
The Digital world is redefining production, distribution and exhibition of entertainment. Mass customization and democratization of content through disintermediation is taking new talent to new audiences. From movies on the fly to music downloads, digital archiving and storage, from time shifting TV to video-on-demand, India is leading the way for an Asian dominance in global film and television.
There is no doubt in my mind that India is moving onto the center stage of what is promising to be an Asian Century. More people are watching Bollywood films than Hollywood offerings. With its next generation digital infrastructure in place, and its huge reservoir of talent, Indian entertainment is all set to be in the 21st century what the US was in the 20th century.
The India show has just begun. The GUILD is the platform for India's films and TV programme creators and this website will be the digital meeting place of filmmakers, cineastes, Indophiles and lovers of filmed entertainment.
Amit Khanna
President, Film Producers Guild of India
28th August 2004
