Event Cinemas screened more than 100 Indian titles in 2023. Photo: Supplied
Almost 300 Indian movies have been screened in New Zealand cinemas over the past two years, marking a significant shift in the country's foreign film landscape.
Today, a simple online search reveals a dazzling array of foreign-language films that are available in New Zealand, with titles screened in Hindi, Mandarin, Korean, Filipino, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam, among others.
Pritesh Raniga, proprietor of Indian distribution company Forum Films, attributes this burgeoning trend to a couple of factors.
"The key (factors) include the expanding ethnic population of the country as well as Kiwis' fondness for foreign films," Raniga says.
Forum Films has played a pivotal role in distributing 124 Indian titles to Kiwi cinemas over the past two years.
Hailing from a family deeply rooted in the film business in Nadi, Fiji, Raniga relocated to New Zealand in 2006.
"My dad owned a multiplex in Fiji," says Raniga, 47. "He wanted to start a business in New Zealand."
His father passed away in New Zealand before realizing his dream, but Raniga carried on his legacy by venturing into the film distribution business.
"Back in the day only a few theatres played Indian movies like the Capitol Cinemas and Crystal Palace, so there were limited options for the community to enjoy movies from India," he says.
Raniga says major cinemas in New Zealand faced several challenges when releasing Indian film titles, including technological limitations, logistical difficulties and ignorance of the community's size.
But he never gave up, leveraging population data, student enrollment figures and images of Diwali festivals in Auckland to sway cinema operators in New Zealand.
"It was hard to convince them, but eventually things moved forward and here we are," he says.
Pritesh Raniga’s Forum Films distributed 50 Indian titles to New Zealand in 2023. Photo: Supplied
In 2008, Raniga distributed his first movie in New Zealand, which became the top-earning Indian film of that year.
These days, his distribution network extends beyond New Zealand to Australia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea, predominantly focusing on Bollywood and Punjabi films.
He describes the film distribution business as exciting but challenging.
"I've seen a lot of people join the industry post-Covid, which is great, but I have also seen many people struggling when things haven't gone well," he says.
Raniga believes his success can be attributed to his involvement with local communities in New Zealand and his decision to base his operations in Auckland.
His office in Blockhouse Bay also has film distribution partnerships with large Bollywood production houses such as Zee Studios and Yashraj Films in India.
Deepu Thoppil, owner of Reelstar Entertainment, has been involved in the distribution of mainly South Indian-language films for more than 10 years.
"The South Indian community in New Zealand is quite small, and with most moviegoers depending on word-of-mouth, the performance of a film becomes exceedingly unpredictable," the 39-year-old says.
However, he agrees that viewership and revenue have been growing each year.
New Zealand is home to around 240,000 individuals of Indian descent, according to latest population figures from the 2018 census.
About 80,000 of these individuals are non-resident Indians who still retain Indian citizenship, while the remainder consists of people of Indian origin.
Based on data from media analytics company Comscore, there has been a significant uptick in revenue generated by Indian movies in New Zealand in recent years.
In 2023, 128 Indian film titles were released domestically, generating revenue that exceeded $9.8 million.
In 2022, 168 Indian film titles were released as the country was in the process of recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic, generating revenue of $6.5 million.
While Bollywood dominated revenue figures in 2023, South Indian-language movies claimed the top spots in 2022.
Notable successful Indian releases in 2023 include Pathaan, Jawan and Animal, with Pathaan emerging as the highest-grossing title, raking in $1.37 million.
Films in other Asian languages, including Mandarin, Japanese, Korean and Filipino, generated $14.3 million in 2023.
A spokesperson for Event Cinemas says the group screened more than 100 Indian titles in 2023 in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Punjabi and Malayalam languages.
"In 2023, there was a strong global lineup of Indian films released, which performed well in the New Zealand market and included blockbuster titles such as Jawan and Paathan, which became the highest-grossing Indian title of all time in New Zealand."
Hoyts Cinemas has been contacted for comment.
"2024 is going to be a weird year when it comes to Bollywood," Raniga says, primarily due to a lack of films from some of the biggest names in the industry.
Nevertheless, he remains optimistic.
"I think South Indian movies might play a bigger role this year, but you never know," he says.
