Event Coverage
Gut feel counts to green light a film
MUMBAI: Out of 800 films released a year, around 200 films are made by Bollywood. Among them, around 85 per cent of the films flop.
So do we know what the audience really wants? Do we go into researching to find out the answer?
“This is a kind of a 50:50 situation. Something that can and something that can’t,” said UTV Motion Pictures CEO Siddharth Roy Kapur. “You can feel that people need youth-based films, but researchers can’t find out the wants of the audience. Research can be extremely beneficial in marketing a film.”
Kapur was deliberating on ‘ Market Research for Indian Cinema: Gut Feel vs Market Realities’ along with Nielsen Media India region MD Farshad Family, iRock founder and CEO Siddhath Jain, scriptwriter Jaideep Sahani, filmmaker Sudhir Mishra and Eros International chief creative officer Ram Mirchandani.
Averred Jain, “ There is a lot of difference between consumers of a FMCG product and a cinema-going audience. While research does help in the first case, it doesn’t in the latter. Along with the sensibilities to make a good film, what one needs the most is gut feel. We are making a Vampire film, the country’s first space adventure, an animated sequel of Andaz Apna Apna. But, primarily , we have a set of 10 to 12 writers who are guided by noted filmmaker Shekhar Kapoor.”
Mirchandani gave an example of what Eros went through with their forthcoming film Chalo Dilli. “ We were quite pleased by the going on in the shooting when the director came up with the proposal to have an item number. This when such a thing was not there in the original script. We had to go through a lot of head scratching before we gave in to the director’s proposal. This is how we inserted the hit song Laila O Laila of Feroz Khan’s film Qurbani,” he said.
Mishra said that research may be an interesting tool for a studio but not for a “filmmaker like me”. When a studio decides to make a film of a particular genre, they should go in for a director who would be apt in handling such a film. A director goes by his creative talent and not one related to research.
Talking about the positives and negatives of research, Kapur said: “Way back in the 70s, Raj Kapoor used to call over his friends to find out how his film has turned out and the same thing is being practiced even today by Aamir Khan.”
Turning to the other side, Kapur averred: “If we had to ask people that we are going to make a modernized version of Devdas in Dev D, probably we would have got a “No No” sign or probably if we had asked views on Rang De Basanti, the film inspired by Bhagat Singh, we would be discouraged. It was our gut feeling that made us go ahead with the films and they turned out to be successful.”
Kapur summed up by saying, “Creations go with passion and gut.”
Event Coverage
Anime India announces Amazon MX Player as co-presenting partner for Anime India Kolkata 2026
MUMBAI: Riding high on the success of its blockbuster Mumbai debut, Anime India is accelerating its nationwide expansion with the announcement of Amazon MX Player as the co-presenting partner for Anime India Kolkata. The partnership marks a significant step forward in the festival’s mission to deliver large-scale, accessible, and fan-first anime experiences across the country.
Scheduled for 14 and 15 February 2026 at the iconic Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan, Anime India Kolkata will launch the first regional chapter of what is set to be a year-long, multi-city tour. As the curtain-raiser for the 2026 circuit, the Kolkata edition aims to fuse the energy of global Japanese pop culture with India’s fast-growing community of anime, manga, and pop-culture fans.
A household name in digital entertainment, Amazon MX Player brings unmatched reach and cultural relevance to the Anime India platform. With its expanding focus on anime and youth-driven content, Amazon MX Player’s involvement as co-presenting partner reinforces Anime India’s vision of making anime culture more inclusive breaking barriers of language, geography, and accessibility to connect with fans nationwide.
Anime India Kolkata 2026 will showcase cosplay competitions, interactive zones led by the Indian Gunpla Community, India-39 Vocaloid Community, The Japan Curry, and Adda-o-Otaku by The Otaku Guild. Fans can join tournaments across fighting games, Pokémon VGC, and more. Acclaimed Japanese director Susumu Mitsunaka (Haikyu!!) will attend as guest of honour, appearing in panels and live sessions. Positioned as an immersive celebration of fan culture and industry collaboration, the Kolkata edition marks the beginning of Anime India’s nationwide expansion.
Sharing their perspective on the partnership, Amazon MX Player director Aruna Daryanani expressed, “Anime in India has evolved from a niche interest into a mainstream cultural movement, driven by an increasingly engaged and passionate fanbase. At Amazon MX Player, our focus is on expanding access by bringing anime to audiences across the country for free and in multiple local languages. Our association with Anime India reflects our commitment to supporting the growth of anime in India and deepening connections with fans, while continuing to build Amazon MX Player as a trusted destination for free, high-quality entertainment.”
“Anime India Kolkata is a celebration of how anime has grown beyond entertainment into a powerful cultural and creative force. By bringing fans, creators, and industry leaders onto one shared platform, the festival is helping define the future of pop culture in India,” said Anime India co-founder and director Neha Mehta.
The debut edition of Anime India 2025 in Mumbai attracted over 29,000 fans, quickly cementing its status as a landmark celebration of anime and Japanese pop culture. Riding on this overwhelming response, the Kolkata chapter is projected to draw more than 40,000 visitors across two days, positioning it as one of the biggest anime conventions ever held in eastern India.
Anime India is focused on bringing together fans from across the country to create a truly pan-India celebration of anime, manga, cosplay, gaming, and Japanese culture. With plans to expand into four key metropolitan hubs in 2026—east (Kolkata), north (Delhi), west (Mumbai), and south (Hyderabad)—the festival seeks to deliver globally benchmarked experiences while supporting and uplifting creators, artists, and fan communities throughout India.
