But one of the disadvantages of living in Finland, many Indians there told Barjatya, whose family-owned Rajshri entertainment group has produced classics including Dosti, Uphaar, Chitchor, Hum Aapke Hain Koun (HAHK), etc, was the absence of Hindi films. “In fact, not a single Bollywood film is released in the whole of Scandinavia,” says Rajjat.

Even in the US, where top Hindi films are released simultaneously in about 80 cinemas along with their release in India, many NRIs living in California have told him the difficulties of attending the screenings, as they have to drive about 200 miles to get to the theatre.

The US-educated Rajjat, whose elder brother, Sooraj, is an ace filmmaker, saw tremendous opportunities in this delivery gap and decided to do something. Last week, his Rajshri Media Ltd launched its web site (www.rajshri.com) that enables broadband users to download Hindi films on their PCs.

And last week, for the first time in the history of Bollywood, a film — Vivah — was released both on theatres in India and abroad, and online through the site. The online premiere of Vivah was aimed at the growing number of international ‘consumers’ of Bollywood entertrainment, “who are both broadband enabled and technology savvy,” explains Rajjat.

The site offers over 3,000 hours of premium Indian video content across multiple genres, and consumers can stream and download hundreds of full-length feature films — including blockbusters like Phir Hera Pheri, Hera Pheri, Amar Akbar Anthony, Ek Duje Ke Liye, and HAHK.

In fact, over the past few days, a record 12,000 people all over the globe have opted for free downloads of HAHK. Rajjat explains that viwers don’t have to pay anything to watch the collection of Hindi movies, film and non-film music videos, concerts, humour clips, short films and documentaries, if they choose the ‘streaming’ option. In this format, the film or music video cannot be downloaded.

If a consumer wants to do so, there is a price, ranging from $0.99 (for an old film), to $2.99, $4.99, or $9.99 (for an online premiere version). Consumers will have the option to stream the movie on their PCs or download it with a limited, 72-hour license.

Rajjat notes that there are 25 million global Indians around the world, including about 4 million in the Gulf. Many of them are Bollywood fans, have access to Broadband Internet and devices (including PCs, mobile phones, etc) that can be used to view, both the streaming and download versions.

Besides this, there are another 25 million people around the world, including Pakistanis and other South Asians, Arabs, Africans, who watch Bollywood and other Indian films, dubbed in English, or with sub-titles. Bollywood is gaining popularity even in countries like Germany and Japan, and has a substantial following in Morocco, Egypt, the Gulf, Africa, Russia, the UK and the US.

Indians living in Finland will now not have to travel to Germany or the UK to watch the latest Hindi release, nor would techies in California have to drive 200 miles on weekends to see a Shah Rukh Khan flick. And Bollywood patrons around the globe won't have to patronise pirated DVDs, as Rajshri Media now offers them a bouquet of films on the net.

Broadband Net

THE rapidly expanding broadband universe in India is bringing about dramatic changes in the viewing/reading habits of the younger generation. Today, a growing number of young, educated Indians in cities have access to broadband Internet — either at home or at cyber cafes — and are spending several hours daily watching movies, listening to music, or socialising.

Sites like Orkut.com, Myspace.com, Youtube.com and a host of others have got tens of thousands of members from Mumbai and other leading cities. Organisers of events are also looking at broadband as a major medium to target GenerationNext. Earlier this month, for instance, SifyMax, the leading broadband content portal, webcast the five-day Lakme Fashion Week that was held in Mumbai.