What you need to know about exporting to India

The numbers are in and it’s clear that India has what it takes to become a mega export market in the next decade. Whether or not you’re there might well depend on whether you’re in for the long haul but for those dedicated exporters who can last the distance, the rewards will be immense.

Bollywood and the Australian Film Industry

While Tania Zaetta, Australia’s only Bollywood star, gravitated towards the bright lights of Bollywood, one man stayed behind to become Australia’s most important link with the Indian film industry. Anupam Sharma, filmmaker and adviser on Indian cinema and media, is an Australia India Business Council spokesperson and runs production company Film & Casting Temple.

Sharma’s story began when he realised that Indian productions were filming everywhere but here. In 1998 he met with director Feroz Khan and arranged to film with him. Hype did the rest. “When the first film got released in India, people loved the locations. When people like what they see, they come and start shooting. For the first two or three years it was all word of mouth,” recalls Sharma.

To the struggling Australian film industry, the robust Indian industry had attractive opportunities, although pursuing them was another matter. As Sharma found, there was very little information available, so he started a trade movement by working with other major players.

“We wanted to promote ourselves by doing contributory activities like ‘How to include Australia in your film project’ seminars,” he says. “When we started getting too many queries, I wrote a guide. Our aim was not to sell this guide but to put it in Australian missions in India and distribute it at film festivals. That was another way we contacted the market.”

Meanwhile, other film bodies noticed the market and started to collaborate with India. Last year, the South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) hosted a mixed crew for the production of sci-fi film Love Story 2050 featuring former Miss World, Priyanka Chopra.

CEO Richard Harris says that the SA government initiated the relationship. “The Premier [Mike Rann] had both an interest in India and film so he saw a good way of having a connection was to have an Indian film shoot here, that’s where it had its genesis.”

The SA government offered incentives to the filmmakers and commissioned the SAFC to facilitate the film side of the deal. Although Harris notes that “negotiations with people from other countries always has its challenges” he is keen to see more productions come to South Australia. “The profile of the film will bring people in and that will hopefully result in more Indian films coming to shoot here and have more direct benefits to tourism.”

Sharma says that the next step is to start telling Australian stories that appeal to the Indian market because that’s where the real money lies. “Heyy Babyy [filmed in Sydney] employed 750 people and spent $2 million in Australia but the copyright remains with them. If it’d been a $6 million Australian film with the same amount of success, we would have had four times the return,” he explains.

He urges the industry to taking a leading role with India, claiming it’s a perfect match. “India is the most prolific film industry and Australia is the most professional film industry and the marriage between the two is a lethal combination. There’s so much for Australia to win.”