Krrish 3 to Chennai Express: Bollywood's new blockbusters are mobile games

The release of video games centred around movie plots for mobile platforms, which originallystarted out as merely a PR gimmick for Bollywood film makers, is now an integral part of a movie’s pre-launch marketing strategy.

The Economic Times in a report today saidthat the Krrish 3 game, launched this October, has crossed 2 million global downloads on the Apple and Android app stores. Other popular games include Dhoom 3, which releases later this month, Chennai Express and Race 2.

The business model, the article explains,is based on a revenue sharing system between the film producers and game developers who get the necessary licenses from the former. The games are available for free as downloads, but any extra additions must be purchased through the game.

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Among the reasons given for the growth of these games is the familiarity of characters and story lines for the Indian audience and an increasing proportion of the population, between the ages of 25-35 years, who have the disposable income and are willing to spend on such games.

In the pipelines are gaming versions of Sholay, which is to be released again, and Rajnikanth’s upcoming animation film Kochadaiiyaan.

Read the entire story on The Economic Times.