In this Sunday’s TechLife column in Financial Express the topic is virtual Bollywood and how there is now a new class of Bollywood fans that has been made possible by the spread of Internet and web 2.0 technologies. This new undiscovered class of Bollywood fans are the new age movie goers and I am wondering if this new class of movie goers are being factored in an AdLabs survey about the habits and attitudes of movie goers.

Here is the link to the article.

Bollywood is on my mind these days. I can’t seem to escape all the Bollywood-related news that comes my way in my online world. Well, cut, cut. Let us try that again. I have a Bollywood Google alert and that is how Bollywood news comes my way every day in real time in my online world. I am a denizen of the virtual Bollywood and flit from one blog to another, one YouTube clip to the next and one Google alert to the other. Yes, like many of you I read about the Anil Ambani-Spielberg deal, Amitabh Bachchan’s blog and then Karan Johar’s blog and then this one new item about AdLabs caught my eyes and made me pause and think.

AdLabs has commissioned a comprehensive survey to find out about the audience characteristics of the new age movie goers in India. According to a new report quoting Tushar Dhingra, COO of AdLabs this is the first time that such a comprehensive survey is being undertaken in India. This is interesting when you think that India produces the most number of films in the world and for over 60 years the dream merchants of Bollywood have kept millions of people entertained around the world. But, what caught my eye was what Hemant Mehta of IMRB the company that will conduct this survey had to say  about using cutting edge technology for their survey. I don’t know what he means by cutting edge technology, but my sense is that the cutting edge may or may not include Web 2.0 tools like blogs, wikis, social networks etc.

I am not sure if this new comprehensive survey that AdLabs plans to roll out will include millions of Bollywood fans that live outside India across the world in Singapore, USA, Canada, UK or The Netherlands.  For instance, I don’t think this survey will include folks like the cab drivers of New York or San Francisco. Just ask any New York city cab driver and the chances are he (I have not met a female cab driver in NYC) has fond memories of watching  a film like Sholay or Dharmatma or Sharmalee and they invaribaly recognize Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor and Rekha. However, I am not sure if the Adlabs survey will include  include thousands of Bollywood fans who have discovered Bollywood in the virtual world where geographical borders melt away and what binds people together are their  interests.

I wonder if using cutting edge technology would by any stretch of imagination include the virtual Bollywood world word that is studded with rich content, conversation and community? Just do a quick search for Bollywood in Wikipedia, FaceBook, YouTube, MySpace, YouTube you will see what I am talking about. Mr. Bachchan has discovered the power of blogs and appears to be hooked to it since he does write regularly and shares information with his fans. Then there is Aamir Khan, Karan Johar, Ram Gopal Verma and others. Some Bollywood production studios have discovered the power of building an online community in  FaceBook and Orkut. For instance Subash Ghai harnessed the power of FaceBook for his last film as did Ajay Devgan and Kajol for their home production of Hum, Tum and You.

The new age movie goer is a different breed altogether and uses technology extensively to keep to keep tabs on their favorite movies and stars.. The new movie goer is like this young U of Berkeley sophomore I know who talks to his friends in MySpace to get their input about a new movie or song, then goes over to YouTube and checks out the promo and then makes up his mind if he wants to see the movie. He watches a film not for the story line but to check out the dance moves since he is part of a Bollywood dance club in his school. The new movie goer is like this American blogger who reads other people’s blogs and gets suggestions on what to see and then rents the DVD or goes to see the film. Or, is the new movie goer a well-known Silicon Valley venture capitalist who makes it a point to catch the latest movies when he visits India? I hope the survey captures the attitudes and changing characteristics of the movie goer who turns to the virtual world to get his information. The word of mouth marketing in the virtual world is far stronger than anything else. And that is what they need to look at.

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