Ster-Kinekor Distribution has acquired Bollywood films which will now also be released at Ster-Kinekor Theatres nationally from the end of August.
After a hiatus of nearly three years, Ster-Kinekor Theatres will also be releasing top quality titles coming out of India, beginning with the release this Friday 31 August of Ram Gopal Varma ki Aag, the much-awaited remake of the all-time hit Sholay.
Other titles slated for release at Ster-Kinekor Theatres over the coming weeks include Dhamaal, Saawariya and Welcome.
Ster-Kinekor Theatres was the first major cinema exhibitor in South Africa to show Bollywood films in 2000, meeting with unexpected success nationally, before withdrawing titles from its circuit in 2004.
Commenting on the return of Bollywood, Ster-Kinekor Theatres CEO Fiaz Mahomed said, “We are very pleased that we have reached a position where we can now show the best titles out of Bollywood at Ster-Kinekor cinemas following months of negotiation with almost all the major distributors in India by our Distribution division.’
We stopped showing Bollywood films on our circuit largely because it was no longer viable for the business at the time but we were confident that the market would eventually stabilise as it in fact has done. “
Mahomed emphasised that Ster-Kinekor would place the emphasis squarely on quality rather than quantity: “Starting off with titles like Ram Gopal Varma ki Aag and Dhamaal reaffirms our commitment to getting the best for our audiences, who will benefit further because the same strategies that we apply to our Hollywood titles will now be effective for Bollywood titles as well. ”
“This includes our strategy of making cinema affordable to all including the Ster-Kinekor Movie Club half price Tuesday benefit, our Vitality partnership and our new exclusive partnership with Edgars.’
Ster-Kinekor has just concluded a partnership with Edgars to run its movie club whereby members can get cinema tickets at all Ster-Kinekor Junction cinemas for R10-50 and at all Ster-Kinekor Classic and Cinema Nouveau screened by Jameson cinemas for R20.00.
“With Bollywood, we are now firmly focused on being back in the frame, and with support from our partners in India and our audiences here, growing it even further,’ Mahomed concluded.
