HONG KONG: The Indian presence at Filmart has largely been on the distributor side. A number of small Indian companies essentially into selling of film, video and TV rights across cable and terrestrial platforms (both pay and FTA) were advertising their wares. One did not see many big blockbuster Bollywood titles however, but more of the small to mid-level budget films.
 

And it is not just in the "traditional" markets of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore (in that order) that these companies are trying to push their content. Aside from China and Korea, also on the radar are "virgin" territories like Cambodia and Vietnam.
 
 

The Chinese interest is more on the film side than TV content. Predictably Indian action films have no takers (who in India can compete with a John Woo, Andy Lau or the numerous Kung Fu film directors anyway). Romantic tearjerkers (the higher the hankie quotient the better) are what does it for the Chinese as far as India is concerned. And they are quite taken up with the song and dance routines, which are unique to Indian cinema.

Korea, on the other hand is looking at the issue differently. They are hoping to sell their content to India in fact. In fact a Korean delegation is planning to organise an event in Delhi in May where they will be showcasing their content, particularly television, which is quite a rage in these parts.

While Indiantelevision.com remains skeptical of Korean stories (soaps and dramas) finding acceptance to Indians who only relate to Chinese action movies, there is one avenue that might interest Indian entertainment channels. That is in the scripts that Korean television dramas offer. If South American stories are the current flavour with programming honchos in India, those looking to explore new ideas might find it worth their while to look east as well.