• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• Business Line
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Latha Venkatraman
Rukmani Vishwanath

A file picture of a film shooting in progress

Mumbai , Sept. 13

FILMMAKERS and television producers across the country are finally warming up to the need for insuring their production risks.

This year, most of the prominent Hindi movies opted for film insurance, including Lakshya, Main Hoon Na, Hum Tum, Deewar, Dhoom and Masti.

Among the yet to be released, big-budget Bollywood films that have sought cover are Swades, an Ashutosh Gowarikar/UTV project, Ketan Mehta's The Rising, Mukta Arts' Kisna, Yash Chopra's Bunty Aur Babli and Karan Johar's Kaal, according to industry sources.

Even as film insurance is gaining acceptance across genres, television producers are also evincing interest in `television insurance'.

United India Insurance, a leading provider of film insurance in the country, will shortly foray into insurance for television production, according to officials with the company.

The company is in advanced negotiations with a leading television software company that is seeking a customised insurance product, they added.

"Now that awareness about film insurance is increasing, several television producers have approached United India to seek insurance cover for their programs," said an official.

The insurance product that United India is devising for the television software company is likely to be different from its film insurance cover, primarily because television serials have a longer duration of shooting schedule - sometimes running into years - while film projects are of much shorter duration.

"For television insurance, we take into account the total budget of the entire year and calculate the premium based on per day risk,'' said the official. However, he refused to give details on the project on the grounds that negotiations were still on.

Ever since it began insuring films, United India has insured 96 films in all. Industry analysts are of the view that the concept of insuring films is finally gaining momentum in the country, with a consciousness to cover risk not only limited to Bollywood but among regional filmmakers as well.

United India recently insured a Bengali film and a Bhojpuri film. "This in itself is reflective of the increased awareness for going in for film insurance among producers these days," said an official with the company.

Unlike other general insurance products, film insurance is usually a customised offering. The premium could vary from film to film and the extent of risk cover of the production.

The product usually covers, fire, serious illness or death of lead actors, failure of equipment, etc.

More Stories on : Cinema | General Insurance | Radio/TV

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Anti-inflationary steps — 4 more commodities under scanner

Copyright © 2004, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line