My Name Is Khan a boost for Star-Fox

Star-Fox, the American co-producers of Karan Johar's My Name Is Khan are mighty pleased with the outcome of their first international collaboration. The film features Shahrukh Khan and Kajol in the lead roles. Interestingly, the music in MNIK is not being seen as a hindrance for the international market.

Says Vijay Singh, CEO Star-Fox, "The songs are not lip-sync and they do not hamper the flow of the narrative. The myth that the songs must be lip-sync has been broken. The idea is to push the boundaries and see how far we can take Bollywood. MNIK has raised the bar for Indian cinema. Abroad, my colleagues in LA are surprised by the kind of numbers we're getting in the US. Khan has performed 2 ' times better overseas than any other Indian film. It's a great moment for Bollywood. Nobody knew what the upper limit for profits was for Bollywood internationally. People leave the theatre with a message in their heart. We all went through some difficult times initially. But that's all behind us now."

Singh says the Star-Fox headquarter in LA were watching the progression of MNIK very carefully. "We always believed in the film. Right from Day 1, they were looking at Khan not as a film on issues but an epic love story. That's what attracted us to the project in the first place. We've put the film in different countries keeping in mind the different audiences. In the UK we've given it the highest number of prints possible. We worked very closely with Karan Johar and then marketed the film according the cultural requirements of the specific countries. Our colleagues all over the world were taken into confidence. We don't see the international market as a spill over of the Indian market. We spent money in every market to set up the film keeping in mind the specifics."

Says Vijay, "Audiences for Indian cinema are changing all over the world. MNIK had the biggest and the best talent in Hindi cinema."

And now Star-Fox will produce another Hindi film. "This time more of an entertainer on a far less lavish budget but with an underlying message," promises Vijay Singh.