Research

Methodology
Is India ready for more Bollywood superhero
films?

Authors:
Prerna Chitre-08
Mitesh Gala-11
Zainab Kapadia-19
Priyanka Parekh-33
Binu Thomas-54
Ankur Tibrewala-55

Affiliated to: KJ Somaiya institute of management studies and research

 Executive Summary

This research aims at arriving on the findings on the research objective whether Bollywood
superhero movies can be successful in India.

Over the years Hollywood films like Superman, Batman, Spiderman etc have succeeded in India
and contributed substantially to the gross revenue collections.

The recent success of Krrish in terms of box office collections, music albums, merchandises etc
has flabbergasted the producers of the country. The venture headed by Mr. Rakesh Roshan
succeeded immensely and has raised the bar for Bollywood audience. Bollywood conventions
are changing. The viewership pattern is deviating from the regular masala movies. There is an
undetected decay in the film industry which needs to be taken care of. This evolving
environment has given rise to a need for innovative concept in this industry as well.

The research instrument that was used was survey in the form of questionnaire. This survey was
conducted across 5 cities which represent the population of the movie watchers in India. The
findings of the survey were punched into a customized programme specially written for the
research.

The findings were tabulated and pie diagrams were generated to come to a conclusion.

2
 Table of contents:
Sr.N Particulars Page
o No.

1. Introduction 6

2. Methodology 10

3. Results 14

4. Limitations 23

5. Conclusion and suggestions. 24

3
 Index for pie diagrams:

Sr. No Diagram Page No.

1 Age distribution 14

2 Respondents watching movies 14

3 Genre of the films watched 14

4 Respondents’s place of watching movies 15

5 Whether respondent watches superhero movies 15

6 The superhero movies heard of 15

7 The superhero movies watched 16

8 Sequels preferance 16

9 Whether Krrish was viewed 16

10 What was liked in the film 17

11 What was disliked in the film 17

12 Reason for not watching Krrish 17

13 Number of song preferance 13

14 Awareness about upcoming super hero film 14

15 Names of them 19

16 Expectations from the superhero movie 19

17 Actor preferance as superhero 19

18 Quality possessed by the superhero 20

19 Readiness to buy merchandises 21

20 Dependability 22

4
 Acknowledgement

We would like to thank Dr. Vibha Bhandari who gave us this opportunity to carry out a project where we
could do an in-depth study and analysis of super hero movies. Without her constant support, guidance and
instructions it would have not been possible to carry out this project.

We would also like to thank Mr. Abhijit SenGupta, Film Maker for his valuable advice.

We would also like to thank all those who participated in our research and helped us gather this valuable
data.

5
 Introduction
What is a super hero movie genre?
Superhero is a man with superpowers and who commits himself towards the wellbeing of the
society.
Superhero film is a fantasy, science fiction or horror genre film that is focused on the actions of
one or more superheroes, which are individuals, who possess superhuman abilities relative to a
normal person.The plot typically revolves the efforts of the superheroes to thwart some dire peril
of significant consequence.

Evolution of this genre in Hollywood:

a) Early years: In 1978, Richard Donner directed Superman, which is considered the first
modern superhero film. The film won praise for its lavish production values with state-
of-the-art special effects. The film was followed soon after by 1980's Superman II, which
was extraordinarily successful and set a new artistic standard for the genre. The
Superman movies had begun a new era of superhero films.
b) Later years: In 1989, the film Batman directed by Tim Burton, was the first attempt to
create a superhero film with the darker mood of recent comic books.It was then followed
by 1992's Batman Returns, though it was the last one to be directed by Tim Burton and to
star Michael Keaton as Batman.The Batman film series continued, under Joel
Schumacher's direction, with 1995's Batman Forever grossing millions and drawing
several star actors.
c) The Golden Era: X-Men and Spider-Man led to a widespread revival, which included
2003's Daredevil and it's spin-off Elektra, Hulk and X2: X-Men United; 2004's Punisher,
Hellboy and Spider-Man 2; and 2005’s Batman Begins (a reboot of the Batman
franchise) and Fantastic Four, which met with varying degrees of critical and commercial
success.
Given below is the statement of the success of the films Superman, Batman and Spiderman
series:

MOVIE US COLLECTION WORLDWIDE COLLECTION

Superman series $532,412,997 $645,232,988

Batman series $910,720,703 $1,624,772,639

Spiderman series $1,113,822,503 $2,496,346,518

6
Secondary data on performance of Hollywood superhero movies in India:
A recent example:

• 'Spider-Man 3' opens to Rs 19.17 cr at Indian Box-office

At the Indian Box office, Spiderman 3 had the biggest Opening Weekend for a foreign language
film at Rs 19.17 crores.
The fastest to cross the Rs 10 crore mark in two days, it had the biggest ever release -- 588 prints
(English 162, Hindi 261, Tamil 78, Telugu 78, Bhojpuri 6, IMAX 3), the widest release for
Hollywood in India.
(Author: Taran Adarsh, Article: Business talk, Date: May10, 2007, Source:
http://www.indiafm.com/trade/business_talk/267.html )
Public craze about the Hollywood superheros:
Which super hero has had the best movie series, Spiderman, Batman , Superman or X-Men?

• “Interesting question because it makes me wonder what you mean by best. If you mean
cinematically, it's the Batman series thanks mostly to the new ones coming out. Second
would be Spiderman.” (Author:Akser)
• “I would say Batman rules” (Author:Kimura)

• “Im crazy about Spiderman. Each one was a bit better. And really liked the first Batman
with Michael Keaton. Although Superman was awesome. (Author:Carol)
(Source:http://au.answers.yahoo.com/answers2/frontend.php/question?
qid=20080214110622AA6reOd, Date: March,2008 , Article:Best super hero series)

7
 Evolution of Bollywood super hero movies:
1. Azaad (1955): Dilip Kumar plays in the lead role in what can be safely said as the first
big hit A grade film of the superhero genre.
2. Jugnu (1973): starring Dharmendra in the lead role. In Jugnu Dharam just fits in the
superhero glove perfectly.
3. Krrish (2006): Rakesh Roshan’s Hrithik Roshan starrer Krissh set the box-office on fire
after its release.The movie has succeeded in hitting the bull’s eye and went down very
well.
Success story of Krrish:
This was the first time in Indian cinema history that a film depicting its hero as Superhero
has been produced, may be on experimental basi but resulted into a huge success in its first
ever attempt.It was a 50 crore budget. It was one of the biggest ever for a Hindi film. But
Krrish has broken all the previous opening day records and is a huge success.
Following table shows the gross revenue collection from the movie:

Collections (INR) Avg. Per Print

Week 1 19,06,57,489
Total Gross 19,06,57,489

The total overall profit: Rs. 416,694,550, (Source: www.indiafm.com , Date:Dec,2006 )

Secondary Data on the acceptance and success of the film Krrish:

• By the critics:
Review by Taran Adarsh:
The great news is that KRRISH more than meets the expectations. The film works, and
works big time, due to several reasons. Besides a novel premise for Indian moviegoers, it has
Hrithik Roshan enacting a role that fits him like a glove. KRRISH also reaffirms the fact that
Rakesh Roshan has adapted to the changing times well.

• By the audience:
It was extremely favourable and the response was positive. The reviews have been
attached in the appendix.

8
Expectations from Bollywood in the coming years:
Bollywood films were always perceived to be musicals and expected to contain catchy music
in the form of song-and-dance numbers woven into the script.
Earlier, Bollywood plots tended to be melodramatic. The film makers frequently employed
formulaic ingredients such as star-crossed lovers and angry parents, love triangles, family
ties, sacrifice, corrupt politicians, kidnappers, conniving villains, courtesans with hearts of
gold, long-lost relatives and siblings separated by fate, dramatic reversals of fortune, and
convenient coincidences.
But today, the tastes and expectations from cinema are changing.
Bollywood conventions are changing.
Indians are influenced by Western ideas and have nudged Bollywood films closer to
Hollywood models.
Special effects, action plots, kissing are becoming more and more popular. Plots now tend to
feature Westernized urbanites dating and dancing in clubs rather than arranged marriages.
Indian audiences expect full value for their money, with a good entertainer generally referred
to as paisa vasool, (literally, "money's worth"). Songs and dances, love triangles, comedy and
dare-devil thrills — all are mixed up in a three-hour-long extravaganza with an intermission.

9
 Research Objective
“To know if non-animated Bollywood Superhero movies would be successful in India.”

Research Methodology
Important terms:
• Successful – A Superhero movie is said to be successful in tier-I cities when majority of
the movie-watcher respondents in tier-I cities, have answered the questionnaire,
acceptability of non-animated Bollywood Superhero movies.

• Success measurement –To make a movie as successful as possible and success in the
film industry, as in any other industry, is fuelled by money. Money is by and large a
measure of the profits that can be reaped from a venture and this determines a film’s
success or failure. (Source: Ref - www.behindwoods.com, Article - Billa Model ,By -
Behindwoods News Bureau,December 24, 2007)
• Superstar- A superstar is one who converts a mediocre film into hit and a hit film into
sensational hit. A superstar is one who induces mass films into classes and promotes
class films among the masses and scores equally well in both class and mass centers with
any kind of film. (Source: www.idlebrain.com/trade/records/pokiri.html, 22nd May, 2006,
By – Idlebrain News Bureau.)

• Acceptability- When all the movie watchers would watch the bollywood non-animated
super hero movie atleast once. This acceptability is in terms of the following parameters:
*Concept *Story *Special effects *Action sequences

Assumptions:
• This research assumes that the superhero is represented by a “male actor” only.

• Each strata represents equal proportion of the population. Hence the same representation
is followed in our sample also.

Research Type:
Exploratory Research – since the research objective is to derive insights and ideas for successful
running of non-animated Bollywood Superhero movies in tier-I cities.

Research Approach:

10
Quantitative Research Approach – answers to every question, of all valid questionnaires, have
been quantified and then analyzed using graphs, pie-charts and other quantitative techniques like
testing hypothesis and co-variances using SPSS.

Geographical extent of research survey:

Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad.
Taking Krrish as the benchmark, the above mentioned cities were chosen because they
contributed to high box office collections which are depicted in the table below:

Location Box office collection

Mumbai Over 2 crores

Banglore Over 15 lakhs

Kolkata Over 1 crore

Delhi Over 2 crores

(Source:entertainment.oneindia.in/bollywood/features/krrish-140706.html,Article – Krish
likely to be the nation’s top most grosser, Friday, July 14, 2006 ,By – News Bureau)

Population Definition
Bollywood Movie-watchers in India amount to 2.85 billion.
(Source: http://mutiny.in/2007/02/01/bollywood-vs-hollywood-the-complete-
breakdown/,Article: bollywood v/s Hollywood the complete breakdown,Author:Woke,Date:1st
Feb,2007)

Sample Design
Stratified and Quota Sampling – The population of movie-watchers in Mumbai is not
homogeneous specifically in terms of age. Hence for the purpose of the research the entire above
said population is divided in to non-overlapping sub-populations such as 5-15, 16- 26, 27- 37,
37>. Items from each strata for the sample is taken in the same proportion as the strata is of the
population
Each of the group members was assigned a quota to be filled from different strata, the actual
selection of items for sample being left to the interviewer’s judgement. The size of the quota is
proportionate to the size of that stratum in the population.
The survey was conducted by dividing the sample size amongst the 6 group members i.e.
208/4= 52. This was further broken up as 9,9,9,9,8,8.-per strata per person. Thus the total of 208
being broken down as 35,35,35,35,34,34.

Sample Size
11
208 (n) As mentioned in our assumptions each strata forms equal proportion of the population,
the same is the proportion representation in the sample. Because of resource constraints
(manpower, time, money) the research sample size is limited to 208 only. And the representation
of each strata in the sample is 52.

Strata Size
5-15, 16-26, 27-37, 37>.Per strata 52 persons were taken.

Primary Research
Method of collection of Primary Data
Collection of data was through Structured Questionnaires. Questionnaires were addressed to all
the people included in each strata.

Population mean:
Is computed as the sum of maximum and minimum acceptability in favor of any of the
parameters given above. The total is then divided by 2. The value thus obtained in population
mean.

Computation of sample mean:

Each of the above parameters is given equal weightage and multiplied with the answers given in
favour of the above parameters, by each respondent from each strata, is then totalled and then
total is divided by the number of respondents.

Hypothesis
Null Hypothesis – Movie-watchers in tier-I cities do not show acceptability for non-animated
Bollywood Superhero movies.
Alternate Hypothesis - Movie-watchers in tier-I cities show acceptability for non-animated
Bollywood Superhero movies.
The Hypothesis is generated through extensive secondary research and analysis of insight
stimulating example of Krrish. Since Krrish was the first non-animated Bollywood Superhero
movie with superstars and huge investment, hence for the research purpose all the answers to the
questionnaire obtained as acceptability/ in-acceptability (refer to Acceptability parameters
mentioned above) for Krrish are quantified and set as a benchmark for accepting/rejecting the
null hypothesis.

Instrument and procedure used for data collection

The entire process of choosing the instrument and the subsequent process was undertaken in the
following manner.
12
 • Preparation of the questionnaire

• Pilot study to check the effectiveness of the questionnaire

• Administering the questionnaire

• Entering the responses collected

Preparation of the questionnaire

Due to its simplicity and ease to administer, the instrument selected by us was the questionnaire.
Since the sample selected by us consists of movie goers across all age groups, the questionnaire
had to be prepared in such a way that it could be understood by all and all the terms used were
simple and easy to comprehend. Structured open ended questions were framed.
For the online survey, we created it on the website www.createsurvey.com.

Pilot Study
Before conducting the actual survey, we administered the questionnaire on ourselves and a few
close friends. Some of the questions were edited or the language was simplified.

Administering the questionnaire

Every member of the group was asked to administer the questionnaire to 34-35 people as per
their convenience. The respondents included friends, neighbours, relatives and other
acquaintances. The questionnaire was administered in two ways.

Those respondents whom we could meet personally were given the physical questionnaire to fill
and then the results were entered by us. And in the online survey, the results were collated
automatically.
As mentioned earlier, the online survey was prepared with the help of the site:
www.createsurvey.com and the link to our questionnaire is
http://www.createsurvey.com/c/64920-xEOtSf/.

Entering the responses collected

The responses collected were entered in the worksheet of SPSS software and the subsequent analysis was
done on it.

13
 Results
Age D istribution (in years)

25%

25% 5 to 15
16 to 26
27 to 37
25% 38 +

25%

Pie Chart 1.A

3. Do you watch movies?

5%

Yes
No

95%

Pie Chart 1.B

4.What typeof moviesdoyouprefer towatch?Tickyour topthree

options.

200

150

100 Type
50

0
Action Comedy Romantic Thriller Fiction
Type 91 166 128 133 106

Bar Diagram 1.1

14
 5
.Wh
ered
oyo
uus
uallyw
atc
hmo
vie
s?

101
120
100

80 59
48
60 Movies
40
20

0
Theatre At home/on Either of them
DVD

Bar Diagram 1.2

6
.Doy
ouw
atc
hSu
perH
eroMo
vie
s?

11%

Yes
No

89%

Pie Chart 1.C

7. Kindly tick acrossthenamesof theHollywood superhero moviesyou have

heard till date.

200

150

100
Series1
50

0
Superman Spiderman Batman X-Men Hulk Fantastic 4

Series1 176 183 167 27 22 19

Bar Diagram 1.3

15
 8.Kindlytickacrossthemovieyouhaveseen

200

150

100 Movies seen

50

0
Superman Spiderman Batman Catwoman Hulk Fantastic 4
Movies seen 168 181 127 24 21 14

Bar Diagram 1.4

9.Whydidyouprefertheaforementionedmovie/soverothers?Tick
yourtopthreeoptions.

200
172

150 132
119
97
100 Liking

50 24
11
0
Concept and Action Love aspect of Time duration
Special effects Sequels
Story Sequences the story of the movie

Liking 132 172 119 11 24 97

Bar Diagram 1.5

1
0.W
hatd
oy oupreferamongth efollowin g?
1.Supe
rh erom ov
iew ithse q
ue ls.
2.S
u p
erherom o
viewith
o u
tse que ls
.

16%

1
2

84%

Pie Chart 1.D

16
 1
1.H
avey
ouwa
tche
d‘K
rris
h ’,theIndia
ncom me
rcia
l
sup er-herom ovie
?

23%

Yes
No

77%

Pie Chart 1.E

1
2.Wha
tdidy
oulik
einthemovie‘Krris
h ’?T
ickyourtop
fiv
eo ptions.

120
100
80
60
Liking
40
20
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Liking 96 91 102 43 48 61 89 29 35 73 43 0

1 Hrithik Roshan as the super hero

2 Concept

3 Action sequences

4 Great story

5 Love aspect

6 Songs

7 Special Effects comparable to Hollywood

8 Super Hero costumes

9 Black mask

10 Appropriate sequel of the movie ‘Koi Mil Gaya’

11 Foreign Locations

12 If others, please specify:

Bar Diagram 1.6

17
 13. What didn’t you like in the movie Krrish?
1 Its Length

2 400
Costumes

3 Acting
300
4 Melodrama
200
5 Nothing / No answer Disliking

100

0
1 2 3 4 5
Disliking 84 42 35 171 378

Bar Diagram 1.7

14. Whydidn’t youseethemovie‘Krrish’? Rankyour top 1 Concept did not appeal to you
threeresponses.
2 Too many songs
50
3 Bad selection of costume and mask
40
4 Bad reviews
30
5 Poor promos of the film
20 Dislikes

10 6 Didn’t get the time

0 7 If others, please specify:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Dislikes 18 31 12 10 15 43 0

Bar Diagram 1.8

18
 1
5.H
owm
anys
o ng
swouldy
o ulik
etoha
veinanIndia
n
superhe
romovie
?

10%

48% Nosongs
1-2songs
Morethan2songs
42%

Pie Chart 1.F

1
6.D
oyo
ukn
owofa
nyu p
coming
,ye
ttob
erele
ase
d,
In
dians
uperhe
romov
ie?

6%
24%

Yes
No
Cant say

70%

Pie Chart 1.G

17. If yes, canyounamesomeof them?

30
25
20
15 New Movie
10
5
0
Drona Krrish 2
New Movie 21 27

Bar Diagram 1.9

19
 18.WhatdoyouexpectfromanIndiansuperheromovie?
Tickyourtopthreeoptions.

200

150

100
Expectations
50

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Expectations 169 82 141 129 56 8 17 16 0

1 Innovative Concept

2 Indian touch with International Quality

3 Special effects comparable to Hollywood

4 Heart stopping action sequences

5 Thrilling storyline

6 Love aspect in the movie

7 Designer costume and mask

8 A girl/woman superhero

9 If others, please specify:

Bar Diagram 1.10

19. Whichactor(s)wouldyouliketoseeasaSuper hero?

120

100

80

60
Heroes
40

20

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Heroes 16 115 15 25 33 109 101 31 3 3 1 4 1

20
 1 Shahrukh Khan Others:

2 Hrithik Roshan 10 Debutant

3 Salman Khan 11 Abhay Deol

Abhishek
4 Bachchan 12 Shahid Kapoor

5 Aamir Khan 13 Tushar Kapoor

6 Akshay Kumar

7 John Abraham

8 Rajnikant

9 Ravi Kishen

Bar Diagram 1.11

21. W ould you buy super hero masks, T-shirts and other
20. W hat, in your opinion, should be the most important
feature an Indian super hero should have? merchandises?

13% 4%
7%
9%
G ood Look s Y es
G re a t P h y s iq u e No
C o m b in a t io n o f b o t h D epends

84%
83%

Pie Chart 1.H Pie Chart 1.I

2
2.Wh
atd
oesitd
epe
ndo
n?

20

15

10
Dependency
5

0
1 2 3 4 5
Dependency 8 17 11 7 4

1 Success of the movie

2 Cool Merchandises

21
3 Price

4 Loyalty towards the movie

5 Loyalty towards the actor(s)

Bar Diagram 1.12

22
 Limitations
Some of the limitations of the research are stated as follows:

• Small Sample size- Because of resource constraints (manpower, time, money) the
research sample size is limited to 208 only. However, this questionnaire was addressed to
220 people out of which 12 did’nt fall in the purview of our research.

• Geographical Limitaion – The research focuses only tier-I cities movie-watchers which
are believed to be a representation of entire India.

23
 Conclusion and
Suggestions
Based on the survey and the responses obtained, there are some suggestions that we, as researchers,
would like to give the concerned authorities like the movie makers including the producers, Marketers
and the researchers who would like to continue or infer data from this research project.

1. Suggestion for our consumers (Producers of the movie):

a) The producers should be inclined to make films with a possibility of sequels.

Some of the movies gain popularity because of the fact that they are sequels to an already
successful movie. Such movies have an edge over the standalone movies.
This can also be proved by our survey and the results given in Pie chart 1.D. Out of the 185
responses we got for this query, a whopping 156 (which is 84%) preferred movies with sequels.
This being on the extremely higher side, can aide the producers and the movie makers to have
sequels and hence bank on the success already obtained for their previous super hero project.

b) The preferred actor(s) should be Hrithik Roshan, Akshay Kumar and John Abraham.
Since the concept of an Indian super hero movie is relatively new and not tested to its potential,
there will be concerns over who will be the super hero. Here, the actor(s) popularity will be
considered. One of our questions in the survey had exactly the same point (Question 19) “Which
actor(s) would you like to see as a Super hero?” The response was somewhat expected (Bar
Diagram 1.11) as Hrithik Roshan won the honours, also because he is the only actor in the
mainstream cinema who has acted in a super hero movie. But we can infer a lot of other
information from the query. For example, actors like Akshay Kumar and John Abraham came
close to Hrithik Roshan even though they haven’t acted in a super hero movie. Akshay Kumar,
being a hot favorite, with most number of successes in 2007, justified his presence by being
number 2, whereas John Abraham has the combination of looks as well as great physique, which
is the most preferred combination as per Pie Chart 1.H.

So, we suggest the movie makers that if they plan to embark on super hero movie, it would be
preferable if they have any (or all) among Hrithik Roshan, Akshay Kumar and John Abraham.

c) The movie should have an innovative concept and special effects comparable to Hollywood
standards without any melodrama.
Super Hero movies from the west thrive on special effects and innovation in terms on the concept
and the powers possessed by the super hero. The Indian audiences are also expecting the same
from an Indian super hero movie. This can be confirmed using response to question no 18 (Bar
Diagram 1.10). It shows that movie goers prefer an innovative concept over others. Also
important for them is the fact that the movie should have extremely good special effects as
present in Hollywood movies, doubled with heart stopping action sequences. A sizeable audience
also preferred to have a movie with an “Indian touch” with no compromise on the quality aspect.

Also there were some of the “Do-not-haves” in an Indian super hero movie. The Indian movie
audiences preferred not to have movies with melodrama. Now, melodrama is something that most
of the Indian movies till the early 2000’s thrived on. Krrish, also had its own share of melodrama,

24
 which is something that the people who watched Krissh did not like. This can be confirmed using
the Bar Diagram 1.7.

Hence, based on the survey, we suggest the movie makers who will make super hero movies to
consider the aspects mentioned above while dealing with the story and the quality of the movie.
Failing which, they may lose out on the profit margins which they would have otherwise got.

d) Ideally there should be no songs in the movie, else a maximum of 1-2 songs.
Songs is an integral part of an Indian movie. Even if the movie is busted in the box office, there
are chances that the producer recovers a sizeable amount of his investment through music. The
music and the film industry go hand in hand and this is more prevalent in India than in the west.

Surprisingly, the movie goers we surveyed preferred no songs in the Indian super hero movies,
closely followed by the option of having a max of 1-2 songs per movie. This is as per the Pie
Chart 1.F. And only 10% of the respondents preferred having more than 2 songs. The reason for
this might be the fact that the audiences preferred not to have any melodrama and preferred action
and special effects over a love story based super hero movie (Bar Diagram 1.10).

Hence, based on the survey, we suggest the producers of the movie that songs should either be
scrapped from the movie, or a max of 1-2 songs should be included, or if there are more than 2
songs then it should be released along with the movie as an album and should not shown along
with the movie.

2. Suggestions for Marketers:

a) The movie should be aggressively marketed before its release.

A considerable number of movie going audiences did not watch the movie Krrish because of its
“poor promos” (Bar Diagram 1.8). The marketing team of Krrish is responsible for such a
scenario. Around 34.88% of the respondents felt that the promos were not super hero material.
Super Hero movies in Hollywood are marketed aggressively and a huge sum of investments is
reserved for marketing purposes. Such a concept should be tried out in Indian movies as well.

We had a question for the awareness of the upcoming Indian Super hero movies. Surprisingly,
again, only a certain section of the respondents were truly aware of the upcoming movies (Pie
Chart 1.G). This is something the marketing team should revert. As a product without marketing
is like winking in the dark. And Indian super hero movies, being a relatively new concept, will
inadvertently compete with its Hollywood counterparts and will initially lose out on the market
share. The product is still in its introduction stage and product awareness is the need of the hour.
Investment towards marketing and publicity will be high and hence, aggressive marketing is the
solution.

b) Marketers should try out innovative methods for merchandising.

Merchandising is an upcoming and a developing market in the Indian Industry. Merchandising in

Sports is extremely popular in sports in the west and in the European countries. Such a craze
should be introduced in the Super hero movie section as well. Super man and Spider man masks
and toys are extremely popular among kids. Their logo is extensively used in T-shirts as well.

Unfortunately, the response we got for merchandising is not at all optimistic (Pie Chart 1.I). Of
the 208 people surveyed, a resounding 172 said a “No” to merchandising. And only an extremely
small fraction (9 in 208) said a “Yes” to merchandising. However, there were some who said it
25
 depends on certain factors (Bar Diagram 1.12). It depended mostly on “cool merchandises” and
the price factor.

Merchandising is also becoming popular in India, albeit slowly. The introduction of new cartoon
characters, and their games and toys are popular among the kids. This is the section that should
be targeted as far as super hero toys and stationeries are concerned. For T-shirts, the marketers
need to tie up with branded apparel firms (like Nike, etc) and introduce branded yet t-shirts with
super hero logos and pics. Or if price is a major concern, then the t-shirts made should be
creatively designed and not made for the sake of making them.

Merchandising can also be done with prior permission of the theatre owners to have some
disposable shops outside the hall showing the super hero movie. In such a scenario, movie goers
will be tempted to buy the stuffs, since they are easily and readily available. There could also be a
kids section where toys and other materials related to the super hero are made available, and
based on the nagging effect, parents will be tempted to buy it for their kids.

These are some of the innovative ideas that can be exploited by the marketers. Merchandising is a
big market and can be extremely fruitful and is directly related to the success of the movie and
can even have a super hero loyalty as is prevalent in the U.S for Super-man and Spider-man
movies.

3. Suggestion for Researchers:

a) Obtain data about the population where the survey is being carried out.

One of the limitations of this survey is that we have tried to get equal number of respondents of
an age group. The reason for such a decision was to get a fair response from every age group and
also the fact there we were not able to accurately get the census of a particular city and the
approximate number of movie goers and their age. Even though it wont impact the results of our
survey significantly; for the research to be more precise and more accurate, it becomes essential
to select the number of respondents proportionate to the population of the age group prevalent in
that particular location. Such a decision and an analysis of the age groups along with the movie
going audiences should be taken into account for the survey to be used as a base for another
survey. This is applicable even if only a certain section of the results are being used for a research
or a project.

This research can be carry forwarded to the next stage by analyzing the section of the age group
who are more into movies. Then such a section can be targeted extensively for upcoming movie
awareness and publicity and also in merchandising.

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 Appendix
Sample questionnaire
Name : ______________________

Age : _____ years

1. Do you watch Movies?
Gender : Male/Female
 Yes  No
Occupation: ______________________

Location : ______________________
2. What type of movies do you prefer to watch?
Rank your top three options.
 Action  Comedy  Romantic

 Thriller  Fiction

3. Where do you usually watch movies?

 Theatre  At Home/on DVD

 If others, please specify: ________________________________________

4. Do you watch Super-hero movies?

 Yes (Move to Question 5)  No (Move to Question 12)

5. Kindly tick across the names of the Hollywood superhero movies you have heard till
date.
 Superman  Spiderman  Batman

 If others, please specify: ________________________________________

6. Tick across the movies you have seen:

 Superman  Spiderman  Batman

 If others, please specify: ________________________________________

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7. Why did you prefer the aforementioned movie/s over others? Rank your top three
options.
 Concept and story

 Special Effects

 Action Sequences

 Love Aspect of the story

 Time duration of the movie

 Sequels

8. What do you prefer among the following?

 Super hero movies with sequels

 Super hero movie without any sequels

9. Have you watched ‘Krrish’, the Indian commercial super-hero movie?

 Yes (Move to question 10)  No (Move to question 11)

10. What did you like in the movie ‘Krrish’? Rank your top five options.
 Hrithik Roshan as the super hero

 Concept

 Action sequences

 Great story

 Love aspect

 Songs

 Special Effects comparable to Hollywood

 Super Hero costumes

 Black mask
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  Appropriate sequence of the movie ‘Koi Mil Gaya’

 Foreign Locations

 If others, please specify: ________________________________________

11. What didn’t you like in the movie Krrish?

 Its length  Costumes  Acting

 Melodrama  Nothing

(Move to Question 13)

12. Why didn’t you see the movie ‘Krrish’?

 Concept did not appeal to you

 Too many songs

 Bad selection of costume and mask

 Bad reviews

 Poor promos of the film

 Didn’t get the time

 If others, please specify: ________________________________________

13. How many songs would you like to have in an Indian super hero movie?
 No songs  1-2 songs  More than 2

14. Do you know of any upcoming, yet to be released, Indian super hero movie?
 Yes (Move to Question 15)  No (Move to Question 16)  Can’t Say (Move
to Question 16)

15. If yes, can you name some of them: __________________________________________

16. What do you expect from an Indian super hero movie? Rank your top three options.

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  Innovative concept

 Indian touch with international quality

 Special effects comparable to Hollywood

 Heart stopping action sequences

 Thrilling storyline

 Love aspect in the movie

 Designer costume and mask

 A girl/woman super hero

 If others, please specify: ________________________________________

17. Which actor would you like to see as a Super hero?

 Shahrukh Khan  Hrithik Roshan  Salman Khan

 Abhishek Bachchan  Aamir Khan  Akshay Kumar

 John Abraham  Rajnikant  Ravi Kishen

 If others, please specify: ________________________________________

18. What, in your opinion, should be the most important feature an Indian super hero should
have?
 Good looks  Great Physique

 Combination of good looks and great physique

19. Would you buy super hero masks, T-shirts and other merchandises?
 Yes  No  Depends (Answer Question 20)

20. What does it depend on?

 Success of the movie

 Cool merchandises

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 Price

 Loyalty towards the movie

 Loyalty towards the actor(s)

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Secondary Data for reviews of Krrish
 “Krrish is an amazingly and professionally filmed movie that entertains all the
way. The graphics are fantastic and probably the best ever witnessed in an Indian
cinema.” (Author: Kishan)

 “Krrish draws parallel similarities to many Hollywood movies in terms of scenes

and stunts; But the movie is well made and it stands out overall and seems to be
paying "Homage" to these greats.” (Author: Ravi)
 “Hritik delivers a great performance, both as Krrish(na) and as his father Rohit.
The make-up was done really well and look believable. Naseeruddin Shah
delivers an excellent performance, and you expect nothing less from him.”
(Author: Harsh)

 “Amazing singing and dancing in creative musical sequences with fabulous

cinematography and great sprinkles of special effects magic. Krrish is packed to
the brim with all of the flowers, romance and warm fuzzy feelings that
accompany the greatest Indian films.” (Author: Sangita)

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