Film Insurance & Financing in India

Though the accident cost the insurance company a sum of only Rs 1.6 million, it attracted substantial media coverage. The reason was that it was the first instance of the Hindi film industry availing the benefits of film insurance - a practice followed in the US film industry since the era of silent movies. The credit for pioneering the film insurance business in India however goes to the successful Hindi film producer-director Subhash Ghai(Ghai).

Ghai was the first Indian filmmaker to have his film 'Taal' insured for a sum of Rs 110 million with UII in 1998. The move was welcomed by both media and film personalities as opening of a new chapter in the Indian film industry.

The insured films included YashRaj Films' 'Mohabbatein,' Aamir Khan Productions' 'Lagaan,' Farhan Akhtar's 'Dil Chahta Hai,' Karan Johar's 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham' and Dreamz Unlimited's 'Asoka' among others. Industry watchers were happy to note that the hitherto highly unorganized Hindi film business was finally adopting 'corporate' practices. The fact that the industry had not opted for film insurance till the late 1990s was however not because of the producers' ignorance. A host of other problems that plagued the film industry were responsible for this. The fact remained that the problems with the industry's mode of operations had rendered the standard global practice of getting a film insured taboo.