In the diverse field of Indian cinema, where regional films are getting more prominence, language barriers still pose a significant challenge. While blockbusters like "RRR" and "Dangal" have released in multiple languages, not all films are releasing in multiple languages like this.

The language barrier is a big problem for movie lovers who can't enjoy their favorite movies. Especially in cosmopolitan cities, where there is a confluence of cultures and languages. For example, in a recent study by the Indian Film Industry Foundation, 60% of moviegoers in Mumbai prefer to watch movies in their mother tongue. However, only a small fraction of the films released in Mumbai are available in multiple languages.

The problem of language barriers is not limited to India. This is a global challenge. In fact, a recent study by the Motion Picture Association of America found that 80% of movies released worldwide are not available in English, making it difficult for non-English speaking moviegoers to enjoy the latest releases. Film buff Aditya Kashyap realised this when he struggled to watch "Mission Impossible" due to language issues.

It is not possible to release the film in multiple languages. This involves additional costs and logistical complications, often requiring separate screenings for each language, which not only restricts the film's accessibility to a wider audience, but also complicates the distribution process. As a result, producers don't like to release films in different languages. Aditya realized that due to these limitations, moviegoers are satisfied with watching the film only in the languages available in their local theaters.

Who is Aditya?

A Delhi University graduate, Aditya has 25 years of leadership experience in the aviation industry, IBM Daksh, Genpact and Ageas. He also served as CEO at software development company Headspire Technologies, where he built Mixxxer, a casual dating app that was acquired by US-based dating site AdultfriendFinder.

In addition, Altran, Frog, Wirkle Inc. He has held several senior leadership positions at companies such as Newgen Software. He started his professional career as a software engineer at HCL Technologies in February 2002. The founders invested nearly half a million dollars from their personal savings over 3-4 years to develop the app and establish the company. In 2022, they closed a $350,000 seed round led by friends and family. The founders are in talks with investors to raise pre-Series A funding to expand its footprint into the Indian markets and the Middle East.

How does this works?

One can use Cinedubs through their smartphone. The app allows users to download the soundtracks of a movie in their preferred language before watching the movie in the theatre. It then downloads the soundtrack using digital rights management (DRM) and syncs the audio while sitting in the theater. The app leverages the in-house developed 3D data structure classified frequency indexing (CFI) method to record five seconds of audio from the screen using a microphone and detect the timestamp of the movie.

The startup said that the patent-pending technology syncs audio and plays the downloaded soundtrack on the original 3D spatial soundtrack through headphones. (Spatial audio refers to audio that is designed to be a 3D quality.) ) The founders faced obstacles in introducing Cinedubs to the limited Indian film industry.

Today, the startup is working in collaboration with several production houses in India and is in the final stages of talks with Hollywood giants Warner Bros and Universal Studios. The app is free, but the startup plans to introduce a nominal subscription fee soon. According to Aditya, the subscription options include annual, half-yearly and quarterly subscriptions for unlimited movie soundtrack downloads, soundtrack sales for pay-per-download, in-app advertising for real estate monetisation, and sale of movie-based merchandise.

Partnerships

The Gurugram-based startup's 8-member team works with production companies including Jio Studios, People Media Factory, AAArts, Tricolor Films, R Madhavan, VRL Media, Purple Bull, Shalini Arts, Ed Entertainments, and Mythri Movies. Aditya says the company is in talks with production houses in India to showcase their upcoming films at CineDubs. Although the app is primarily made for moviegoers, it can also be used while watching movies on OTT platforms.

Achievements / Milestones

DubsWorks was presented at the first Film Technology Exhibition held at the 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa. It is claimed to have been downloaded by over 35,000 users globally and viewed over 80,000 soundtracks. Cinedubs aims to expand its user base to two million by FY 24-25 and generate significant revenue through subscriptions and advertising.

Business modelBusiness model

While the startup is in the pre-earnings phase, it plans to monetize its subscription base and attract ads to generate revenue. For FY 24-24, Cinedubs aims to generate $2.3 million in revenue and $6.4 million for FY 25-26.

It competes with TheaterEars, which is limited to the U.S. and Puerto Rico due to the English-to-Spanish limitation. Dubverse is a Bengaluru-based video dubbing platform. It also competes with ai, Bengaluru-based multi-modal content localization platform SyncSense, and Vijayawada-based multi-lingual AI dubbing platform UniDub.

The Future of the Film Market

According to a report by Cognitive Market Research, the global film dubbing market size was $2.9 billion in 2023 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 6.3% from 2023 to 2030. The market is divided into different types such as local language dubbing and foreign language. The report also highlights that North America remains the market leader at a time when significant growth is expected in the Asia Pacific region until 2030. Technological advancements, especially AI-based voice synthesis and lip-syncing technologies, are noted as key factors driving the market growth.