In the diverse field of Indian cinema, where regional films are increasingly important, language barriers still pose a significant challenge. While blockbuster movies like "RRR" and "Dangal" have released in multiple languages, not all movies release in multiple languages like this one.
Language barrier is a big problem for movie lovers who cannot enjoy their favorite movies. Especially in cosmopolitan cities where cultures and languages meet. 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 learned this when he struggled to watch "Mission Impossible" due to language problems.
Releasing movies in multiple languages is not possible. This involves additional costs and logistical complications, often requiring separate screenings for each language, which not only restricts film accessibility to a wider audience, but also complicates the distribution process. As a result, producers don't like to release movies in different languages. Due to these limitations, Aditya realized that moviegoers were content to watch movies only in the languages available in their local theatres.
Who is Aditya Kashyap?
A graduate of Delhi University, Aditya has 25 years of leadership experience in the aerospace industry, IBM Daksh, Genpact and Aegis. 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, he has held several senior leadership positions at companies such as Altran, frog, Wirkle Inc. and Newgen Software. He started his professional career as a software engineer at HCL Technologies in February 2002. The founders invested about 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 Indian markets and the Middle East.
How does it work?
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 theaters. The soundtrack is then downloaded using Digital Rights Management (DRM) and the audio is synchronized while seated 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 timestamp the movie.
The startup said the patent-pending technology syncs audio and plays a downloaded soundtrack in a true 3D spatial soundtrack through headphones. (Spatial audio refers to audio designed to have a 3D quality.) The founders faced obstacles in introducing Cinedubs to the limited Indian film industry.
Today, the startup has partnered 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, subscription options include annual for unlimited movie soundtrack downloads, Includes semi-annual and quarterly subscriptions, soundtrack sales for pay-per-download, in-app advertising for real estate monetization, and movie-based merchandise sales.
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 screen their upcoming films on Cinedubs. Although the app is primarily made for moviegoers, it can also be used while watching movies on OTT platforms.
Achievement / Milestone
DubsWorks was presented at the first ever Film Technology Exhibition at the 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa. It claims to have over 35,000 users downloaded and watched over 80,000 soundtracks globally. Cinedubs aims to expand its user base to two million by FY24-25 and generate substantial revenue through subscriptions and advertisements.
Business modelBusiness model
While the startup is in the pre-revenue stage, it plans to monetize its subscription base and attract ads to generate revenue. In FY24-24, Cinedubs aims to generate $2.3 million in revenue and in FY25-26 $6.4 million.
It competes with TheaterEars, which is limited to the US and Puerto Rico due to an English-to-Spanish limitation. It also competes with Bengaluru-based video dubbing platform Dubverse.ai, Bengaluru-based multi-modal content localization platform SyncSense and Vijayawada-based multi-lingual AI dubbing platform UniDub.
The future of the film dubbing market
According to a report by Cognitive Market Research, the global film dubbing market size was valued at USD 2.9 billion in 2023 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 6.3% from 2023 to 2030. The market is segmented into different types such as local language dubbing and foreign language. The report also highlights that North America is leading the market while the Asia Pacific region is expected to witness significant growth till 2030. Technological advancements, particularly AI-based voice synthesis and lip-syncing technologies are noted as key factors driving market growth. .
