This startup is enabling cinegoers to enjoy movies in their own language

In the diverse landscape of Indian cinema, where regional films are increasingly gaining prominence, language barriers still pose a significant challenge. While blockbuster movies like "RRR and Dangal” have been released in multiple languages, not all films enjoy such extensive linguistic reach. 

The language barrier can be a major disappointment for movie enthusiasts who are unable to enjoy films in their preferred language, especially in cosmopolitan cities, which host a melting pot of cultures and languages.

For example, a recent study by the Indian Film Industry Foundation found that over 60% of moviegoers in Mumbai prefer to watch films in their native language. However, only a small fraction of the movies released in Mumbai are available in multiple languages. 

The issue of language barriers is not just limited to India. It is a global challenge. In fact, a recent study by the Motion Picture Association of America found that over 80% of films released worldwide are not available in English, making it difficult for moviegoers who do not speak English to enjoy the latest releases.

Aditya Kashyap, a movie enthusiast himself, experienced this challenge firsthand in Paris when he struggled to watch "Mission Impossible" due to the language barrier.

Releasing movies in multiple languages is not a straightforward task. It involves additional costs and logistical complexities, often necessitating separate screenings for each language, which not only restricts film accessibility to a broader audience but also complicates the distribution process. Consequently, producers are less inclined to release movies in various languages. 

Aditya realised that due to these constraints, moviegoers are left to watch movies only in the languages available at their local theatres.

Addressing the issue

Being a movie enthusiast himself, Aditya recognised this issue and, in 2016, collaborated with his brother Vineet Kashyap to develop a language-agnostic solution.

The duo founded Cinedubs in 2022. Two years later, they launched their app, enabling moviegoers to enjoy films in their preferred language, regardless of the language in which the movie is being screened.

However, the launch was somewhat delayed. It took the founders two years to secure rights for their first film, "Rocketry: The Nambi Effect," a drama directed by R. Madhavan, who later became Cinedub's brand ambassador. The release of "Rocketry" on Cinedubs allowed audiences in eight countries to watch the film in their chosen language.

Rocketry is a biographical drama based on the life of Nambi Narayanan, a former scientist and aerospace engineer of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), who was falsely accused of espionage.

"There was a good chance that residents from different cities, speaking different languages, might get deprived of watching the film. But now, thanks to Cinedubs, anyone in any part of the country will be able to enjoy the film in the language they prefer. I am very excited to be part of Cinedubs which will revolutionise the movie-watching experience as it will break the language barrier even in cinemas," Madhavan earlier said.

Since then, the Delhi-based startup has expanded its catalogue to 16 movies, including Vikrant Rona, Sita Ramam, Karthikeya 2, Godfather, Yashoda, Bhediya, Vijayanand, Dhamaka, Michael, August 16 1947, Spy, Tiger Nageswara Rao, Kushi, Salmon 3D, Rama Banam, and Bhediya.

While the catalogue is not extensive, it is continuously growing, attracting a broader audience in the industry.

Who is Aditya Kashyap?

Aditya is a Delhi University graduate and has over 25 years of leadership experience in the aviation industry, IBM Daksh, Genpact, and Aegis. 

He also served as CEO at Headspire Technologies, a software development company, where he built a casual dating app Mixxxer, which was acquired by US-based dating site AdultFriendFinder. 

Apart from this, He held several senior leadership positions in companies like Altran, frog, Wirkle Inc., and Newgen Software. He started his professional career with HCL Technologies in February 2002 as a Software Engineer. 

The founders have invested around 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, which was led by friends and family. The founders are in talks with investors to raise pre-Series A funding to expand its footprints deeper into Indian markets and the Middle East.

How does it work? 

One can use Cinedubs through their smartphone. The app allows users to download soundtracks of a movie in their preferred language before watching the movie in a theatre. 

The soundtrack is then downloaded using Digital Rights Management (DRM), and the audio is synchronised when seated in the theatre. 

The app leverages an in-house developed 3D data structure classified frequency indexing (CFI) method to record five seconds of audio from the screen using the microphone and detect the film's timestamp. 

The startup said that its patent-pending technology syncs the audio and plays the downloaded soundtrack in the original 3D spatial soundtrack through the headphones. (Spatial audio refers to audio that has been designed to have a 3D quality.) 

“Once inside the theatre, they can connect their headphones and hit the play button. Sound will automatically sync with the scene running on the screen and start it in their language,” Aditya said.

While the initial journey wasn't easy, the founders faced hurdles in introducing Cinedubs to the Indian film industry as they had limited connections. 

Today, the startup collaborates with numerous production houses in India and is in the final stages of discussions with Hollywood giants like Warner Bros and Universal Studios. The app is free to use, but the startup plans to introduce a nominal subscription fee soon.

According to Aditya, The subscription options will include annual, half-yearly, and quarterly subscriptions for unlimited movie soundtrack downloads, soundtrack sales for pay-per-download, in-app advertisement for real estate monetisation, and sales for movie-based merchandise.

Partnerships

The Gurugram-based startup’s 8-member team works with production companies, including Jio Studios, People Media Factory, AAArts, Tricolour Films, R Madhavan, VRL Media, Purple Bull, Shalini Arts, Ed Entertainments, and Mythri Movies. 

Aditya says that the company is in talks with production houses in India to feature their upcoming films in Cinedubs. While the app is primarily built for moviegoers, It can also be used while watching movies on OTT platforms. 

Achievement / Milestone

DubsWorks was featured at the first-ever Film Technology Exhibition held at the 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa.

It claims to have seen over 80,000 soundtracks downloaded by more than 35,000 users globally, with a significant majority from India. Cinedubs aims to expand its user base to two million by FY24-25 and generate substantial revenue through subscriptions and advertising.

Business Model 

While the startup is in the pre-revenue stage, It plans to monetize its subscription base and attract advertising to start generating revenue. For FY24-24, Cinedubs aims to generate $2.3 million in revenue and $6.4 million by FY25-26.

It competes with TheaterEars, which is limited to the US and Puerto Rico due to its English-to-Spanish limitation. It also competes with players such as Bengaluru-based video dubbing platform Dubverse.ai, Bengaluru-based multi-modal content localisation platform SyncSense, and Vijayawada-based multi-lingual AI dubbing platform UniDub. 

The future of the movie dubbing market

According to a report by Cognitive Market Research, the global film dubbing market size was $2.9 billion in 2023, projected to expand at a CAGR of 6.3% from 2023 to 2030. The market is segmented into different types such as Native Language Dubbing, Foreign Language Dubbing, and Special Language Dubbing, and applications including Action Movie, Comedy, and Science Fiction. 

The report also highlights that North America is leading in the market, while significant growth is expected in the Asia Pacific region until 2030. Technological advancements, particularly in AI-based voice synthesis and lip-syncing technologies, are noted as key factors driving market growth. 

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