Cinema history
'My Name is Khan' has made cinema history by becoming the first ever Bollywood film to be released in cinemas with audio description (AD). Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) worked with 20th Century Fox to achieve this milestone after its research among blind or partially sighted people of Asian origin found that over 55 per cent of respondents were more likely to watch Bollywood films if AD was provided.
Audio description
AD is as important to blind and partially sighted people as subtitles are to those with hearing problems. It is an additional narration that fits between passages of dialogue to describe action sequences, body language, costume and scenery, allowing the viewer to understand exactly what is happening on screen. 'My Name is Khan' is also the first film to feature AD in Hindi, the language of the film.
Martin Bromfield, Executive Director at Twentieth Century Fox says: "20th Century Fox is proud to offer, for the first time ever, a Hindi AD track on 'My Name is Khan'. English speaking AD has been available on all our films for some time now, so we felt it was natural to progress and offer Hindi AD on our first collaboration with Bollywood. With help from RNIB and Deluxe Digital Studios we worked hard to create an English audio descriptive track which was then translated before being recorded by a Hindi speaking audio describer, in time for the second week of release."
Fazilet Hadi, Director Inclusive Society, RNIB says: "Around 700 films are produced by Bollywood every year, and our research tells us that blind and partially sighted fans want AD on these films. So we're delighted that Fox have worked with us to allow blind and partially sighted people to enjoy this much-anticipated release along with their sighted family and friends. We hope other studios will follow Fox's lead making 'My Name is Khan' the first of many audio described Bollywood films."
Responses from fans
Film fan, Bhanu Ben, from Coventry says: "I love watching Bollywood films on DVD at home - if my daughter's here she tells me what's happening on screen, but I stopped going to the cinema because it was too difficult to follow the action. I'm really excited because I can actually go and see 'My Name is Khan' at the cinema with my family and we enjoy it together with AD in Hindi."
'My Name is Khan' from Fox STAR Studios and 20th Century Fox is directed by Karan Johar and stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. It opened in the UK on 11 February and will be available with English AD & Subs and Hindi AD in cinemas from 19 February 2010. Cineworld and Vue cinemas have confirmed they are using the Hindi AD and details of which cinemas around the country are showing the film are available on their respective websites.
RNIB's campaign for AD has resulted in more than 300 cinemas in the UK equipped with systems to facilitate it, and the majority of Hollywood and UK films released in this country have an AD track on them. Many DVDs also include AD on mainstream UK releases.
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An RNIB spokesperson is available for interviews in English or Hindi. For more information contact RNIB Media Relations Team on 020 7391 2223 or email pressoffice@rnib.org.uk, out of hours call 07968 482812.
Notes to editors:
RNIB Research on Audio Description for Bollywood Films
In 2009 RNIB funded research to determine the demand for AD on Bollywood films from blind and partially sighted people of Asian origin. A copy of the research report is available on request from RNIB Media Relations team. Some of the findings are as follows:
• 19 per cent of the 260 respondents in the quantitative study said they watched a Bollywood film on television everyday, with 6 per cent stating that they watched them on DVD about once a day.
• Viewing of Bollywood films at the cinema was much lower, with 66 per cent stating they never watched Bollywood films at the cinema.
• 40 per cent believed that their current sight level was a major factor that prevented them from going to the cinema to watch Bollywood films, as it affected their understanding of the film.
• Over half of the respondents stated that they were more likely to watch Bollywood films if AD was provided (56 per cent in the quantitative study and 92 per cent in the qualitative study).
• The majority of respondents preferred AD in Hindi compared with description in English.
About RNIB
Every day another 100 people in the UK will start to lose their sight. There are around 1.8 million people in the UK with sight problems. RNIB is the leading charity working in the UK offering practical support, advice and information for anyone with sight difficulties. If you, or someone you know, has a sight problem RNIB can help. Call the RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999 or visit www.rnib.org.uk.
RNIB supports the UK Vision Strategy, a ground-breaking UK-wide initiative which seeks a major transformation in the UK's eye health, eye care and sight loss services. The strategy was launched in April 2008 in response to a World Health Assembly global resolution to reduce avoidable blindness by the year 2020 and to improve support and services for blind and partially sighted people. To find out more visit: www.vision2020uk.org.uk/ukvisionstrategy.