Top 10 crowd-funded projects in India
Could yours be next?
Amitha HB
Commits, Bangalore
Published on 9 Nov, 2013
https://campusdiaries.com/stories/top-10-crowd-funded-projects-in-india
How many of us know that one of the greatest film makers in the Bengali cinema started off his career with his movie being crowd-funded? Although this took place way back in 1978 when the concept was yet to take birth in India, the movie went on to win the best feature film award in Hindi. It was none other than Shyam Benegal, who got each member of the Gujarat Milk Co-operatives to contribute Rs.2 towards production of his film Manthan.
That gets us thinking of the potential of crowdfunding as a platform to raise funds for not only film makers but anybody wanting to realise his/her dream. Besides Benegal, there have been other such people who have had faith in crowdfunding and have succeeded in achieving their targets.
Here are some of the top crowdfunding projects in India that smelt success:
I Am: After My brother Nikhil, Anirban Dhar (Onir) hit a rough patch with the movies that followed. “Crowdfunding was more of a necessity than a deliberate decision,” says Onir in an interview with IBNLive. However, he did manage to raise Rs.80 lakh from around 450 contributors for his film I Am which went on to win the National award. It remains the highest amount crowd-funded for a project in India.
Lucia: It only took Pawan Kumar, the director of Lucia, to write an exasperated blog post called “Making Enemies” to generate interest in it. After his previous film Lifeu Ishtena Kumar had been trying to get someone to listen to his next script. Ten days post the write-up, several strangers came together to donate whatever little they could to make his dream come true. Eighteen months after the campaign on Catapooolt, Lucia was released in the theatres.
Biosense Technologies: Bionsense, a Mumbai-based medical technology company, disproved the theory that only film makers succeed in crowdfunding. By March 2013, the company founded by a team of doctors, engineers, and product designers managed to raise $500,000 for its urine analysis application called uChek on Indiegogo.
Cutthroat: With independent projects catching up in the industry, Sarthak Dasgupta, a Mumbai-based film maker joined the crowdfunding club. After his debut, The Great Indian Butterfly, Dasgupta marketed his project on Catapoolt, raising Rs.8 lakh within three months. “Crowdfunding is not just about raising money. It is also about marketing to the right audience and gaining traction even before a project is started,” he says in an email interview with IANS.
Attuned Spirits: After a short stint of being a part of a band in Boston, Vasudha Sharma decided to release her own pop-folk fusion album in India. “We are all scared of failure and starting such a campaign in a country like India where the concept of crowdfunding is new to people, this was indeed a challenge,” says the singer in an interview with Hindustan Times. She went to raise Rs.5.72 lakh for her album through her campaign on Wishberry.in.
Placebo: It is not just mainstream cinema that has been making waves in crowdfunding. Film maker Abhay Kumar created a new record with his documentary Placebo, raising over Rs.5 lakh in a year’s time.
A Kind of a True Story: Who knew a musical would achieve its target within 22 days of its campaign? Actors’ cult, a Mumbai theatre group, did just that with a campaign trying to raise money for a contemporary musical on Wishberry.in. Even before the campaign could end, they achieved more than they had set a target of Rs.2, 50, 000.
Kashish film festival: “We were unsure if people would contribute money to support a film festival, but the response has been tremendous,” said Rangayan, the festival director of Kashish, thus proving that film festivals weren’t far behind the crowdfunding scene in India.
One rupee film project: Anamitra Roy, known for not spending a penny for his independent film Little Fish Eat Big Fish started the One rupee film project in 2012. The project managed to raise more than Rs.2000 in just six hours. After raising more than a lakh within fourteen months of the campaign, he started the production for the film in early 2013.
Ketto: Film star Kunal Kapoor and Varun Seth, through their online portal Ketto, that connects non-profits and other companies to create social impact, planned on raising about a crore for the company. “Crowdfunding is a big disruption for financial services industry, it cuts the middlemen away,” said Seth in an interview with mint.
According to the National Crowdfunding Association of India report, more than 150 projects in India have been crowd-funded. The numbers of people contributing to projects have only been increasing.
Would you be the next one to fall in line?
Could yours be next?
Amitha HB
Commits, Bangalore
Published on 9 Nov, 2013
https://campusdiaries.com/stories/top-10-crowd-funded-projects-in-india
How many of us know that one of the greatest film makers in the Bengali cinema started off his career with his movie being crowd-funded? Although this took place way back in 1978 when the concept was yet to take birth in India, the movie went on to win the best feature film award in Hindi. It was none other than Shyam Benegal, who got each member of the Gujarat Milk Co-operatives to contribute Rs.2 towards production of his film Manthan.
That gets us thinking of the potential of crowdfunding as a platform to raise funds for not only film makers but anybody wanting to realise his/her dream. Besides Benegal, there have been other such people who have had faith in crowdfunding and have succeeded in achieving their targets.
Here are some of the top crowdfunding projects in India that smelt success:
I Am: After My brother Nikhil, Anirban Dhar (Onir) hit a rough patch with the movies that followed. “Crowdfunding was more of a necessity than a deliberate decision,” says Onir in an interview with IBNLive. However, he did manage to raise Rs.80 lakh from around 450 contributors for his film I Am which went on to win the National award. It remains the highest amount crowd-funded for a project in India.
Lucia: It only took Pawan Kumar, the director of Lucia, to write an exasperated blog post called “Making Enemies” to generate interest in it. After his previous film Lifeu Ishtena Kumar had been trying to get someone to listen to his next script. Ten days post the write-up, several strangers came together to donate whatever little they could to make his dream come true. Eighteen months after the campaign on Catapooolt, Lucia was released in the theatres.
Biosense Technologies: Bionsense, a Mumbai-based medical technology company, disproved the theory that only film makers succeed in crowdfunding. By March 2013, the company founded by a team of doctors, engineers, and product designers managed to raise $500,000 for its urine analysis application called uChek on Indiegogo.
Cutthroat: With independent projects catching up in the industry, Sarthak Dasgupta, a Mumbai-based film maker joined the crowdfunding club. After his debut, The Great Indian Butterfly, Dasgupta marketed his project on Catapoolt, raising Rs.8 lakh within three months. “Crowdfunding is not just about raising money. It is also about marketing to the right audience and gaining traction even before a project is started,” he says in an email interview with IANS.
Attuned Spirits: After a short stint of being a part of a band in Boston, Vasudha Sharma decided to release her own pop-folk fusion album in India. “We are all scared of failure and starting such a campaign in a country like India where the concept of crowdfunding is new to people, this was indeed a challenge,” says the singer in an interview with Hindustan Times. She went to raise Rs.5.72 lakh for her album through her campaign on Wishberry.in.
Placebo: It is not just mainstream cinema that has been making waves in crowdfunding. Film maker Abhay Kumar created a new record with his documentary Placebo, raising over Rs.5 lakh in a year’s time.
A Kind of a True Story: Who knew a musical would achieve its target within 22 days of its campaign? Actors’ cult, a Mumbai theatre group, did just that with a campaign trying to raise money for a contemporary musical on Wishberry.in. Even before the campaign could end, they achieved more than they had set a target of Rs.2, 50, 000.
Kashish film festival: “We were unsure if people would contribute money to support a film festival, but the response has been tremendous,” said Rangayan, the festival director of Kashish, thus proving that film festivals weren’t far behind the crowdfunding scene in India.
One rupee film project: Anamitra Roy, known for not spending a penny for his independent film Little Fish Eat Big Fish started the One rupee film project in 2012. The project managed to raise more than Rs.2000 in just six hours. After raising more than a lakh within fourteen months of the campaign, he started the production for the film in early 2013.
Ketto: Film star Kunal Kapoor and Varun Seth, through their online portal Ketto, that connects non-profits and other companies to create social impact, planned on raising about a crore for the company. “Crowdfunding is a big disruption for financial services industry, it cuts the middlemen away,” said Seth in an interview with mint.
According to the National Crowdfunding Association of India report, more than 150 projects in India have been crowd-funded. The numbers of people contributing to projects have only been increasing.
Would you be the next one to fall in line?
