Hyderabad: With the stupendous success of Baahubali-2, insurance firms are focusing on tapping the south Indian film industry for their film insurance policies.
“The film industry in India is increasingly opting for insurance cover. In FY17, we have issued 160 film insurance policies, mostly in Bollywood. We would now like to focus on the southern market as well, since we are confident of catering to the unique requirements of the film industry,” K.G. Krishnamoorthy Rao, the MD and CEO of Future Generali India Insurance Company Limited, told this newspaper.
The major film to be insured in India was Hindi movie Taal in early 1990s. Since then, most corporate film production houses have adopted the film insurance to hedge against losses caused by unforeseen damages. Future Generali had insured Baahubali-2 for over Rs 200 crore.
The film insurance typical covers the risks related to the film during the pre-production to post-production stage. It insures the film against unforeseen incidents like death, illness of an actor or occurrence of natural calamities or accidental damage leading to delays in the film schedule. It also includes coverage against accidents that damage equipment while shooting is in process.
Additionally, it covers insurance against its legal liability to pay damages for third party civil claims arising out of bodily injury or property damage caused in the course of the event by an accident in the premises where it is held and during the policy period.
While the premium of a film insurance policy could be in the range of 0.5 to 1 per cent of the sum assured, the cost of the policy could increase if risks are higher.
While the south Indian film makers were cool to the concept of film insurance due to lower cost of productions, Mr Rao said they are confident of it taking off in the south as the producers make movies with big ticket investments like Baahubali.
Apart from Future Generali, insurance firms like New India Assurance, National Insurance Company, IFFCO-Tokio General Insurance among others offer film insurance products.
According to an expert, who tracks the film industry, the film insurance may not be appealing to producers, who invest unaccounted money in the production, and therefore, it is mostly corporate film production houses, who are buying film insurance for their movies. He, however, admits that there is a lack of awareness among south Indian film producers, most of whom are small-time ones, about the benefits of the film insurance in covering unforeseen expenses.
