Sivaji boards Singapore Airlines

Chennai: Beefing up its in flight entertainment library Singapore Airlines has acquired the airborne rights of Tamil blockbuster movie Sivaji.

This is the first time that the airlines has bought such rights for an Indian film for its passengers to view on board.

Declining to disclose the price paid for the three months exclusivity, Bharath Mahadevan, manager – southern India, Singapore Airlines said, “The price is three times more than what we used to pay for Hollywood titles.”

The airlines acquired the rights from Ayngaram International, London which has got the overseas rights from AVM Productions, the movie production house.

“This is the first time Sivaji is being shown in a media other than movie theatres. Even before the DVD rights got commercialised Singapore Airlines has bagged the rights,” added S C Babu, CEO, AVM Productions.

He said the DVD rights will get operational in three months time and the television rights two years from now.

According to Mahadevan, the idea is to offer more local flavour to our passengers. He said all Singapore Airlines flights will have six Hindi and three Tamil movies for in flight entertainment.

Agreeing that in flight entertainment is not the main criteria for a passenger to choose an airline, Mahadevan said, it does contribute its share in the decision making process.

He said the airline is planning to have on board movie festivals where it would screen movies of select actors and directors sometime next year.