Indian cinema warms up to NFTs: All about the digital token

The NFT rage has taken over Indian cinema too. Many movies are riding the NFT wave for movie promotions with actors launching their own NFT series to connect with their fans.

Non- Fungible Tokens or NFTs are digital tokens minted on the blockchain. They are unique and secured by the blockchain. Their exclusivity is what draws most people to them and this is what Indian movie makers are trying to tap into.

In recent times, NFTs have become an excellent means of movie promotion. The creators of the newly released Hindi film 'Jhund', starring Amitabh Bachchan, have created two NFTs celebrating the film. These NFTs were minted in collaboration with US-based NFT platform Superstar Xchange and are priced at over Rs 2,15,000 each. The NFT would be launched on the Tezos platform.

Moreover, the movie '83', celebrating India’s victory in the 1983 World Cup, had also launched a series of 83 collectables including autographed physical cricket memorabilia, video scenes, animated digital avatars, and unseen posters and images.

Not just movies, but actors are also embracing the NFT trend to get closer to their fans. Amitabh Bachchan was also one of the first celebrities to hop on the NFT bandwagon in India. Last year, his NFT collection, which included a recording of the star reciting poems written by his father, sold for a whopping Rs 7.18 crores!

Salman Khan also ventured into the NFT space last year. He launched a series of 200 NFTs based on the Dabang film series. The actor had also launched the $GARI token by Chingari, a short video app, and became the brand ambassador for the platform’s NFT marketplace.

This trend did not limit itself to Bollywood. South Indian actors like Rajnikanth and Kamal Hassan also rode the NFT wave. Rajnikanth launched a series of NFTs based on his 2007 movie, Shivaji the Boss. Kamal Hassan went a step further and celebrated his 67th birthday by launching an NFT series and creating a digital avatar to enter the Metaverse.

Minal Thukral, Executive Vice President, Growth, and strategy, at CoinDCX told Business Today that “ NFTs celebrating movies will encourage mass adoption with ease. Cinema could become a major vehicle for getting the masses comfortable with concepts like NFTs and metaverse.” He believes that celebrity endorsements might help in popularising NFTs in India, which is relatively an untapped market for NFT collectables so far.