Cinedubs, located in Gurugram and established by the pioneering brothers Aditya and Vineet Kashyap, stands out as a trailblazer in a time when cinematic diversity is thriving. Through this cutting-edge platform, movie buffs can enjoy movies in their own tongue, regardless of linguistic barriers. With 80,000 film soundtracks in its library and more than 35,000 users worldwide, Cinedubs is raising the bar for multilingual moviegoing experiences.
The Changing Face of Indian Film
Hindi-language films have previously dominated India’s cinematic landscape, however this has recently changed dramatically. Diverse Indian language films, particularly those from the south, have captured the public’s attention. The gap, meanwhile, is caused by how few of these movies are available in other languages. Consider the box office success “RRR,” which was only released in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Hindi.
The Pioneering Start
The beginning of Cinedubs can be attributed to a personal interaction Aditya Kashyap had in Paris in 2015. He tried to watch “Mission Impossible,” but there were only French-language showings, so he ran into a language barrier. The thought that cities, which are now mashups of various cultures and languages, require access to films in their favorite tongue was sparked by this encounter.
In order to create a solution that crosses language barriers, Aditya Kashyap teamed up with his brother Vineet Kashyap in 2016. Cinedubs was founded after four years of persistent work. The Cinedubs app, which was introduced in July 2022, enables users to enjoy movies in their preferred language at their nearby theater, regardless of the language in which the film was first released.
The Strength of Collaboration
For the founders, acquiring the rights to their debut movie, “Rocketry: The Nambi Effect,” took a difficult two years. The rights to 15 movies are currently held by Cinedubs, including well-known films like “Vikrant Rona,” “Sita Ramam,” “Karthikeya 2,” and “Godfather.” There are several options available for moviegoers because to this extraordinary portfolio’s ongoing expansion.
Meet the Pioneers of Cinedubs
Aditya Kashyap offers to Cinedubs a plethora of knowledge with over 25 years of leadership experience in the aviation sector, IBM Daksh, Genpact, and Aegis. He was the CEO of Majorel India, a company that specializes in providing a global customer experience, before establishing this ground-breaking endeavor.
Vineet Kashyap, on the other hand, has experience working with HCL, Newgen Software, Wirkle INC, Aricent, and Frog. He also has a solid expertise in product management. He also held the position of CEO at Headspire Technologies, where he helped develop the applications Mixxxer and TheatreEars, both of which AdultFriendFinder later purchased.
The visionary brothers’ personal investment of over $500,000 over the course of three to four years to create the Cinedubs app and launch the business is proof of their commitment.
How Cinedubs Works: The Experience
The movie-watching experience is revolutionized by the Cinedubs app. Before going to the theater, users can download the soundtrack of a movie in their favorite language to their smartphones. When users are seated in the theater, the app uses Digital Rights Management (DRM) to synchronize the downloaded audio with the film in real-time.
The software records five seconds of audio from the screen using the microphone and determines the timing of the movie using clever internal technology that uses a 3D data structure classified frequency indexing (CFI) approach. The authentic 3D spatial audio is sent to users’ headphones thanks to this patent-pending technology, which also guarantees smooth synchronization. This three-dimensional audio quality adds to the cinematic experience by creating a spatial audio immersion.
They can attach their headphones and press the play button once inside the theater, according to Aditya, Cinedubs’ co-founder and managing director. The sound will begin in their language and automatically sync with the scene playing on the screen.
Using a Team Approach
For the purpose of hosting and distributing original dubbed movie soundtracks in various languages, Cinedubs works with content owners and movie production companies. Cinedubs has partnered with renowned production companies, including Jio Studios, People Media Factory, AAArts, Tricolour Films, R Madhavan, VRL Media, Purple Bull, Shalini Arts, Ed Entertainments, and Mythri Movies, despite finding it initially difficult to introduce the concept to the Indian film industry. Additionally, negotiations to release their films on the platform with Hollywood heavyweights like Warner Bros. and Universal Studios are in progress.
The Silver Screen and Beyond
The Cinedubs app offers flexibility by extending its value to watching movies on OTT platforms, despite being initially created for moviegoers.
Accepting the Dubbing Industry
An internal development project called Dubswork Mobile is the company behind the Cinedubs app. It received praise when it debuted in the first-ever Film Technology Exhibition at the 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa.
The software currently provides access for free, but a small cost will soon be introduced. There are several different subscription choices available, including annual, biannual, and quarterly subscriptions. These will include in-app advertising for real estate monetization, pay-per-download soundtrack sales, and unlimited movie soundtrack downloads.
Stunning User Adoption
More than 35,000 individuals worldwide have downloaded an astounding 80,000 film soundtracks using the app as of right present, with 90% of the user base being Indian. By FY24–25, Cinedubs plans to onboard two million users, and by FY25–26, it expects to onboard an astonishing 4.5 million.
The Way to Generate Revenue
Despite being in the pre-revenue stage right now, Cinedubs has a plan in place for making money. This entails generating revenue from its subscriber base and luring advertising agreements. By FY24–25 and a sizable $6.4 million by FY25–26, the company hopes to reach sales milestones of $2.3 million and $6.4 million, respectively.
Competition and Growth
Cinedubs competes with companies like TheaterEars, which is restricted to the US and Puerto Rico because to its English-to-Spanish specialization, in a market known for creativity. It also faces competition from platforms like the multi-lingual AI dubbing platform UniDub, SyncSense, and Dubverse.ai, which offers video dubbing services, all of which are situated in Bengaluru.
A Relationship With Stars
A significant event was the August 2022 appointment of actor R Madhavan as Cinedubs’ brand ambassador.
A booming market and challenging objectives
Precision Reports estimates that the global film dubbing market will reach a value of $3.5 billion in 2022 and increase at a CAGR of 7.19% through 2018 to reach a total value of $5.3 billion.
The voyage of Cinedubs is set to advance because negotiations to obtain pre-Series A investment are currently taking place. This infusion of cash will support its growth into more developed Middle Eastern and Indian markets, assuring the survival of the multilingual movie experience.
