From correspondents in Maharashtra, India, 10:02 PM IST

Leading Bollywood production and distribution firm Eros International Plc has entered into a multi-million dollar deal with TitleMatch Entertainment Group for marketing Bollywood films in the US.

Eros said Friday that the deal would make available a wide range of its new release and catalogue movies through the TitleMatch DVD On-Demand services.

Although Eros has not disclosed the deal amount, it said that sales of Bollywood films in the US today represent a $1.5 billion a year market, which is expected to grow by 16 percent over the next five years - taking the US sales to over $3 billion.

Eros, which has a share of 70 percent of Bollywood film titles marketed worldwide, said that Indian films do more business in the US than films from any other country.

'TitleMatch offers an intelligent way for us to quickly expand our market presence in the retail channel,' said Ken Naz, CEO of Eros US operations.

'The TitleMatch service is unique in its ability to eliminate inventory manufacturing and shipping costs, which can be quite significant.'

'Eros commands a significant presence in the international movie industry and their movies represent an enormous revenue opportunity for TitleMatch and our retail partners,' said Syd Dufton, president of TitleMatch Entertainment.

'Bollywood movies in particular are growing in popularity in the US and our DVD on-demand service is the perfect way to bring more of these and other popular movies to market.'

The TitleMatch DVD On-demand system lets movie studios and retailers burn video content directly in stores and at website distribution centres at the time orders are placed.

For online orders, consumers browse and select available titles from an e-tailer's website with orders produced at product distribution centres or store locations by using the system's TitleMatch Factory.

At retail stores, consumers can browse and select available products from multi-media touch-screen display terminals located on the sales floor. Store personnel produce orders behind the counter on the TitleMatch Factory in minutes.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)