Singapore company cashes in from Kabali figurines

From Gurdip Singh Singapore, Aug 17 (PTI) A Singapore start-up co-founded byfive Indian-origin persons is cashing in on one of India’slatest box-office hit, Kabali, by selling figurines of thefilm’s lead character played by cine star Rajinikanth. About 85 per cent of the 40,000 figurines produced byCarbon Copy Collectibles have been sold since sales began inmid-June for the global market, The Straits Times reportedtoday. The company, founded by five Singaporeans of Indianorigins, was selected by Kabali’s global publicity campaigner,Chennai-based production house, V Creations, to make and sellfigurines of Kabaleeswaran, a character portrayed by65-year-old Rajinikanth. Each polyvinyl figurine, 16.5 cm tall and weighing 300g,is being sold for SGD 39.90 in Singapore. E-commerce giant Amazon has bought the Kabali figurinesfor the Indian market while it is being sold in Malaysiathrough Madura Stores, a local retail outlet for Indianproducts. "We are the pioneers of the collectibles in the Indiancinema industry," said Suraen Ramdass, 29, and one of thefounders of Carbon Copy Collectibles which started in June2015. The idea came from the Western cinemas companies whichhave culture of figurine collectibles of personalitiesincluding the Ironman and Batman, according to the report. Carbon Copy Collectibles has made and sold figurines oftwo other Indian film characters in Singapore, Malaysia, theUnited States, Britain and the United Arab Emirates. The first was 2,000 pieces of Manik Baasha, a characterfrom a 20-year-old movie, made in December 2015. The second was 2,000 pieces of a character from 1992 movieThevar Magan which were released in March this year. "Both (the figurines) were sold out in 1-1/2 months ofrelease," added Kumaresh Bala, 25, one of the founders. The other founders are Dhivya Subramaniam, 27, PrakashRamdas, 29, and Ganeshan Lingam, 29. PTI GS SUA AKJSUA