Producers/Distributors Vs Multiplexes Standoff- the 3rd Dimension

I was planning to write the 3rd part of my traditional single screen theatre experience series ( check out the 2nd part- http://passionforcinema.com/the-traditional-single-screen-experience-series-%e2%80%93-apsara-theatrecoimbatore/)this morning when something took me by surprise. I was reading the Deccan Chronicle (Hyderabad edition) and saw that the major part of Page 2 was devoted to articles on cinema. This definitely looked unnatural to me & so I spent some time reading the articles. While the major space was devoted to how the bigger stars in A.P are of late doing fewer projects and so the effect of this on business in the industry, I was more intrigued by another article. This article was all about how single screen theatres mainly screening Bollywood movies in a lot of cities in A.P are now struggling for survival due to lack of content and playing old Hindi & English movies to keep the theatres occupied.

The article goes on to describe the plight of these theatres and said that if lack of content continues, then some of these theatres are likely to close down for survival. This article made me immediately think about the on going strike in Bollywood from a totally different angle. By now its common knowledge that there is an ongoing strike in Bollywood called by the Producers/Distributors combine against the Multiplexes in order to ensure 50: 50 ratio of revenue sharing (read this -http://passionforcinema.com/next-month-at-the-movies-money-saved-joy-lost/). What was initially expected to last for a month has now entered into its 2nd month and there still doesn’t seem to be any improvement in the anvil apart from a meeting held between the 2 sides earlier this week & another such meeting planned for the next week.
In fact more or less all the Bollywood releases that were scheduled for May have already been pushed to June or later. As of now the only movies likely to release in May are – Shivajee Chandrabhushan’s Frozen,99and Vashu Bhagnani’s Kal Kissne Dekha. All of us including myself have been wondering as to how the strike will benefit either side. We feel this very strongly as we know that the strike doesn’t help the producers/distributors since prolonged delay of projects can lead to a lot of problems like interest rates of money borrowed going up , promotion not possible, confusion regarding release dates etc. Also for the multiplexes lack of content is a sure thing to happen and so this has a direct impact on footfalls and hence the collection.

In the midst of all this is a totally different phenomenon that is being witnessed in a lot of places across the country – the traditional single screen theatres and cineplexes are now struggling for survival. It’s amazing that all the industry leaders or opinion makers have completely ignored this entity altogether in situation. How many of us have heard of anybody standing up for these temples of cinema which are already dying slowly? While I know the strike would make an impact on the 2 warring sections of Bollywood, I think we should be more concerned for the single screens and the cineplexes who have been caught in the middle of the strike for no fault of theirs.

Most of the multiplexes are chains and run in various locations across the country/in one or more states. And these chain multiplexes are usually run by fairly significant corporate houses for whom though there is a loss of revenue right now, they can make it up in due course of time because they have bigger pockets and in a lot of cases they enjoy tax benefit etc. This phenomenon does not hold true in case of the single screen theatres and multiplexes except in exceptional cases. What I mean is that except some theatres run by individuals/business houses for whom this is just another business venture, most of the other theatres are run by people who have been associated with the business for a long time and who have a deep dependence on it for revenue and other reasons.

It is these people who are getting affected and hit hard the most. Already across the country more and more of these traditional theatres are closing down for various reasons. And such a situation where lack of content to play in the theatres makes it even more difficult for them to survive. If there are quite a few Hindi release theatres in A.P & Karnataka which are affected by the strike, then the situation is even more serious when you look at theatres outside South India where the dependence on Hindi cinema is much much more. For those who would want to say why cannot these theatres look towards regional cinema in the interim period- I have a few things to say.

I am sure all of us would agree that in the typical Hindi belt it would be difficult to think of regional cinema of any kind substituting Hindi cinema. Also there have not been too many typical big Hollywood movies releasing recently to make up for some of the gap. Marathi cinema has a blockbuster now (Me Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy)which would help the theatres screening it, but do we have more such movies in the pipeline? It would be great if the answer is a resounding yes. Going down south the situation is not too impressive either except for Kerala. Kerala is yet to embrace the multiplex culture and this summer it has 2 movies which are doing well- To Harihar Nagar and Bhagyadevatha. Ayan is the only Tamil movie which has been doing well of late and lack of competition has ensured that the Telugu version of Billa do a reasonable business.

So again there are a lot of theatres screening regional movies but not all of them are doing too well. So it’s not just that the Bollywood strike which is impacting the survival of these traditional single screens but it’s a coincidence that while the strike is meant to be a face off between two warring sections of the sector, silently a 3rd section is getting affected. So for the survival of these temples of cinema I sincerely hope the strike is called off soon and we see the flow of releases happening shortly.

Note- In no way am I talking about the quality of movies here. I am trying to cover the vital issue of survival and viability of the traditional single screen theatres/cineplexes over here.

Originally published in PFC-check it out here-http://passionforcinema.com/producersdistributors-vs-multiplexes-standoff-the-3rd-dimension/

How risky is film making in India today?

At the very outset I would like to make a couple of things very clear – this is not a critique on any particular kind of movie or personality and I’m not a film maker, at least not yet. So what exactly is on my mind & what am I trying to say? Well for starters what I need to impress upon is that cinema at the end of day in spite of being an art form, still has a business consideration to look into and that is a fact that cannot be denied by anybody. Just for the sake of discussion let us forget about movies being good or bad and just look at movies on the whole. So be it a commercial movie, small middle of the road movie, a completely “offbeat” movie – let us for sometime put them all in the same bandwidth & needless to say this is irrespective of the language & the genres.
The only exception to what I’ll be writing here would be the rare movies made by people who absolutely do not care for how the audience would react to the movie. In fact they are not bothered about the audience at all since they are after all making the movie only for themselves. So if you consider Bollywood movies released in 2009 so far the success rate has been below 10 % - in the 1st Qr alone there were 3 successful movies out of a total 31 (read it here- http://passionforcinema.com/kudos-to-raaz-2-slumdog-crorepati-dev-d/) and in April the releases so far have all been complete failures.
The situation is not too different when it comes to regional cinema. Whether its Tamil,Telugu,Malayalam or Kannada the number of successful movies in the year so far would be extremely low. And believe it or not if the success ratio currently is so poor, one needs to understand that this is only considering the movies that at least managed a release. So how would the situation be if one considers the movies lying in the cans for ages?Obviously its not going to look better. It’s another story that the ongoing strike in Bollywood has seen the release of some long pending movies like Pal Pal Dil Ke Ssaath and Ek Se Bure Do (no I’m not mentioning anything about these movies here ).
What I’m trying to put across to everyone is that in today’s recession period, film making can be one of the most risky business initiatives. To understand this a little better let us first look at the different schools of thought about how to make a successful movie-
1.Have big stars; you have a winner on your hands- While I will definitely agree that stars bring a lot of early attention to the project and help in a lot of ways, then again I don’t think stars alone can pull of a movie just like that. The most recent example of this can probably be 8* 10 Tasveer and CC2C.2.The story and the story alone is important- Yeah sure the story and the screenplay is important. But then can somebody tell me why a Barah Anna, Luck By Chance or a Gulaal haven’t really succeeded the way they should have ?3.A top notch director/production banner will do the trick- Sure its nice to have a big production house backing your movie and a well known director helming your movie- but does it spell sure shot success? I don’t think so. What would you then say to Dhoondte Reh Jaoge (UTV), Ek- The Power of One ( Sangeeth Sivan- K Sera Sera ) or a Delhi-6 ( Raykesh Omprakash Mehra- UTV) ?
So what now comes across clearly is that there is no specific formula to ensure the success of a movie. Considering all this have the number of movies being released or going on the floors reduced? Have the number of people moving to Mumbai, Chennai,Hyderabad –( the 3 main locations of film making in India ) wanting to act, direct ,write or do anything else connected with movies reduced? Have the number of people wanting to shift from some other industry to the film industry reduced? The answer is a big no to all these questions. But then one needs to understand that in the current recession period what is becoming difficult are the following-
1.Get a production house to back your movie if you are still to make your mark2.Getting corporate tie-ups/ in film advertisement to help in giving some monetary support.3.Getting the right break in the industry if you are a new comerand the list goes on
All this said & done am I trying to say that film making is to be avoided? That one should not make movies till the recession period is over? Certainly not, but what I’m only saying that one needs to exercise a lot more caution when it comes to making a movie now. Be it in all respects-choice of cast & crew, choice of subject, deciding the budget etc all become quite important. There can be nothing more passionate than making movies and also writing about it like I’m doing here. Hence it’s all the more imperative that we realize the risks associated with film making and try to overcome them rather than ignore them.
On a parting note I wish to point out that I’m looking forward to the release of Frozen, a movie made with a lot of passion and with a lot of risk by everyone associated with it. After around 2 years of struggle, the movie is finally all set to release on May 8th 2009 (confirmed by Shivajee Chandrabhushan- the director & producer) and I just wish that movies like these definitely attain success and ensure that the passion and the risk behind such a venture pays off.
Note- I have only written this to point out the current situation as far as Indian cinema is concerned from my standpoint. I would definitely appreciate a wholehearted constructive discussion on the same and look forward to those in the industry sharing their thoughts on the same over here.

Originally published in PFC- check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/how-risky-is-film-making-in-india-today/