Now that the industry has awoken to the disastrous effect of paying big
bucks to stars and directors who then can’t guarantee directly proportionate
collections, leading to colossal losses, the question is, who will bell the cat
and who will accept a reduced pay cut?
One of the most expensive films announced is Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s
next, Padmavati, which is rumoured to be budgeted at Rs 140 crore, though
market sources talk about Rs 125 crore as being more likely. At a conservative
estimate, that means it has to gross at least the mind-boggling amount of Rs
350-400 crore to break even. One completely fails to understand the logic of
this. Is it necessary that just because Ranveer Singh-Deepika Padukone have
given two solid hits with Ram-Leela (2013) and Bajirao Mastani (2015), the
third will follow suit? Evidently, the producer wants both Eros and Viacom to
produce the film, so huge is the budget. The trade is hoping this will be the
first film to announce a reduced budget, paving the way for others to follow.
Image Source: twitter/eros
Whispers in the trade also suggest that Eros will soon follow in
Disney’s footsteps and shut down their Hindi language production department.
Should that happen, it would sound the death knell for corporates. Disney,
Balaji and Eros are among the biggest and most prominent producers and
distributors; What happens with them affects everyone and soon, others may shut
shop too. Should that happen, one can only imagine that dormant individual
producers will wake up and claim their place in the sun as they used to before
the corporates took the prices to dizzying heights.
Last week, we spoke of a correction. Indications now point towards it
happening sooner rather than later. 2016 is poised to go down in history as one
of the worst years for the film industry. There are a few bright lights on the
horizon, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Shivaay and Dangal, but the losses this year more
than outweigh the gains.
Image Source: twitter/karanjohar & ajaydevgn
The exit of corporates from the Hindi film scene could also mean the
return of the old distribution scene wherein films were sold for varying
amounts to distributors who understood their territory. This would be unlike
the way it happens now, where corporates take over the film in toto and then
assign it on commission to various distributors except in major territories,
which they usually keep for themselves because these are the biggest money
spinners if the film does well.
Content in films are already going through a sea change. Once the
process -- that includes monies spent to make a film and acquire rights --
undergo a correction, the Hindi film industry could go back to the golden era.
Sometimes it is necessary to touch the nadir before things improve and that is
poised to happen very soon. Corporates make films based on spreadsheets and
boardroom wisdom, it’s time to let loose what individual producers bring to the
table… passion.
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not represent the views of SpotboyE.com.
Thumbnail Image Source: twitter/eros & ihrithik