Tag Archives: cinema

Movienomics

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The trending news from Bollywood is that Reliance Jio Studios is in the final phase of discussions for buying the major stake in Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions. Earlier talks with Mr Sanjiv Goenka’s Saregama Group fell through because of valuation issues. Founded in 1976 by Mr Yash Johar with a resounding hit ‘Dostana’, the Company has produced 63 Hindi films with 3 on the floors. So why is this such a big deal.?! Karan Johar represents the centre of the elite and entitled Bollywood club; an omnipresent mover and shaker; other than his films, there is the much-watched, controversial TV show, fashion walks and his celebrity Emcee avatar at all the glittering film awards functions. His considered decision to offload much of his stake (90.7%) and his mother’s stake (9.3%) starkly reveals the tumultuous state of the Hindi film industry.

Listen to his comments also. How has the Mumbai film industry run itself to the ground? First, the stars demand high fees, but the films open poorly, creating unstable economics for producers. The budget structure is skewed so heavily in favour of stars (50%) that there is little left for the technical crew. Simply put, if A-listers cannot generate hits, how do they justify their high fees?! Saif Ali Khan has responded that movie stars should not charge exorbitant fees but…shrug…. shrug, this is a part of the economics of the industry. (Read- Dharma Productions itself is complicit in creating this unbalanced structure.)

The Bollywood mogul has also ranted about the high-ticket costs and F&B charges which have driven audiences away from cinemas. His take is that the average cost for a family of 4 works out to Rs 10,000/. Visits to the cinema have plummeted from 8-10 a year to just one or two. The Multiplex Association of India (MAI) has responded that cinema prices are dynamic and flexible depending on location, day of the week, seat zone, film format and star hype. Higher ticket prices also prevail in the first week, weekends and holidays and even night-shows. MAI has said that the average ticket price at PVR-INOX (1700 multiplex screen leader) is Rs 258/. Plus Rs 132/ as average cost for food and drinks- total expenses of Rs 1560/- for a family of 4. Methinks, the IMA has halved the normal expense for a family movie outing at a multiplex. Mr Ajay Bijli of PVR has said that only 14% of the tickets are priced at Rs 350/ with the rest between Rs 180/- and Rs 200/-. Experience suggests otherwise. The ATR for All India Theatres in 2023 was stated at Rs 130/.

Let’s shed some light on Mr. Vashu Bhagnani’s plight. He became Producer No 1 in the 90s with his rollicking David Dhawan- Govinda movies. His recent release, ‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’ made on a whopping budget of Rs 350 crores sputtered to a lifetime collection of Rs 64 crs at the BO. Mr Bhagnani had made tall claims of Rs 1000 crs collections at pre-release events. Alas, the film disaster has reduced him from Bade Miyan to Chote Miyan. With Rs 200 crores of debt he is selling his Juhu Office to, he says, redevelop the building into a luxury residential tower. The film’s director, Ali Abbas Zafar, has sued the producer for non-payment of Rs7.3 crs; accusations of unpaid wages to crew members are also doing the rounds. So, what about the 2 lead male stars, Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff? With reported paychecks of Rs 80 crs and Rs 40 crs they are laughing all the way to the bank.

Let’s delve into the Indian cinema ecosystem. We produce the largest number of films in the world- 1500 to 2000 every year- in 20 languages. Our huge country has only 9742 screens as compared to 65,500 in China & 35,280 in the USA. Hindi, Telugu and Tamil are the leading film industries, with Malayalam, Kannada and Marathi cinema also punching above their weight. In 2023, South Indian cinema surged ahead of Bollywood with 47% BO market share against 44%. South India also houses 47% of the cinema theatres. According to researcher Mr Hemant Chaturvedi, the number of single screens in India has declined from 25000 in 1990 to less than 6000, with many of them not operational. End of an Era. With the rising cost of real estate, many have been converted into malls and commercial complexes. Even a smaller theatre costs Rs 5 lakhs for monthly upkeep and maintenance plus the pressure of keeping the projection room, sound system and screen in the best condition. The GST on cinema tickets is 18%, but most States levy an additional entertainment tax of 20% to 30%, the highest tax ratio for any sector in India. Business uncertainties add to the gloom.

The Hindi film industry traditionally had 6 territories, which are now defined as 11 circuits. The profit-sharing ratio generally for a single screen owner/ distributor is 25:75; sometimes, it is 20:80 or even 30:70. The Multiplex owners have all the heft and clout—Week 1 is 50:50, Week 2 is 60:40, and Week 3 is 70:30.

For the Producer, the cost of the film is Budget + Promotion and Advertising expenses. They also sell OTT rights to streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar, Sony Liv… to help recoup their investment. Earlier OTT contracts were pre-sold, and even if a film performed poorly in its theatrical run, the contract was adhered to. This proved to be the lifesaver for the Kartik Aryan film, ‘Shehzada’ which mustered only Rs 32 crores at the cinema counters against a budget of Rs 70 crs. Reportedly, Netflix had paid Rs 40 crs for the streaming rights. Trade analyst Karan Taurani says that now there are clauses in the streaming deals regarding the theatrical performance of the film-where streamers say that only when a film reaches a certain threshold in theatres will the overflow or agreed additional amount be given.

It’s the distributor who takes significant risks when they purchase the rights to distribute a film. They hedge their bets by acquiring the satellite and music rights for the movie. T Series bought the audio rights for Pushpa 2-The Rule for a staggering Rs 65 crs. SRK’s Jawan’s rights had earlier been bought by T series for a record-breaking Rs 36 crs. Tamil-Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have a large and passionate fan base for film music. Film songs become chartbusters and are played on a loop on FM stations and streaming platforms like YouTube, Spotify & Rasso. Flashback to the Iconic film ‘Sholay’. In 1975, its dialogues album sold 500,000 copies. By 1979, the platinum 1 million mark was crossed. The film exceeded its Rs 1 crore budget 3X. It grossed Rs 35 crs worldwide and brought in another Rs 35 crores in re-releases. Adjusted for inflation the box-office figures exceed Rs 3000 crores.

The ‘Adipurush’ disaster saga is a cautionary tale for distributors. People Media Factory bought and backed this Rs 550 crs budget film confident of a pan-India hit because of the Prabhas factor; the director Om Raut had delivered a hit with ‘Tanhaji’; plus the fact that it was inspired by the Epic Ramayan meant nothing could go wrong. Superficial performances, shallow storyline, poor VFX and cringeworthy dialogues scripted a mega-disaster. The character, ostensibly inspired by Lord Hanuman, was spouting tapori-style dialogues. Social media was outraged, and the distributors were looking at Himalayan losses of over Rs 150 crores.

The financial challenges for the Indian film industry have been cited as a big drop in audience footfalls, rising cost of production and the growing popularity of OTT platforms offering many options. The Covid lockdown has opened the eyes and sensibilities of audiences to better and more engaging cinema from all parts of India and worldwide. Reliance Jio Studios already holds stakes in Balaji Films and Viacom 18. The phenomenal success of the horror-comedy film Stree 2, which they co-produced with Maddock Films, must have propelled them on. The biggest Hindi film hit of all time with net collections of Rs 600 crores plus and riding on a budget of just Rs 40 crores. The lead actors Rajkumar Rao & Shraddha Kapoor don’t fall into the celebrity guest profile for’ The Koffee with Karan Show.’

Content has become the King. The Vijay Sethupathi-helmed film ‘Maharaja’ is a stellar example. Made on a budget of Rs 20 crores it closed its theatrical run at Rs 107 crores. This masterpiece is jointly produced by The Route, Think Studios, and Passion Studios. Many large and mid-budget films are now following this joint production template. This highly emotional action thriller is a case study in moviemaking. Impactful performances, master-class direction, great screenplay and editing with jaw-dropping twists and turns, real dialogues and photography that make the visual experience so intimate. Since being released on Netflix in July 2024 and with an IMDb rating of 8.5, it has become the most-watched Indian film of 2024. Content is King. Whether it is the true, relatable and inspirational story of ‘12th Fail’ or the real survival and rescue thriller Manjummel Boys. It is the biggest Malayalam hit film ever without marquee names like Mohanlal or Mammootty. The Marathi classic ‘Tumbad’ became a cult film on OTT and is drawing large audiences on its theatrical re-release.

The assembly line productions of Akshay Kumar films- wrapped up in 40 days- no longer work at the BO. One of the greatest duds from the house of YashRaj Films is ‘Pruthviraj Chauhan’ where this star is said to have charged a whopping Rs 60 crores. Many shows were cancelled due to zero attendance. The film fans went hoping to see a glimpse of Samrat Pruthviraj; all they got was Akshay Kumar in every frame. The audience has become unforgiving; social media can influence the fate of a movie on the first weekend itself.

The Soft Power of Indian Cinema is immense. But again, it’s all about the quality of content and the entertainment quotient. Stories with human appeal and emotional connect, catchy music or well mounted large screen spectacles. RRR rode high at the Japanese Box office on all counts. In China, Aamir Khan’s ‘Dangal’ and ‘Secret Superstar’ minted Rs 1400 crores and Rs 810 crores—mind-boggling numbers. Strong storylines created social, cultural & emotional phenomena.

It’s time for Bollywood (and the Indian film industry) to acknowledge their self-inflicted problems. It’s time for them to recognize that good films are created out of collaborative teamwork – where writers, editors, cinematographers, music directors, production designers, and VFX specialists – all play a significant role. They must be recognized and rewarded for their creative contributions. It’s also time to acknowledge that audiences today will flock to the cinema halls in large numbers only if they feel that both their money and time is well spent.

The Bollywood Bazaar

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Image by dan123ny from Pixabay

Behind the glamour and glitz of Bollywood is the Hindi film industry. It churns out 350-400 films a year. Most go unnoticed and do not recover their costs. Some quality movies get very limited releases but then hopefully a fresh lease of life on the streaming OTT platforms. A few do well in the C & D centres. A significant data point is that there are only 6,700 single screens + around 2,400 multiplex screens in India for 1,600+ films a year, compared to the 40,000 in the US and 55,000 in China.

With the Mumbai film world also in a lockdown, let’s look at how the real business works. Brush aside the myths and make-believe narrative about the mega-stars and the celebrity film makers. After all, these are tales spun by PR agents, TV anchors, critics and trade people on their pay-roll. Social media facilitators take the hype and hero-worship to another level.

Glorify, hype, manipulate, seduce, deflect, misinform are all tricks of the trade. Add snuff- out competition.

The big production houses, superstars, media outlets and the social media apparatus have together created powerful cabals which dominate B-Town.

Let’s look at some real numbers. Sushant Singh Rajput’s Chhichhore grossed ₹ 200+ crore last year on a budget of ₹ 45 crore. It managed to get a 1200 screen release in September last year and the audience lapped up the content. Uri-the Surgical Strike, with Vicky (who??) Kaushal in the lead, garnered ₹ 245 crore in domestic collections alone, on a budget of ₹ 25 crore only.  Again a 1200 screen opening. A smash hit, wouldn’t you say. The chatter media has largely kept quiet, even played it down.

Salman bhai’s magnum opus Bharat, has a 2,000 plus screen grand release. Just touches ₹ 200 crore with inflated ticket prices at the multiplexes. Production costs are touted at ₹ 80 crore. But it is the time to go ga-ga. This is the tried and tested formula for Mr BO. His films come out on a major festival which along with week-end gives it a 7 day free run with no competition to speak off. His die-hard fans plus the holiday mood kicks in. All the moolah is raked in over the first week. Then it is all down-hill.  The average cine-goer forgets the movie as soon as he/she steps out of the theatre. Tubelight and Dabangg 3 have flickered briefly and flopped. No industry insider dares to say so. The Sultan continues to walk with a swag.

Take the case of King Khan. A disappointing run for the last 6-7 years but his stardom has not dimmed. A few average movies and some big duds. Remember Zero. Fades in comparison to Kamal Hassan’s Appu Raja and AB’s Paa. A critic for a leading paper panned it with a 1 star rating. But couldn’t resist saying that it was not worthy of the SRK talent. I naively thought that he had the clout to command scripts, choose directors and co-stars… In fact the works. Mainstream actors like Matt Damon and Tom Hanks use their stardom to get better projects and quality content. Jab Harry met Sejal was a disaster. The critic in another leading English paper drooled, “SRK is like old wine. The more he matures, the better he romances.” Are these guys made of Teflon? Nothing sticks to them. Is it too much to hope for a Swades again!!!

You can now see why we wallow in such mediocrity. The eco-system pampers the stars and the so-called show-men. There is no reality check. The camp culture keeps them in a comfort zone. They have become lazy and repetitive and are taking all of us for granted.

Only politicians and movie stars get away with such trash in India. A 2 time world cup winning captain like Dhoni is asked if he is past his shelf life. Take another analogy. Will investors be gung-ho about a corporate which has given average or negative results over the last 12 quarters.

Let’s move on to the accomplices- like celebrity critics Rajeev Masand & Anupama Chopra, whose bias and fandom is there for all to see. Fortunately, independent You Tube reviewers and Netizens are pushing back and calling a spade a spade. Both these big names refused to review a significant film, The Tashkent Files presumably as the filmmaker is a BJP supporter.  Based on a validated expose of how from the late 50’s the KGB had infiltrated and possibly compromised people at the highest levels of the Indian government, academia, media and even the film fraternity. It was this stuff which was difficult for their ideological gut to digest. And the mystery of Shastriji’s death was too much to handle.

The A-list filmmaker, husband of one of these reviewers released Shikara on the streaming platform, billed as ‘the Untold Story of Kashmiri Pandits’. Sadly the story remains untold. The film makes little mention of the genocide, violence and rape which led to the exodus of half a million of this community from their centuries old homes. If anything, more screen time is given to justifying the cause of the militants- funded and armed by our ever friendly neighbour State.

A few more examples- Tanhaji (₹ 200 crore club) was treated by these intellectuals with some disdain. A Maratha warrior taking on the Emperor Aurangzeb. Really? Research and history be damned. Ajay Devgns third film on unsung Indian heroes may calm their nerves. It celebrates the great football coach- Syed Abdul Rahim- and the golden period of Indian football from 1952-62. I look forward to this homage to a sporting icon.

Akshay Kumar’s terrific run at the box-office is shrugged away as hyper-nationalism.  Mission Mangal, Kesari and Airlift are inspiring, true stories and make for good cinema. I recall that their take on Uri was punctuated with the word ‘Jingoism’.

Bollywood is loath to admit the superior quality of films from other regions, esp. the South and Maharashtra in recent times. More movie buffs are discovering the same on Netflix or Prime. Consider Kumbalangi Nights and Virus (Malyalam), Super-Deluxe (Tamil) or  Tumbbad (Marathi). They ooze with creativity and story-telling.

The Hindi films award shows are a farce.  Gully Boy getting ten! LOL!  An engaging film. Not an all-time classic. Think of the opportunity missed in hailing some real actors and technicians. It must be great to belong to this close-knit clique.

Their inflated egoes will never acknowledge the biggest box-office bonanzas which have been helmed at other centres. Bahubali 2 tops the India box office with a staggering ₹ 1400 crore collection. Surprise, Surprise-its Hindi version topped ₹ 570 crore. Rajnikanth’s 2.0 follows with ₹ 564 crore (multiple language release). Then Dangal with ₹ 538 crore and Bahubali – the Beginning at ₹ 516 crore. KGF (Kannada) scored a BO century on home turf itself. Sairat (Marathi) made at a modest ₹ 6-7 crore breached the historic ₹ 100 crore mark. It was immediately remade in Hindi with star kids.

Global BO numbers of Hindi films are largely driven by the Indian diaspora. Very few have made the cross-over and resonated with foreign audiences. Dangal has smashed records in China pulling in over ₹ 1,000 crore. Earlier 3 Idiots had really connected with audiences in South Korea, China, Japan & South East Asia.  Secret Superstar (made for ₹ 15 crore) had an India score of ₹ 75 crore and a China tally of ₹ 750 crore.  Andhadhun also hit the ₹ 300 crore jackpot in China. But this also is not trumpeted in the media domain.

The Bollywood kitty of the world box-office revenue of $40 billion is just under 5%.

Some earlier films to make the breakthrough were Awara & Shree 420 ( Soviet Union & China), Mughal-e-Azam,  Naya Daur,  Anand, Sholay, Deewar, Trishul, DDLJ, Lagaan, My Name is Khan…..Disco-Dancer had Russians and East Europeans dancing to its tunes. Rajni’s Muthu touched the hearts of the Japanese. Satyajit Ray’s films created a loyal, niche audience especially in Europe.

Let’s turn the clock back for another interesting take. How much would the blockbusters of yesteryears taken at the ticket counters today. An eye-opener for today’s movie nut clued into the ₹100/200/300 crore clubs instituted by the trade people. Adjusted for inflation, Sholay and Mughal-e-Azam would probably rub shoulders with Bahubali and Dangal in the ₹ 2,000 crore stratosphere. Mother India would have set the cash registers ringing for say ₹1,300 crore. Awara would be in the ₹ 1,000 crore club. Mass entertainers like Johnny Mera Naam, Amar Akbar Anthony & Disco Dancer would have crossed the ₹ 700 crore mark. To be fair, DDLJ and Hum Aapke Hain Kaun would also have pole vaulted into the ₹ 1,000 crore collection zone in today’s times. But the perspective to take here is that Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan would have featured in the top grosser list many times over. (These are estimate numbers sourced from articles on the internet by cinephiles, journalists and pundits.)

Those were also times when this abject sycophancy did not exist. Raj Kapoor’s Mera Naam Joker was called out as a flop. In contrast SRK’s ambitious Ra-One was quietly laid to rest. In the mid-70’s itself Rajesh Khanna was being discussed as a super-star in decline. I recall reading in a popular magazine that his mannerisms had become stale. Indeed, trade papers and critics had dismissed the multi-starrer Sholay as a dud in its first week itself. They had to eat their words for the next 5 years and more.

Till the end of the seventees it was not all about the stars. Technicians were given their due. DOP’s like Dwarka Divecha and Fali Mistry were feted and lauded. Musicians and lyricists had their names on hoardings and posters. The legendary singers-Mohd Rafi & Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar & Asha Bhonsle…. could pack concert halls on their own. Today they piggyback on a star tour. Everybody had their place in the sun- the directors, character actors, editors, choreographers, production designers.

The raw business truth is that today it is the distributor and exhibitor who are taking the real risk. The star packaged product is sold out to all the 11 territories by the big production house. Plus they rake in the big bucks from the overseas markets, the music rights and deals made with other media and streaming outlets.

Finally, it is upto the audience to demand better value for money. The success of Andhadhun, Chhichhore, Uri, and Article 15 shows that there is a large and growing market for good content films. The distributors and exhibitors should wake up to the fact that this involves lesser risks and higher margins and ROI. More screens and shows is the only way for good talent to show what they are capable of.  The creative juices will then really flow in the Mumbai film world. A good story, well told, will carry the day.

The show must go on. But it is high time that we as consumers call for a more fulfilling experience.