“You may have tonnes of money but not many people will know about you. The easiest way to be written about is by entering cinema,” says a realtor turned producer. The spotlight beckons and the allure is irresistible. There are people who covertly tempt moneybags not only with proximity to the stars but promises of pleasures they’d never imagined possible. It’s easy to get hooked and before he realises it he’s gasping for breath, caught in a quagmire. Not even straws are thrown when you’re sinking.
Till a couple of decades back, the film industry was a well oiled machine. The producer was the boss and revered by all. There would be a hush when he entered the set. Superstars like Rajni and Kamal would rise in respect when AVM Saravanan arrived for a brief overview. They were not paid the salary they charged others simply because it was an honour to be associated with the legendary banner. Dates were doled out in bulk. Then, times changed. After a bitter family feud and a division of assets Saravanan was forced to call up and request a superstar to act in his production one last time before wisely receding into the shadows. Wisely, because the business had turned dicey. Stars had started calling the shots.
“The film industry was like a temple. Today it’s a graveyard for us,” says Nemichand Jhabak whose father owned the negative rights for a treasure trove of Tamil classics and is a producer drowning in debts. “The big producers who did not borrow money have wisely receded but some of us cannot. I have to keep floating because I can’t start another business and repay. I know the figures defy logic but I have to be in circulation.” Mind you, Jhabak is considered one of the shrewdest brains in the business. “Fact is you can plan all the other things but not the content and how it’ll be received,” says Jhabak. In stock market terms what’s needed is a technical correction, even a shakeup in the basics. “There’s a fluctuation in everything in life except a star’s salary come success or failure. The common retort to that is us being asked why we pay. We have no choice because someone else will do so to get dates on priority. One of the problems is people who’ve made fast money in some other business and are hell-bent on committing financial hara kiri by turning producer. The other is the salaries which constitute sixty five percent of a film’s budget.” A wake up call has been sounded by TV channels that are refusing to buy films at astronomical rates after realising that the returns just do not make it worth it. That was considered a yardstick for a star’s salary which impractically remains unchanged. “Some of us are partly to blame too. A producer who holds an important position and should be sorting out these issues approaches a superstar and offers him forty percent more than what he normally charges. Now who would refuse? The problem is whoever approaches him next will have to match that,” laments Jhabak. It is rumoured that a fading superstar is being paid fifty five crore rupees for his next film even though the distributors of his previous venture are still fighting for a reasonable compensation. “I don’t know about Kannada but in Tamil none of the heroes settle for a financial stake rather than a salary which distributes the risk.” This shows an utter lack of empathy as well as self confidence.
Now, if you thought the fat salary a star charges is all inclusive, you’re wrong. Their retinue (make-up man, touch up boy and hairstylist) is paid hefty daily wages including their driver. Some demand money for fuel. “Now even the male stars have hair stylists,” says Jhabak with a wry smile. They demand food from a restaurant they fancy and a minimum of four friends will drop in for lunch. They will have personal costume designers who demand the best labels for the star. “The costume bill for a film shot entirely in a small town recently was one crore rupees even though everyone donned dhotis and simple sarees simply because the designer was related to the hero.” The cake is taken by a heroine who demanded expensive lingerie simply because she had to wear a chiffon saree! “The producer wouldn’t have spent so much on his wife,” chuckles Jhabak. All this applies to a majority and not all the stars.
Jhabak also blames the media for inflating trade figures. “Most of the figures are bloated. Some stars pay these pundits simply to enhance their salary. Even assuming the figures are right they’re gross collections. What the distributor gets after sharing with the theatre is half of that and even that reduces in favour of the theatre as the weeks go by.” “You’ll have to write a book to list our woes,” signs off Jhabak who is busy planning his next biggie.
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