Tamil cinema is going through a crisis — something that is not visible to its stakeholders or audiences. Quite a number of films are going over budget, with shoots getting cancelled, and some are unable to release as per schedule. A big budget sequel with a veteran star and directed by a showman director was shot for two days, but that has now come to a standstill. As per sources, the producers discovered that the film might not likely recover its cost due to its unreasonable budgets and schedules. Most of the actors and technicians signed up for the project have moved on, but there is still no official word from the producers.
In another case, a veteran director, one of the most popular names in the industry who has made successful multi-starrers, was scheduled to start a historical. However, the latest we hear is that the film, which was to be shot in two parts, has gone over budget in the pre-production stage itself. Now, the original producers are in two minds and the director is in talks with a new studio to fund his magnum opus. Similarly, there are many small and medium films in various stages of production which have gone over budget and are finding it difficult to release as the interest meter on the borrowed funds is shooting up every day.
Nobody is willing to be quoted on spiralling budgets and unfinished films as that will cause further problems for the producer concerned. Most of the producers are putting up a brave act and continuing with their projects hoping against hope that their “luck will change”. Today, nobody announces a big project well in advance. If the rumoured project does not take off, the people concerned conveniently dismiss it as “fake news”.
Dependence on stars
The trouble with Tamil cinema lies in its spiralling budgets and over dependence on its stars, with actors not keen on working on a profit-sharing basis. Hindi and Telugu cinema superstars work on profit sharing with known producers and concentrate more on content. In Tamil cinema, producers bend backwards and are willing to pay big amounts upfront for a ‘saleable hero’ even before finalising the script. Later, they scrounge on production cost and run up huge deficits at the time of release, resulting in paying up ‘blade’ interest rates which eat into producer’s profits. All this is happening even as producers sign up big heroes for multiple film deals. Unfortunately, this has led to a situation where the top artiste salary can be as high as 40-50% of the total budget, a cause for acute concern. Some of the producers are old fashioned and unable to grasp the scale of their films and just sign on the dotted line, without reading the fine print and without realising that there is more money to be made from rest of India and overseas theatricals and rights than Tamil Nadu theatricals alone. The new entrants into production want to make big hero films and are looking to pay money to heroes without looking at a project’s financial viability. This year’s most profitable films, Viswasam, Petta and Kanchana 3, are big-budget extravaganzas made by established production houses. Big budget films are viable only if they are made on a reasonable budget, and when that does not work out, it ends up a mess. The key is to bring out good content with a top actor, and not just provide a good combination of top artistes and technicians. There is a certain amount of recovery guarantee for such films, which explains why there is competition in the trade.
Market rules
Ta ke the case of a popular hero who wants only the Hindi dubbing rights of his films as his salary, as he knows the money comes upfront. This actor has signed a three-film deal with a company that deals with Hindi dubbing rights, and not with the producer. Earlier, the same hero wanted Chengalpet territory distribution rights as part of his salary, but is now not keen on it due to his fluctuating market. Unless producers get more savvy and stop running after stars, things will remain the same in Kollywood.
