Befriending a behemoth

Studios are increasingly looking away from stars and investing in quality content in India.

A few years back they were considered carnivores who feed on creative independence in the celluloid jungle. Things are no longer the same. Big banners, known for trampling territories with their tent-pole projects, are investing in content in India. Instead of star driven vehicles they are looking for character led stories rooted in the Indian soil. In the last one year, Viacom 18 has not only pushed projects like Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Queen which are traditionally considered unsafe in the mainstream space, but has also lent weight to an independent film like Manjunath . Fox Star India, the potent arm of Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox in the subcontinent, has backed Jolly LLB and Hawaa Hawaai and is now coming up with Citylights , a Hansal Mehta film on urban migration in collaboration with Vishesh Films. Last year Disney UTV acquired films like The Lunchbox and Ship Of Theseus and ensured that the films reach beyond the rarefied intellectual circles.

Yashraj Films, the only Indian studio which can somewhat measure up to global players, is in the news for backing a small independent film Titli which questions the traditional family values that the banner has been upholding for years. Ajit Andhare, COO, Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, says the strategy is rooted in commercial pragmatism. “Our experience in the Indian market shows that it is safer to invest in content than in stars. Big names demand big fees. The problem is when the project works at the box office the star takes away all the credit, but when it doesn’t the blame is passed on to the studio and the star doesn’t agree to take a cut in his remuneration.” Also, he adds, the rise in multiplexes has ensured that we can have a large play of this segment. “It has ensured that they might not cross 100 crores revenue, but films like Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Queen can aspire to reach Rs.80-90 crore mark.”

However, Viacom or other multinational players are not showing this strategy in their international projects where they rely on massy products like the fresh instalment of

Transporters that is going to hit Indian shores soon. In fact, when Hindi films are eager to find stories in the nooks and crannies of society, Hollywood storytellers seem to be retrofitting their tales with an eastern lilt. We found it in

Skyfall . We experienced it recently in

The Amazing Spiderman . Even animation films like

Frozen and

Rio 2 make more money in the Asian market than the American box office. “Asia has become a huge market for Hollywood and it is imperative that story writers will keep that fact in mind, but Indian stars have yet to capture global imagination in terms of the remuneration they demand. We are in a consumer facing business,” notes Adhare, who is now looking forward to Mary Kom’s biopic starring Priyanka Chopra.

Isn’t it again a booster dose for a star? “No, in this case the star is coming out of her safety net to try something different. It gives us the marketing pitch. The same happened with Farhan Akhtar, who was not in the top league before

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag . But when he transformed himself into an athlete, he became an exciting proposition, a clutter breaker in marketing terms in times of entertainment overload.”

With superstars starting their own production houses, many feel studios don’t have much of a choice. “It is a good development for now they will realise where the shoe pinches. It could lead to a course correction at least in terms of the fees they demand upfront,” counters Adhare.

Producer Mahesh Bhatt, who is reclaiming his metier with

Citylights , says, “My brother (Mukesh Bhatt) doesn’t endorse this kind of cinema but I wish to return to

Zakhm and

Saraansh days and I like to believe such stories are much more commercially viable now if told in the right way.”

Does this partnership come with strings attached? Dibakar Banerjee, who has signed a three film deal with Yash Raj Films, says the collaboration came about after a series of long meetings with Aditya Chopra where they both realised that if they collaborate they will have to do it in a way that has not been tried before. “That is to say, we both remain ourselves with a vengeance and pool in our strengths to overcome our shortcomings. We also realised that we had a lot in common in spite of the difference in our size and oeuvre.”

Dibakar says the commitment is for Indian cinema to be at the world stage beyond the sub genre of Bollywood, which is totally inadequate and unfit to represent the whole gamut of Indian cinema worldwide. “All committed and professional studios want this as they know masala Bollywood can only travel so far in the world — I can say this from experience. They want to widen their product range. All it needs is the right thinking studio, directors, producers to come together with a clear sighted, goal-oriented approach with fresh new voices and styles. Everything we ignored before — regional languages, stories from the Indian interior, the real conflict of India at the cusp of history, self criticism instead of self glory, and above all innovation with cinematic form. All these will be the heroes of tomorrow if we treat Indian cinema as world cinema from India rather than Bollywood. So there is no question of strings attached — it’s a case of baby steps, increasing expertise, learning curve and innovation.”

However, amidst all the euphoria one would like a Lunchbox , a Ship of Theseus or for that matter Manjunath to be backed right from the production stage and not acquired after they are discovered at some festival or as part of some CSR initiative.

The NFDC effect

Amidst all these tie-ups, the National Film Development Corporation has emerged as an effective catalyst. Adhare says they backed Manjunath after they saw the NFDC stamp on it. Says Dibakar, “Over the last few years, NFDC’s Film Bazaar has managed to bring Indian film industry and raw talent face to face with representatives from the best of the festivals, markets, distributors, co-producers, talent hunters from the world. In many ways filmmakers like me, Anurag, Anand Gandhi or Kanu Behl, whose screenplay for Titli was groomed at the NFDC script lab, have hugely benefited from the tremendous exposure Film Bazaar gives you in that one week An absolute rookie with his first script can sit across from the producer of an Oscar winning film and pitch! It has quietly given Indian filmmakers the much needed confidence, the exposure and the tools to project their work at the world stage.”