Mollywood’s dream of earning mega bucks through the sale of satellite rights to broadcasters seems to have crashed.
Estimates by the Kerala Film Producers’ Association revealed that more than 80 movies out of the nearly 150 released in 2014 had no takers. The waiting list includes biggies that managed to have a decent run at the box-office. With channels tightening the noose over the purchase of satellite rights, the industry remains in the dark on how to overcome the crisis.
“It’s a fact that the Malayalam entertainment channels together need not more than 75 movies a year. The arithmetic is simple. A leading channel will buy the satellite rights of one movie a month. They may need another 10 movies for release during the festival occasions,” said M. Renjith, general secretary of the Kerala Film Producers Association. Curiously, the demand exceeds supply as Mollywood churns out almost double the movies required for release through the small screen. Mr. Renjith recalled that over 300 movies got released in the past two years. “In 2011, it was only in the range between 70 and 90. The impact was not severe then as three-fourth of the movies could find a channel to buy the satellite rights,” he said.
The apex body of the producers revealed that there were only 30 producers among the nearly 150 in 2014, who had made at least one movie earlier. “The rest were all new producers. It’s interesting that more than 80 new directors entered the scene last year and they succeeded in convincing a similar number of producers to support their venture. But the chances of these producers making their next film are remote,” said Mr. Renjith.
Producers admitted that earnings from non-theatrical sources may take a hit in 2015 going by the poor response from television channels to leading movies released ahead of the Christmas and New Year season. They also fear that channels will delay the acquisition process to slash the satellite rights considerably.
G. Krishnakumar
