Ace filmmakers like Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, and Kiran Rao have zeroed in on what’s wrong with the Hindi film industry today. Kashyap, who recently called out Netlfix CEO and has admitted that he’s relocated to the South to work there, also reiterated the issues he’s been voicing for months now.
“I don’t think there’s a lack of stories, storytellers, filmmakers or courage. What’s really lacking is a good producer and producers’ love for films. There was a time when producers were proud of films, now it’s statistics and algorithm. The moment studios and film companies have started going to the stock market, it’s gone down,” said Kashyap.
In the interview with The Quint, Anurag Kashyap quoted the example of producers like Rakesh Roshan who used to mortgage their homes to fund their films. He recalled an instance in 1987 when Rakesh and his entire family were nervously sitting inside a car during the premiere of his action drama Khudgarz, fearing that if the film doesn’t work, they’d lose their home.
“Whenever people have liked my film, there was a good producer empowering me. And whenever my film didn’t work, the same producer was pulling the strings because the money comes from somewhere else. That’s suffocating. If the producer is ready to fight, then we can go to court, like we did with Udta Punjab,” added Kashyap.
After Pahlaj Nihalani-led Central Board of Film Certification halted the release of Abhishek Chaubey’s Udta Punjab in 2016 because of its depiction of the drug menace in Punjab, the producers — Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane-led Phantom Films and Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Motion Pictures — moved Bombay High Court to ensure a smooth release of the film in theatres.
“We need producers who are invested in the story and vision of the film. This is part of the changing landscape. The fact is that most of our entertainment is owned by tech companies, and not run by old-fashioned producers. There’s a slight broadening of the gap between creative people and people who have the money,” said Motwane, pointing to tech giants like Netflix, Amazon, and Jio which own streaming services including Amazon Prime Video and Hotstar.
“In the right way, it should be: we know how to make the movies, you know how to run a corporation, we’ll always make it work. Sometimes, there’s a tendency of coldness in this approach. But in an industry like this, you need warmth, collective energy, and passion,” added Motwane. He lauded Dinesh Vijan of Maddock Films for putting his heart and soul into producing all his movies, but maintained “not every producer or studio is like that.”
On escalating marketing costs
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Kiran Rao pointed out that the entertainment market is so saturated now that it’s extremely challenging to reach the audience organically. “There’s so much noise now that the cost of marketing, to getting to your audience, is so high that only big films can afford. Small films, that are great, can just not afford that,” said Rao. That’s exactly why her, Vikramaditya Motwane, Anurag Kashyap, and Nikkhil Advani have come on board as executive producers of Karan Tejpal’s crime thriller Stolen, starring Abhishek Bannerjee, which is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
On the theatrical experience
“It takes a lot for someone to find the right show, the right timing, the ticket prices are sometimes prohibitive, and it’s not convenient. Films are never playing long enough. By the time you’ve heard of it, the film’s already gone or moved to another neighbourhood,” said Kiran Rao, adding, “There has been a dearth of great cinema. It’s sometimes because of this conundrum that the best films don’t get there, the big films do.”
Anurag Kashyap insisted the Hindi film industry should learn from its southern counterparts on how to cap ticket prices. But Rao pointed out the unique issue in Bollywood. “Each of these films from the southern states have an institutional or government support. There are fewer producers who have an understanding. The Hindi film industry is quite gargantuan. We have no state technically because every other film has their own state language. We are na ghar ka na ghat ka (neither here nor there),” argued Rao.
Vikramaditya Motwane criticized the moviegoing experience of today. “I go to theatres because I love the movies, but I hate the movie-watching experience. You’re walking into a theatre that’s sterile, there’s no character. There are 30 minutes of advertising, smoking disclaimers, and then there are 15 minutes of advertisements during the interval, with someone asking you to advertise more. I get so angry when I see that! Then you exit through the bum of the place. It’s only the love for the movies which is pushing me to go to a theatre,” confessed the filmmaker.
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On streaming vs theatres
“We’ve become used to watching films at home, especially after this eight-week thing has become a standard, which I don’t think it should,” said Motwane, referring to the minimum eight-week gap between theatrical release and streaming premiere. He lauded Aamir Khan for trying to stretch that gap further by announcing that his next film, RS Prasanna’s coming-of-age movie Sitaare Zameen Par, will only release in cinemas on June 20. Motwane also pointed out that historically, Hollywood filmmaker Christopher Nolan has also benefitted from the same strategy.
But both him and Rao claimed that if the trailer is exciting enough, the audience would choose theatres over streaming. “I’ve always felt streaming and theatres are absolutely not mutually exclusive. You should be able to release a film in the cinemas and on streaming on the same date,” said Rao.
Also Read — Stolen: The rare Hindi movie that isn’t afraid to insult its own audience, and you know what, we deserve it
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“It’s so complex. There are so many moving parts in a film. It’s easy to put the blame on only exhibition and distribution. But honestly, we’re part of an art form that also needs to be a business. And that’s a tricky space to create within. You also need an ecosystem around you where your films can fly,” she added.
