~*SSR Obession Syndrome*~|Most Desirable Man :D|#15 - Page 10

Written By Raedita TandanPosted Wed, Apr 10, 2013

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You have no idea. The success of ABCD is a vindication of our belief that a well-executed and entertaining high-concept film can work without stars. And the reception to KPC has been overwhelming. It has become one of those rare films that have achieved commercial success as well as critical acclaim.

We've never restricted ourselves to making only one type of film. Our aim has always been to cover the entire spectrum. So in a year when we had Rang De Basanti, which is as big as it gets, we also had a small film like Khosla Ka Ghosla. And that's what actually set the template for us. So if we've had a Jodhaa Akbar one year, we've also had A Wednesday. If we've had Raajneeti, we've also had an Udaan. If we've had Rowdy Rathore, we've also had Barfi! and Paan Singh Tomar.

You could say that. With Spotboy, we wanted to denote to the audience that films under that banner would be slightly different and not like the commercial potboilers that UTV Motion Pictures usually produces. It was about branding. We only put Spotboy on those films that we thought were truly breaking the mould. For example, Dev.D, ABCD andPaan Singh Tomar.

It depends on how the film comes to us. If a script is originated by a co-producer and they ask us to join as partners, it becomes a co-production. If a writer or director take lead and we like it, we develop it with them and it becomes our own production. The thing is, some of the top stars are also producers and prefer their own production companies being involved in a film they star in. So it's the nature of the way these films get made. But when it comes to medium or smaller budget movies, which we have internally developed, we don't necessarily have top stars in them. That's the balance we try to maintain. We are happy doing both co-productions and solo productions. What does it takes to greenlight a script for your production?The first thing you see in a script is whether it's able to make you feel what it intends to make you feel – that is laugh, cry, be thrilled, horrified or go off on a flight of fantasy. If a script has the potential to do that, it has the potential to be an entertaining film. Before we finally go ahead, we get everyone in the same room. From the creative and production teams to the marketing, distribution and even the syndication, finance and legal teams – we all sit together and discuss it. They are all part of the business. We like everyone to read the scripts that come to us. We then have debates and discussions about them because everyone is a viewer. At the end of the day, everyone's opinion matters because we're in such a subjective business.

Yes, there has. Barfi! is one of the best example of that. And then there's also KPC.

(Smiles) Yes, it's the leap of faith you take with a director. With him, it's not about a bound script but the emotions he makes us feel when he tells us a story. (Pauses) And sometimes, there's no precedent. For example, there was no precedent for a film like Kai Po Che to have succeeded like it has at the box-office. Sometimes, there's no logical way to come to the conclusion of making a film, other than the gut reaction you have to a script.

I'd say it's relatively easy. We try to keep ourselves as accessible as possible. In fact, our whole team is well-trained for that because we want to keep our doors open. See, you never know where a good idea can come from. In fact, right now, we're developing a script based on a seed of an idea that our distribution head had. And it's turning out into a script that we all believe we're going to love.

Disney's acquisition of UTV was for all the right reasons. They wanted a strong presence in India. And they've acquired a creative team that is nurtured in the culture of the country and understands the sort of movies that need to be made here, the sort of TV content that needs to be produced here and the sort of channels that should be launched. So we are the Walt Disney Company here today. We are now focussed completely on the Indian space. We are making films in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. We're also releasing Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Lucasfilm movies in India. Now that we have the global distribution network of The Walt Disney Company available to us, we will look at distributing our films more widely internationally.

Well, one of my biggest high points has come from Rang De Basanti because it changed the way society looked at something. Candle-light marches actually started happening after the film so it was almost like the film gave people a visual representation of how to go out there and protest. I know it's a small thing. But the fact that something I worked on managed to make people think beyond entertainment is a big deal. Dev.D was another big high for us because a lot people were iffy about how it would go. It was a big vindication of our creative instincts when it went right. Barfi! was another big high. And now ABCD and KPC are doing well without any crutches.

I think the best you can do is go back to the drawing board and figure out where you went wrong. This is the movie business, you will go wrong. The point is to just not make the same mistake again. As long as you're making more right choices, you're going to be okay. Fortunately, we've had more rights than wrongs. But in hindsight, I think we weren't happy with the kind of films we were making in 2009. We sat down and evaluated what we were doing. I won't name the films because they are all our babies. But I am glad we pulled up our socks.

The most important thing in this business is to be honest. People appreciate that. If you're supportive, sensitive and direct, it isn't difficult to maintain relationships.

It's an exciting time for filmmakers and studios. The world is your oyster in so many ways. You can make any kind of film in any genre today. We're not restricted by perception or scale anymore. Today, theatrical business has come down to 50 or 55 per cent from 90 per cent, with the rest being your various non-theatrical and new media rights. Now, the life of a film isn't only about the first six months of its release, you can monetize it throughout its life cycle. But I think the success ratio of a film has come down because nowadays people can go to malls, watch countless TV channels, surf the net and do so much more. So today, a movie is competing for their leisure time not just with other movies but with an entire plethora of options available to them.