Posted:
Shelved! the scary sounding seven letter S' word
We explore why so many Bollywod movies are being shelved recently
Feb 2, 2015
Joginder Tuteja
Films are getting shelved left, right and center. Though a few filmmakers have made an official announcement that their film is off the hook now, as has been the case with Sidharth Malhotra's Bhavesh Joshi, Pulkit Samrat's No Sex Please, We are Indians and Delhi Belly writer Akshat Puri's first directorial outing, others have mentioned that it is just a delay and not quite a shelving' per se, case in point being Farhan Akhtar's Bombay Samurai, Shahid Kapoor's Mr. Chaalu and the Saif Ali Khan-Parineeti Chopra starrer.
And then there are makers who have strongly refuted any indefinite postponement and have made their voice heard loud and clear that their films would eventually get on the floors in quick time from now, case in point being Priyanka Chopra's Madamji and Ajay Devgn's Shivaay. Now while this is good news indeed for Madhur Bhandarkar and Ajay Devgn who are producing and directing the film, one wonders what really is plaguing the industry in general, as a result of which there is some or the other film facing the threat of being SHELVED - that scary sounding seven letter S word.Is it indeed the topicality of the theme or unavailability of dates? Or is it a challenge that is being thrown back on the content, courtesy some horrible times that Bollywood has faced in recent times when only PK and, to a good extent now, Baby have worked? Or is it the crashing/correction of the satellite prices, which have gone drastically down? Or is it (finally) the realisation of how a project is different from a film?
Says filmmaker Vipul Shah, "It's a mix of all. This is not unprecedented as the industry has gone through such phases many times before. Of course the scale is very different today and hence it looks all the more ominous. I am a firm believer of content, so I would like to think of that as the beginning of the problem. The situation won't change for quite some time; in fact it may stay on the same for much longer if we don't improve the content."No wonder, the common thought in the industry today is that need of the hour is to revise the content, especially for those films that are yet to go on floors. Even if this means delaying the film for a while, it could indeed be worth it so that things are much better at least at the paper stage, before actors are summoned to arrive on the sets."The audience is sick and tired of being taken for granted and will not validate crap in the name of entertainment/ cinema. The corporates have bled dry, mainly due to their own stupidity in green lighting projects because of stars and not content," explodes filmmaker Sanjay Gupta, who has never shied away from calling a spade a spade, "The satellite crash has brought a temporary hurdle in creating projects as the viability has reduced by 40 per cent. And lastly, a massive correction is required in star prices. Not that they don't deserve it, but the model should be - make money, take money.""The main screw-up here is the cost," says the young Abhishek Pathak, who is trying to bring in a difference to the way films are conceptualised and executed today, "Also, there is lack of unity in the producer community. If one takes a stand on the pricing for the talent, the other one offers and get that talent. But then they all forget about the recovery. Also there needs to be discipline in terms of release dates. If a film has been announced then everyone should respect the release plan. Studios too should focus more on content rather than projects. Today there is no space for rubbish films."Now that's something which is resulting in some worthy films also being hurt by under-performance as cine-goers have been tired of force feeding of certain earlier affairs that proved to be underwhelming."Audiences today are not passive consumers of pop culture but active participants in it. So if a promo gives the feeling that a particular movie is perhaps inextricably and entirely indulging in the same formula, they reject the notion right there. This trend has led to a solid rethink on content being served and consumed. Coupled with a crashed satellite market, makers are only improving and bettering their material before putting it out there. There is a huge correction, both financial and creative, in the industry," says Tanveer, Chief Creative Officer, Balaji Motion Pictures.Adds Johar, distributor and film business analyst, "Actually there are multiple factors at play, and they are all rolling together, which is not good for the industry. Content is definitely not up to the consumer expectations. Costs of marketing and releasing of a film have sky rocketed while box office as well as satellite revenues have dried up as well. Every week, there are multiple films releasing and failing, which is further adding pressure to the ailing industry."Now high ticket price is a common theme that has emerged from many sources."Yes, that's a big issue," says Vipul, "You can't expect people to pay so much money every week and that too for small films." Abhishek adds,
"Ticket prices have gone super high and hence audiences have become much more pocket conscious when it comes to go out for a movie. They would rather prefer to wait for the right film. If you look at Hollywood film's business in India then it's way better than our Hindi film. Just see around you - Interstellar is still running in theatres. What does that tell us?"Trade expert Atul Mohan opines, "I guess for starters, we need to have lower price of tickets. That may well start bringing the audience back in theatres. Then we may well start hearing announcements around more films going on floors than the ones that get shelved."Tanuj Garg, a leading media and entertainment industry professional, and former CEO - Balaji Motion Pictures, rounds it up, "I think it's a combination of issues. But essentially some producers are becoming extremely cost conscious and green-lighting films based on rigorous commercial parameters. This is partly due to the slump in the satellite market and the increasing rejection of the age-old formula.
The audience has become selective and unscrupulous and this is keeping on screen and off screen talent on its toes."Will the scary sounding seven letter S word finally get defeated? Well, as is the saying, ummeed par duniya kaayam hai!
Anupamaa
Fan Fictions
Health and Fitness
0