Bollywood goes the corporate way
(No Ratings Yet)The influx of big corporate houses into Bollywood has made high-profile deals between top actors, directors and production houses a common practice.
The latest firm to join the trend is Percept Picture Company, which has signed on 12 directors. Last month, business tycoon Anil Ambani’s entertainment company Adlabs signed a three-film deal with superstar Hrithik Roshan for approximately Rs.350 million.
So, what is the driving force behind these deals?
“The fact of the matter is that good talent is scarce in Bollywood. There are limited stars who are saleable. There are also very few skilled directors. So corporate houses are entering into such deals to block the dates of talented people,” Sandeep Bhargava of Studio 18 told IANS.
Mahesh Ramanathan of Percept Picture Company rules out competition and insecurity as reasons for this increasing trend.
“There is no competition in the film industry unless my film is releasing on the same day as another. We are not looking for market shares. It’s a creative field and if I have good ideas, I can survive,” said Ramanathan.
“I think insecurity would be the last thing. If we were insecure, we wouldn’t make more films, we would make less films,” he explained.
In Hollywood many of the superstars are hooked by big studios. For instance, Brad Pitt signed a deal with Paramount. So is Bollywood following the footsteps of its Western counterpart?
“No, not all. We are doing something that existed here 40 years ago. We had studios like Bombay Talkies and Filmalaya,” said Amit Khanna of Adlabs.
Talking about multi-project deals, Khanna said: “The trend is catching up fast. Earlier, corporate houses were not into film business. We didn’t have enough money to pay for more than one film. I think this is how a classic system works.”
But there is one similarity between the working style of Hollywood and Bollywood.
“Hollywood first finds a good script, then scouts for a suitable director and in the end they start casting - they look for actors who would fit the role. We are also doing the same,” said Bhargava.
Bhargava has tied up with directors Anurag Basu and Amrit Sagar. Studio 18 will produce Sagar’s directorial debut “1971″.
Percept Picture Company is expected to churn out 22 films by 2008. It has roped in 12 directors including Nagesh Kukunoor and Madhur Bhandarkar.
Some of the prestigious projects of Percept Picture Company are Bhandarkar’s “Traffic Signal”, which is ready for release, and “Hanuman 2″ that is set for a Diwali release in 2007. Filming has already started of Priyadarshan’s movie “Dhol” starring Kunal Khemmu, Tusshar Joshi, Sharman Joshi.
The films going on floor immediately include Shoojit Sircar’s Amitabh Bachchan-starrer “Johnny Walker” for which shooting will start in April 2007 and Nagesh Kukunoor’s “Tasveer”. Akshay Kumar plays an important role in Kukunoor’s film, will go on floor in May 2007.
Other upcoming ventures of Percept Picture Company are “RubaRu”, “50 Lac” “Kabootar”, “Forest”, “Malamaal Weekly 2″ and Kukunoor’s “Aashayein”.
All these films will be made at the budget of Rs.50 million to Rs.200 million.
The money being invested in Bollywood by corporate big wigs is expected to improve the quality of cinema.
Said Ramanathan: “We have a team of talented writers. I think we are the first one to have them on our pay roll. In other companies they are hired on a project basis. We employ them and give them a platform to show their talent. Two of our films are based on Indian literature - ‘Hanuman 2′ and ‘Johnny Walker’.”
Apart from Adlabs and Percept Picture Company, Tata Infomedia Ltd, A.V. Birla group, A.B. Corp, Sahara India, Oswal group’s Lucky Star Entertainment Ltd and Cutting Edge Entertainment are some of the corporate houses that are actively working in filmdom, trying to edge out traditional financers.
This corporatisation of Bollywood is expected to make the industry more organised and disciplined. “Anything that is commercial is bound to work,” said Bhargava.
— IANS
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