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| Friday, April 25, 2008 |
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Mahabaleshwar, April 20, 2008
Hi,
I’m in Mahabaleshwar. I like to go out of Bombay to write my scripts. Yeah, it costs more to the producer but the value is immense. I’m lucky to always find producers who believe in value- addition. Very often in Film production one finds people who know the cost of everything and value of nothing. This is the reason why the cost of film making has gone up so much and the value is at bottom. Why is it that in a year not more than a couple of films (out of several hundreds) are valuable films. Why most of the films do not surprise us anymore) Why are they not adventurous? Why are they so mediocre? Why?
I think there are three factors responsible for this.
First, the real consumers of cinema are the youth of this country. Today’s youth has grown on modern TV. Modern TV has done one thing very strategically. It has systematically uneducated the cinema public. It has changed the comprehension of cinematic imagery. It has deconstructed the language and grammar of cinema and converted a whole new real audience into a ‘commercial- break’ audience. TV is a medium of fleeting images and low impact content. So, a whole generation, which has grown on TV entertainment where one doesn’t have to concentrate, where one doesn’t have to comprehend, interpret and imagine, is not ready to appreciate cinematic language. That’s why anything which is good cinema has to linger to find an audience. So, in a way TV has contributed quite effectively to this ‘dumbing down’ process.
On the other hand multiplexes have changed the whole dynamics of film distribution. When multiplexes came one thought it would open a ‘world-of-choices’ for the audience. But… but… but…. The people who own multiplexes are not in film business. They are in Amusement business. ‘We- also- show- movies’ types. And the cost of running this amusement business is very high. So high that this business can’t afford to experiment. This business has no patience. Quick- turnover- high- volume is its DNA. With the advent of multiplexes movies are now released on 1500-2000 screens loaded with huge star fees and marketing budgets. So, any film which is not making big money is shown the door immediately. A film which is not star-studded needs time to find its audience. And that audience is not a first- day- first- show audience. They are slow starters. Due to lack of marketing blitz these movies survive on word-of-mouth and favorable press. This is a slow process. And before it can find its audience its being gobbled up by another blockbuster backed with huge campaign that dominates the media noise.
These blockbusters cater to an audience seeking instant gratification. And these blockbusters cater to that. Over simplistic, fleeting, feeble content. The buzz word here is to make an idiot- proof movie. Therefore, what comes out is idiotic cinema. Cinema with no sense of reality, common man or history. It is a cinema with no context and no content. Hence, an audience with no context and content. So, a film with context and content is perceived as ‘different’ or ‘experimental’ or arty-sharty types. Nobody cares about it. Initially, though. Then it begins to sink in. It starts moving some people. It starts to create its own eco-system. But not for long. There comes another blockbuster and its out.
Now, the bunch of executives at corporatized Bollywood, who earlier worked in P&G or Levers or Nokia corps. , close the window for these movies. And these execs are the third most important part of this ‘dumbing down’ process. Why, one may ask. Because no talented, ambitious movie person is going to do those jobs. He’d be out on the sets being part of film making. But big corps nedd big nos. of execs. So, rejected, dejected people end up joining them for want of good salaries. And some window shoppers from other industries. These people have nothing to do with cinema but they are good with numbers. They work with numbers. They are ‘number- jugglers’. Since they don’t know a thing other than numbers and they have to deal with people who know nothing about numbers, they get nervous. These hundreds of nervous execs end up deciding what to make. And they are not the best and the brightest. So they end up making what can be quantified. It all boils down to budgets, no. of prints, star fees. And numbers can make anyone nervous. Films are not made from the position of conviction, confidence or courage. They are made with fear and manipulation, all focusing at bottom-line. They are made to be idiot- proof. From the point of view of what one wants to hear and not what one wants to say. That’s why there is no bravery, no adventure, and no surprises in most of the recent movies. Don’t feel bad as it’s happening not only to cinema…. Look at cricket. Or modern mainstream media.
The argument that ‘audience enjoys it’ is most irrelevant and very mediocre in my mind. I don’t believe that audience needs to be titillated and sensationalized. I don’t believe that a film is for weekend- consumption only. I think intelligence and quality needs to be pushed back into their expectations. I believe that film is modern literature. I think it’s a medium through which my children are going to connect with the history and the world. Cinema shapes our worldview. If cinema was just entertainment then it’s not different from circus.
I know these are not very welcome thoughts and there are not many takers of this philosophy. There was no ‘Wanted’ ad. I came here with my own free will and succeeded in making few films. I think cinema public needs to be stimulated not just emotionally but also intellectually. I want to be part of fearless, brave cinema of India.
Love and regard
VA
PS:
There is a marketing fable. Reebok sent its business development manager to an African island to figure out the market potential. He came back saying ‘very bad market for shoes as nobody wears shoes’. Later, Nike sent their exec to figure out the market. He came back saying ‘excellent market. Shoes can be sold to everyone as nobody has a shoe’. Nike captured the market.
This marketing fable keeps me going. |
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| Posted by Vivek Agnihotri at 13:07 IST |
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Last Post: 04/04/2008 |
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Vivek Agnihotri is one of the very few people in Bollywood who can be classified as ‘intellectually filmi’. The reason is that, besides being armed with an intense passion for silver screen, he also holds an immaculate degree from Harvard! Added to that is the fact that he is also a visiting professor at IIMC!
He made his debut with Chocolate, a film that was truly ahead of its time and was appreciated by everyone alike. What followed was Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal, a football-centric film that made its place in every cinegoers’ heart, that too in a country where cricket reigns supremacy!
Catch up with Vivek as he shares his thoughts in cyberspace in Bollywood Hungama. |
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