While putting my thoughts together, there's a certain feeling of emptiness within me. And it has everything to do with the current state of affairs of the Hindi film industry.
In my 25-year career as a film trade watcher, I've witnessed the ups and downs of the industry from very close quarters. We've tasted success and failures year after year. We continue to fight piracy and exorbitant taxes even today. We've witnessed producers reeling under severe financial crisis, but picking up courage and smiling against all odds.
But the industry has seldom witnessed such trying times!
The occupancy level at cinema halls has fallen to 5% to 10% in some cases… The first show of some new starrers had to be called off due to lack of audience… The biggest of films are lying unsold for practically all circuits… There have been several instances of distributors shying away from releasing new films at the eleventh hour, despite a written contract.
Well, to be honest, this is no new trend. But, today, it's happening with every film, whether big-budget, medium-budget or low-budget.
How does one explain the current scenario? As I look at it, the heavy flow of new films week after week, coupled with the high stakes, has resulted in the business going topsy-turvy. The common man does not have the time, money or inclination to watch more than one film in today's times. So expecting him to watch three/four/five films week after week is unimaginable.
The solution[s] that I see is, [i] We need to space out film releases, [ii] Start concentrating on film scripts. If need be, hold test screenings before release for industry experts and also for the common man [in order to obtain a general feedback], like it happens in Hollywood, and implement changes accordingly, [iii] Bring down ticket rates at cinema halls, [iv] Stop paying exorbitant fees to stars.
Only a miracle and a string of hits can bail us out of the current crisis!
Two thrillers hit the marquee last week and both failed to thrill the cinegoers. Vikram Bhatt's Bobby-Lara starrer JURM and Saurabh Shukla's Dino-Bipaha starrer CHEHRAA failed to elicit a decent response across the country [the films weren't released in a few circuits].
CHEHRAA wasn't publicized aggressively and a section of the audience was unaware of its release, but JURM was backed by an aggressive pre-release promotional campaign. Yet, the numbers were far from encouraging!
As things stand today, no solo-hero starrer can really pull in the audience in hordes. And this is one bitter pill our actors ought to swallow.
