How do you expect 2023 to pan out for the Hindi film industry?

– Very good. Year 2022 has taught the Hindi film industry people a lot of lessons, one of them being that there is no shortcut to success. The industry people are very smart, they must’ve already taken corrective steps, and the results will show in 2023.

Why did Cirkus not take an impressive opening?

– Because the first trailer did not have any scene which could evoke loud laughter or guffaws! Since the film is designed as a comedy, there ought to have been a couple of scenes which would’ve prompted people to laugh out loud.

After such a raging controversy around Pathaan, will it open well?

– You bet, it will take a bumper opening. Shah Rukh Khan will be coming to the big screen after such a long gap that there are all the chances of PATHAAN opening huge. Although those talking negative about the film and asking for a ban on its release would hate this, the fact is that they are all adding to the craze for the film and only building more and more curiosity around it.

Is it true that like Hollywood started the advance booking of its film, Avatar: The Way Of Water, a month in advance, Yash Raj Films is also planning to open the plans for its Pathaan this month itself although it is slated for release on 25th January, 2023?

– Yash Raj Films was contemplating opening the plans for its PATHAAN a month in advance but decided against it. So there’s no truth in the news circulating on social media that the advance booking of PATHAAN will open a month before its theatrical release.

When Indian technicians work on the visual effects of Hollywood films, and do such a phenomenal job of the same, why is it that Indian films don’t have the kind of visual effects seen in Hollywood films?

– Only because of budget constraints. Believe it or not but the budget just for the visual effects of AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER is over $200 million!

Will the outstanding public reports of Avatar: The Way Of Water affect the showcasing and initial of Rohit Shetty’s Cirkus next week?

– Two good/great films can run simultaneously. We’ve seen that happen in the past.

Is it true that a big-budget film is a lost case if it doesn’t open well?

– Almost always! In the rarest of rare cases does a big-budget film score after it picks up following a poor start. The jump in collections has to be huge for the film to then go on to do big business.

Will the bad times for Bollywood get over any time soon?

– Of course, they will get over. Producers, writers and directors must’ve geared up to make better content. When films with good content hit the screens, we will see hits and super-hits more regularly.

What exactly is wrong with Bollywood today?

– The films! DRISHYAM 2 worked at the box-office because it was a good film.

In spite of a few success stories, will year 2022 go down in history as a bad year for the Hindi film trade?

– Yes, it definitely will go down in history as a terrible year for the Hindi film trade because a lot of big Hindi films had to bite the dust. Of course, dubbed versions of several South and Hollywood films did well this year, besides some Hindi films. But let’s hope that the year-end, at least, is terrific. After all, we have two eagerly awaited films — Hollywood’s AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER and Bollywood’s CIRKUS — hitting the screens in the last month of the year.

When will the trailer of Pathaan be out?

– Only in January 2023. It is heard that Yash Raj Films will first release two songs from PATHAAN this month while the trailer will follow only next month. Since December is the season for weddings and parties, the producer is releasing the songs in the hope that they will gain popularity by being played at weddings and parties.

What did you think of the trailer of Cirkus?

– It promises entertainment to the fullest. It is very colourful and star-studded. And it has a lot of ‘shock’ value. You will understand the ‘shock value’ part of my reply after you watch the trailer.

In this column last week, you mentioned that the producers of Laal Singh Chaddha made huge profits in the film. Then why is the film dubbed a flop?

– Whether a film is a hit, flop or average is determined by its performance at the box-office. For its budget, scale, canvas, banner and star cast, LAAL SINGH CHADDHA ought to have netted a minimum of Rs. 200 crore at the India box-office to be termed a success. That it lost steam at Rs. 50 crore only, proves that it was a resounding flop. Almost all big films made by top production houses and top stars (like Aamir Khan) fetch such huge prices for their digital and satellite rights that their producers rarely end up losing money. For them, therefore, every film turns out to be a hit. But for a film to be a box-office hit, it has to show performance at the ticket windows.

Why has Bhediya not taken a good opening today?

– The poor response to its advance booking had suggested that the film would not open well. It could be because of the stupendous success of DRISHYAM 2 last week that people are reluctant to try any new film till its reports emerge.

What did you think of the motion poster of Rohit Shetty’s Cirkus?

– It’s going to be one hell of a star-studded fare.

Why did Drishyam 2 this week take a good start in spite of being the remake of a Malayalam film, like the first part, Drishyam? On the other hand, Vikram Vedha, which was the remake of a Tamil film (of the same name), opened poorly. Both the Hindi remakes released much after the release of the original films of which they were remakes.

– The poor start of Hindi VIKRAM VEDHA was only partially because people had seen the Tamil original. Another major reason for the slow start was that the public did not want to see an unkempt Hrithik Roshan who is one of the most good-looking heroes currently. In other words, they did not fancy him in an out-and-out action role, that too, looking unkempt and untidy. The good start of DRISHYAM 2 this week was because DRISHYAM has almost become a cult suspense film over the years. Having seen the first part with Hindi film actors, people did not fancy watching the sequel with Malayalam cinema actors, more so because they were aware that the sequel was being made in Hindi too. Also, the Malayalam version is not officially available on YouTube where consumption is huge.

What kind of opening will next week’s Bhediya take?

– You can expect BHEDIYA to take a flying start because its songs have become very popular. Besides, it has a young romantic pair (Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon). Thirdly, its trailer promises something different from the routine stuff.

How much loss did the producers of Laal Singh Chaddha make? And, who made the loss — Viacom18 Studios or Aamir Khan or both?

– None of the two producers made a loss in LAAL SINGH CHADDHA. In fact, they jointly made a profit of around Rs. 75-80 crore in the film. The only ‘loss’ which Aamir Khan made was that he did not charge any remuneration as an actor. He usually does not charge a fee if he is a partner in production. But in most of his earlier films, his share of profit used to be in the region of Rs. 200 to300 crore, maybe more in extreme cases. That used to take care of his forgone remuneration as an actor. However, in the case of LAAL SINGH CHADDHA, the profit was not huge enough to take care of his forgone fees. In the case of LAAL SINGH CHADDHA too, he was an 80% partner while Viacom18 Studios was a 20% partner.

Will any film this year take a great opening?

– Perhaps, Rohit Shetty’s CIRKUS will, besides a couple of Hollywood films. Today’s Hollywood release, BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER, has opened quite well. The trade has pinned a lot of hopes on CIRKUS, as far as Bollywood films are concerned.

Have people stopped coming to the theatres? If so, why?

– There are several reasons why many people have stopped frequenting cinemas. For one, they feel, it is not worth their while to go to the cinemas because they can watch the films in the comfort of their homes after three months. Secondly, having been exposed to world cinema and web series on OTT platforms during the lockdowns, their tastes have changed, they have started realising the worth of good content over good face value. In other words, star names don’t attract them as much as arresting content. Thirdly, the bad name which Bollywood got in the aftermath of Sushant Singh Rajput’s demise, thanks to a handful of industry people who openly criticised Bollywood as a whole when actually, they had an axe to grind with only some persons in Bollywood, is also taking its toll on the box-office collections. Why would the general public analyse whether it was personal vendetta of those handful of industry people or Bollywood was actually full of bad people? It suited the public to think of Bollywood as a place full of sinners, which is not true. Every industry has its share of good and bad people. But because they were industry insiders badmouthing Bollywood, their word was taken seriously by the gullible public. As it is, there is a tendency among laymen to believe negative stories more than positive ones about the rich and famous. It will take some time for the public to return to the cinemas. Our content has to improve too!

Has corporatisation helped the industry more or harmed it more?

– Let’s put it this way: corporatisation has helped the industry grow manifold but it has had to pay a price for the growth.

Why is the quality of films made nowadays so poor?

– It is mainly because the prices being offered by OTT platforms and TV channels for the digital and satellite rights of films are so high that producers aren’t too bothered about quality. Since even low-quality films are making profits because of the revenues generated from the aforementioned two sources, producers, directors, writers and music directors are in a hurry to churn out more number of films. Working hard on quality entails more time. They don’t want to waste time because irrespective of quality, they are able to make money. So they are concentrating on quantity rather than on quality. Time lost is money lost.

On what basis do OTT platforms fix the price for the digital rights of a film?

– They usually pay around 55-60% of the cost, for acquiring its digital rights. This is generally true in the case of big-budget, star cast films.

What did you think of the teaser of Pathaan?

– The teaser is fantastic. It has served the purpose of getting the public interested in the film as well as waiting with bated breath for the trailer now.

What kind of release should the Barjatyas plan for their upcoming film, Uunchai?

– The Barjatyas should think in terms of a very limited release. Rather than flooding the market with the film, they should release it in very few cinemas initially, and gradually increase the screen count from the second week onwards. The film’s trailer is winning rave reviews. The ‘Keti ko’ song from the film is also gaining in popularity.

Is it true that the producers of Drishyam 2 had to pay dubbing producer Manish Shah a few crores to dissuade him from releasing the Hindi dubbed version of the Malayalam original, Drushyam 2, on his channel?

– Since the Hindi DRISHYAM 2 is a remake of Malayalam DRUSHYAM 2, it made sense for the Hindi version’s producers to stall the release of the Malayalam version’s Hindi dubbed version on any channel. Hence the payment of a few crore rupees is a step in the right direction.

Why did Bhushan Kumar not promote Thank God on the front foot?

– You are right. Bhushan Kumar did cut corners while promoting THANK GOD. He himself would be the best person to answer the query about why he did so. Probably, he was not confident about its acceptance by the paying public. These days, producers have started cutting down on promotion and marketing budgets of films if they are not sure about the success of the films. This has been observed in the last few months, ever since films are flopping with alarming regularity.

Wouldn’t it have made more sense if a couple of films of last week had been released this week as there are almost no Bollywood releases this week? It would’ve avoided the huge crowd of releases last Friday.

– It would’ve made sense because the films would’ve gotten better shows. But if you are hinting about this ensuring better box-office collections, you are wrong. The films would’ve fared the same had they been released this week too. Reason: it isn’t as if any of the films drew full houses or nearly full houses, because of which the collections of other films were adversely affected. It is also not the case that any of last week’s film could’ve fared better had it got better showcasing.

What exactly is going wrong with Akshay Kumar’s career?

– It’s not as if Akshay Kumar has forgotten acting. The main reason why his films are flopping is that he is signing the wrong films. He needs to concentrate on content, box-office success will follow. Having said that, it must be added that it is not easy to decide which content will work and which won’t, that too at the script stage, before the film is made.

Why are web series doing well on the one hand and films flopping at the box-office on the other?

– It is not as if all web series are doing well. For every successful web series, there are at least 20 or more which don’t go down well with the audience. The successful ones are spoken and written about, giving the impression that all is hunky dory on the digital platforms front, but that’s not true at all.