What do you think of the trailer of Chandu Champion?

– It’s an impressive trailer. Since the story is uplifting and inspirational, it will resonate well with the audience. The producers should keep the tempo of the promotion going till the release and, if need be, thereafter too.

Is there an audience for a futuristic film like Kalki 2898 AD?

– Why not? There’s an audience for every kind of cinema which entertains. The audience don’t go to the cinemas basis the genre. They go to watch a film if it gives them value for money. Nothing more than that, nothing less than that!

In the pre-Covid days, ordinary films used to do at least average business at the ticket windows, but nowadays, such films bomb and don’t even recover their cost. Will the scene change for the better or will those times never return?

– In films as in life, never say never!    

What was the reason for last week’s Srikanth not opening to good houses when the trailer came in for so much praise?

– For content-driven films like SRIKANTH, which don’t boast of A-list stars, the public waits for the first day reports to filter in. Only if the reports are very good do they go to the cinemas, otherwise, they wait for it to come on OTT. Such films generally don’t take good initials unless, of course, the music is a big hit.

I am keen to make a film but making money is not the motive. I want to make a film which the world will remember as a great film. How should I go about it?

– The world will remember your film as a great film only if it succeeds at the box-office. So whether you like it or not, you will have to make a film which makes money. In other words, making money has to be your motive, else your film may go largely unnoticed!

There are so many heroes who are very talented but whose names don’t sell — neither among distributors nor among the paying public. Does that mean that it’s the end of the road for them?

– It could mean the end of the road for them unless they start accepting character roles or work in multi-hero films rather than insisting on playing solo lead roles. It is not easy for a film hero to accept that a film no longer sells on the strength of his name. But if he doesn’t face reality and change the course of his career, he could be rendered jobless. After all, no producer would want to lose money by signing a talented but unsaleable hero.    

How much has OTT affected theatrical business?

– Around 15-20%. Because there is a section of the audience, which has stopped going to the cinemas unless the content is very compelling. This sections gets its dose of entertainment from OTT and has stopped depending on cinemas for it. Half of this 15-20% consumes films on OTT while the other half doesn’t watch films now. The other half, which has stopped film consumption, only watches web series.

Is it true that several cinemas have shut down temporarily because no films are doing well?

– Yes, that’s true. Since hardly any film is faring well at the box-office, there isn’t enough software to play in the cinemas. Hence several screens have closed down temporarily.

There are so many films which get made but which, on the very look of it, don’t stand a chance to succeed at the box-office. How do such films get funded?

– Obviously, they get funded by persons who don’t understand either the economics of film production or the public tastes. There are many such people, who think they know a lot about films and their commercial viability but, in reality, know nothing!  

If content is king, why is the writer (instead of the director) not known as the captain of the ship?

– Because filmmaking involves many other aspects, besides writing. So while writing is of paramount importance for a film, there are other factors also which are very important and for which the director needs to take responsibility. It is the director who has to bring together all the talents and utilise them optimally to make a film. He has to cast correctly, extract great work from out of his actors, music director/s, lyricist/s, choreographers, cinematographers, action director, editor, sound recordist, etc. It is the director who converts the written material into a film.

It is said that there’s no dearth of talent in India. And yet, the success ratio in films is abysmally low! Isn’t this an anomaly?

– Yes, it is an anomaly. The reason for this anomaly is that the entry for new talent is very difficult. The big people in the industry don’t have the time to assess the potential of newcomers and hence a lot of talent is ‘rejected’ without being tested. Since stakes are so high, established producers prefer to work with tried and tested talent rather than investing time and big money in training and then giving break to new talent.

Can Hollywood wipe out Bollywood?

– Not for the next decade or two, at least. Maybe, never.  

With the big Eid releases having flopped, and not many promising films slated for release this year, what do you foresee for the trade?

– By “not many promising films”, you mean to say that not many films hold promise of doing big business, right? If yes, you are right! But small films may turn out to be the successful ones this year. Of course, they cannot bring the big numbers one associates with big-ticket entertainers but they can, nevertheless, help the trade stay afloat. Secondly, Hollywood and the South Indian industries just might save the day for the exhibition sector. So, in reality, exhibitors and the trade should be keeping their fingers crossed for small films, Hollywood films and South Indian cinema this year.

The producers and makers of both the Eid releases this year were supremely confident about their respective film’s stupendous success. Then what went wrong?

– People connected with any film being “supremely confident” about it doesn’t mean much because every producer and every filmmaker gets so emotionally attached to his film that it is difficult to imagine them to be objective at the time of the film’s release. Besides, if they don’t exhibit confidence in their product, who will? Thirdly, the reaction of trade people in preview shows before a film’s release is, more often than not, misguiding because most of the industry people never give their honest opinion if they don’t like a film. This further fortifies the producer and director’s belief that they have made a blockbuster. Frankly, nobody wants to hear negative comments about his film, more so at the time of release. The same was true in the cases of both the Eid releases — BADE MIYAN CHOTE MIYAN and MAIDAAN.

Is it true that Sunny Deol is not completing the films he had started before the release of Gadar 2? Why?

– It’s true. He is seeking a revision in his remuneration. In some cases, he is demanding a five- to tenfold hike in his fees! In a couple of cases, he is asking the producers to change the script. Both the demands are untenable and so, those films are in limbo.  

After the bombing of Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and Maidaan, what are your thoughts on star prices?

– Star prices are not high, they are very very high. And this has been the case since time immemorial. The bombing of the two Eid releases — BADE MIYAN CHOTE MIYAN and MAIDAAN — only underlines this harsh reality. Having said that, let me add that in spite of stars charging exorbitantly, producers are queueing up to sign them. So you can’t expect stars to reduce their remunerations. Nobody is so conscientious that he would of his own volition announce a cut in his fees. They will continue to demand sky-high prices along as producers are willing to pay them. And this is happening because saleable stars are in short supply.

Why did Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2 not open to even average houses today? After all, Love Sex Aur Dhokha had done well at the box-office.

– LOVE SEX AUR DHOKHA was released 14 years ago — in 2010. Fourteen years is too long a gap for benefits to accrue from the first film. Besides, the promotion of LSD 2 is not half as good as it ought to have been.

Distributors of Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and Maidaan fought tooth and nail with exhibitors and chain holders for showcasing of their films last week. But ultimately, both the films fared so miserably that their shows had to be reduced and re-distributed among the already running films. What would you call this situation?

– A joke… a BIG JOKE. Just goes to underline how far removed from reality the distributors of both the films were. Frankly, showcasing becomes an ego issue when two big-budget films are pitted against each other. Each distributor thinks, the public will patronise his film if he has more number of shows. But the fact is that from the Friday on which the films are released, the public doesn’t care who gets how many shows. What they look out for is entertainment. They will patronise the film which offers them more entertainment. Nothing else matters. N-O-T-H-I-N-G E-L-S-E!   

While the start of both the big releases of this week were pathetic, why did Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff’s Bade Miyan Chote Miyan take a bigger initial than Ajay Devgan’s Maidaan on Thursday (April 11)? I ask this question because while Akshay Kumar’s recent films (with the exception of OMG 2) and Tiger Shroff’s recent films have fared poorly, Ajay Devgan’s most recent film, Shaitaan, did very well at the box-office.

– It is not just the performance of the last film or last few films of the stars that governs the opening of their next film but a host of other factors too. BADE MIYAN CHOTE MIYAN is a mass-oriented film whereas MAIDAAN is less of a mass film. As you know, mass films invariably open better than films which are not predominantly mass-appealing. Also, the release of MAIDAAN was first announced for April 2022. Its actual release in April 2024 implies a delay of two full years. The public got the impression that it must be a stale film. One has got to be very careful while announcing his film’s release because in the age of social media, nothing escapes the attention of the public. Another reason for both the films opening to dull houses is the absence of popular songs in them.

What about the owners of cinemas which had been taken over for running by Carnival? Most of the cinemas had complained of huge amount of accumulated dues not being cleared by Carnival. Now that Carnival is shut, have those cinemas been paid their dues?

– Carnival is under liquidation. You must be aware that when it’s a question of liquidation, things are not settled so seamlessly. Most of the cinemas have their properties back but their dues, running into lakhs and crores of rupees, are still outstanding. Perhaps, the liquidation order will bring them some relief. As for the original properties of Carnival, many of them were acquired by the Miraj group. Some prime properties were purchased by PVR. As for Shrikant Bhasi, the founder of Carnival Cinemas, he has started another chain of cinemas, which goes by the name of My Cinemas. The company has started from South India but is trying to woo cinemas in the rest of India too, for collaboration! Yes, it may sound weird but it’s true.

Whose is the more difficult job — the writer’s, director’s or the actor’s?

– No job is easy. For a film to succeed, the script has to be good, it has to be well narrated (by the director) and well enacted (by the actors). Yet, the writer’s job must be the most difficult because he has to start from scratch. The director and the actors have the script to go by, but the writer has nothing.

How has the first quarter of 2024 been in comparison to that of 2023?

– If you compare the first quarters of 2024 and 2023, this year’s first quarter has, obviously, been far less than last year’s. Just one PATHAAN in the first quarter of 2023 is enough to put to shame the first quarter of this year. Having said that, it must be added that even otherwise, the first quarter hasn’t been very good this year. In fact, exhibitors are a nervous lot after the performance of most of the films in the first quarter of this year.

Why are producers making content for cities rather than for smaller centres?

– Because the admission rates are much higher in the multiplexes in cities than in single-screen cinemas of the smaller centres. So it makes commercial sense for producers to make films for the city audience as the high admission rates assure them of profitability with lesser footfalls than if they make content for smaller centres.

Arrange the following in order of importance for opening of a film on the Friday of release: a film’s title, trailer, songs, star cast, director and producer?

– Varies from film to film, but mostly, the order would be: star cast, trailer, songs, title, director, producer. Although a director is the captain of the ship, not many among the audience give him due importance, at least as far as the initial value of a film is concerned.

Once again this week, it’s the Hollywood film, Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, which has opened better than the Bollywood film, Crew, at many centres. What’s even more surprising is that the Hollywood film has computer-generated characters playing the heroes whereas the Bollywood film has three leading ladies. Isn’t this strange?

– Not really strange. There have been several occasions when a Hollywood film has opened bigger than a Bollywood film, that too, with a saleable hero or two in the Bollywood film. GODZILLA and KONG are big brands and this Hollywood film had to open big. Also, CREW doesn’t have any heroes (Diljit Dosanjh is in a special appearance), and we all know that heroine-oriented films often don’t open big. In spite of that, the initial of CREW is quite praiseworthy.

Will Excel Entertainment make a Madgaon Express franchise just like its Fukrey franchise?

– They could. The story of MADGAON EXPRESS was such that it could afford itself to a series.

Any pre-release reports of Maidaan?

– The film is carrying excellent pre-release reports. People who’ve seen the film are raving about the second half in particular. They say, it leaves you in tears at several places.

Why don’t the producers of Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and Maidaan come on different dates instead of clashing on Eid?

– This is easier said than done. No producer would like to forgo the Eid week because it definitely translates into enhanced collections. Since both, BADE MIYAN CHOTE MIYAN and MAIDAAN, are hugely budgeted films, every such benefit (like a potentially bountiful week) is an additional factor to maximise revenues.

Last week, Yodha took a dull start. This week, it is Madgaon Express and Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, which have opened to weak houses. Do these dull initials tell a story?

– Yes, these are alarming initials. This means that unless the audience find something super-exciting in the trailers, they are not in a mood to rush to the cinemas. This has happened post-COVID because one section of the public is spending its money on films very judiciously. They will go to the cinemas only when they are convinced that it will be worth the ticket prices. Admission rates must be brought down for films starring heroes who aren’t hot. The sooner the industry realises this, the better it would be.

What did you think of the trailer of Crew? Will the film open well?

– The trailer has made a place for itself in people’s hearts. There is a certain amount of craze that has developed for the film after the trailer was released.