Have you realised that nowadays, many films, which are expected to open well, actually end up starting slow? Or that even star cast films have to struggle to open to respectable houses on the Friday of release! Have you noticed that with the exception of a handful of films, all the others have had to bite the dust?
Why is this happening? Where is Bollywood going wrong? Why does it seem to have landed into an abyss?
If films are not taking good initials, it is because of several reasons. For one, producers have stopped promoting their films as well as they used to, say, in the pre-COVID times. One hears that stars are often reluctant to give pre-release interviews or make appearances in malls or on TV reality shows to interact with the public — something they proudly and willingly did till early 2020 before the country went into lockdown mode. When stars used to promote their films on the front foot, the public felt inclined to listen to what they had to say about their film which was due for release. But today, members of the public don’t have too many sources to know about the films that are slated for release. Even television advertising has reduced drastically. Producers seem to be concentrating their energies on promotion of their films on social media more than the traditional media. However, producers, actors and filmmakers would do well to realise that 85-90% of the people active on social media are those who have stopped frequenting cinemas. They prefer to watch films on OTT platforms rather than in the cinemas unless, of course, the content is so compelling that they will take the effort of getting out of their houses to go to the cinemas, braving the crazy traffic snarls, at least in the metropolitan cities. Effectively, producers are often barking up the wrong tree because they are not reaching out to their real audience. Eighty per cent of the cinema-going audience even today depends upon street publicity, newspaper ads and television and radio spots to get information about the forthcoming new film releases. But while producers have cut down on ad spends in the aforementioned media, they have increased their budgets on social media promotions which, in reality, is targetting people who aren’t the first-day or first-weekend audience for Hindi films.
This is not to say that social media promotion of films is incorrect. But putting all eggs in one basket is incorrect. Sadly, the urge to hire young marketing professionals is so strong that producers depend upon such talent heavily. And the youngsters may be so far removed from reality that they could end up wasting the money of the producers by drawing out plans heavily skewed in favour of social media promotion, sometimes to the complete exclusion of the traditional media.
Even today, music and trailers remain the two most potent tools of promotion for any film. Let’s talk about music first. Frankly, how many producers work hard on their music nowadays? The only two names which come to mind instantly are Karan Johar and Dinesh Vijan. They are consistent in delivering popular and hit songs in their films. Other than these two, it looks like, the others have forgotten how hit tunes are made. When they don’t have hit music to offer, how can they expect their films to take an impressive opening on Friday, given that the majority of the public even today decides about the desirability or otherwise of a film basis its music? As far as trailers are concerned, one doesn’t have any complaint as in most cases, trailers are better than the films.
Coming now to the other important aspect: of films not sustaining at the box-office and losing steam within three days. The singular reason for this sorry state of affairs is the poor content that is being dished out to the public in the name of entertainment. So what does this mean? Have our filmmakers forgotten to make entertaining films? Not really! But they definitely need to pull up their socks because the competition from OTT platforms is huge and real. There is no denying that one section of the audience has transitioned from cinemas to digital platforms; they will not come to the cinemas unless the content is compelling and needs to be enjoyed on the big screen. For the rest of the films, these lost customers prefer to either wait for them to stream on OTT or don’t ever watch them. They get their daily or weekly or monthly dose of entertainment — that too, Hindi, regional as well as international — on digital platforms.
One can think of several reasons why the quality of films has been declining. Even if, in some cases, it is not deteriorating, it is definitely not keeping pace with the quality of international cinema and web series. It may sound hurtful for Bollywood makers but it must be pointed out that our makers have often not been able to even keep pace with the filmmakers of the South Indian industries. The sincerity and dedication of the South filmmakers and actors show in their films, something which Bollywood films often lack.
Frankly, one reason for sub-standard fare coming out of Bollywood could be the easy availability of money in the form of revenue from sale of OTT and other rights. No doubt, digital platforms have become tight-fisted as compared to what they were, say, five or six years ago, but they are still underwriting 50% of the cost of production in many cases. It is human nature to not work very hard when earning profits is easy. That seems to be the problem with our producers who make star-studded films. Since OTT platforms generally shop for films on the basis of banners and star casts, it becomes easy for the established production houses to put together projects starring saleable stars and consequently get fancy prices for the digital rights even before the film is released or, for that matter, completed. Things may not change much till the OTT platforms change the criteria on which they finalise their deals. Currently, a lot many films are being made on excel sheets rather than in the writers’ rooms. Creativity has long been sacrificed in the name of commercial calculations.
Film production is a business enterprise and there’s nothing wrong in being concerned about the commercial viability of films. The problem arises when commercial considerations become the only factor in deciding how films should be made, and when creativity is buried in the name of financial compulsions. It is alright for producers to be commercially savvy but how can directors and stars start worshipping Goddess Laxmi while often ignoring Goddess Saraswati?
There’s plenty wrong with our producers. There’s something drastically incorrect about the functioning of many of our directors. There is urgent need for our writers to put on their thinking caps once again so that they can deliver stuff that resonates well with the public. There is definitely room for improvement in the working of our music directors. Otherwise, our films will neither open well nor fare well at the turnstiles.
Corrective steps must be taken. NOW!