Film Production: emerging paradigm of Indian cinema

Grapevine is abuzz with the news that Hrithik Roshan has been signed by for 3 films by Adlabs at a reported cost of Rs. 35 crores, and Akshaya Kumar has been signed by Percept Communications for an amount above RS. 20 crores. This is a new trend being experienced in the Indian Film industry, which on the one hand is indicative of a professional approach to film making, as is also indicative of return to the studios, as is the trend in Hollywood.

However, it is also a pointer towards a metamorphosis that the industry is under going and is gradual veneering to creative change characterized by large production houses striving to establish symbiotic relationships with actors, along with their agents, theatre owners cable distribution networks, as also the distribution networks. The metamorphosis incidentally started with new genre of directors, among whom prominent are Madhur Bhandarkar, Raj Kumar Santoshi, Abbas Mastan etc., but has gained more publicity when the actors have also been brought to the ambit, but the female actors are still out of the loop.

The real reason behind going in for cultivating a long term relationship with an actor is guided by the premise that an assured system of seamless network is created which would ensure return on investments, with a profit, as the costs of film making is rising exponentially. It also injects a feeling of assurance that with a long term relationship the quotient of performance would be of higher and superior standards, apart from providing an avenue to take the liberty of going against the convention to do something out of the box. It also facilitates in checking the level of uncertainty associated with film making by doing backward linkages with the buyers and suppliers. This could also be one of the guiding factors whereby the Adlabs had given Hrithik Roshan preference over Abhishek Bachchan, though Adlabs has more personal relations with the Bachchan by virtue of Anil Ambani having a stake in Adlabs, as the marketing quotient and returns from a Hrithik is more than a Bachchan in the present circumstances.

This new experimentation to an extent tries to do away with the tendency of video piracy as the marketing arrangements tend to take care of most of the financial logistics, fall out is the larger masses of the country are deprived of the this new genre backed by technology and financial prowess.

It would however be interesting to watch whether this trend also leads to product arrogance as it has started showing to an extent where there is a tussle between the theatre owners and the producers, and the most noticeable example has been that of DHOOM:2, where the producers have stuck to their terms and conditions and are demanding a larger pound of mullah. This product arrogance should not manifest and should not have an amoebic spread, as other wise film viewing would become a requiem for a select few.

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