‘Filmmakers should be entrepreneurs too’

Last year,a documentary about a motley film crew in a movie-crazy town released in theatres across India. Originally made for a television channel in Singapore,Supermen of Malegaon was released under PVR Director’s Rare last year and ran to packed houses for three weeks.

Today,there is space for all kinds of cinema. While Grand Masti has done a business of

Rs 100 crore-plus at the box office,The Lunchbox has crossed Rs 20 crore. Lucia,a Rs 52 lakh crowd-funded Kannada independent film,has earned over Rs 4 crore in total business,and Local KungFu,a martial arts comedy made on Rs 95,000,released in at least 40 screens across India. In the last two years,we have even seen documentaries such as Fire in the Blood and Celluloid Man making it to the big screen,which is encouraging.

When I first started programming for Director’s Rare,we used to sell only around 1,500 tickets a week as compared with more than 10,000 now. The idea behind Director’s Rare was to provide independent filmmakers a platform to show their films to interested audiences. Until now,the only avenues available were once-a-year film festivals.

Now when I look back,I guess we have been successful in bringing about a paradigm shift — while we have released more than 40 films in one-and-a-half years,the audience is continuously expanding. Multiplexes and even some single screens are now experimenting and want to cater to all kinds of cinegoers. So where do we go from here? I am no expert,but just a small cog in the wheel,and the following points are purely based on my observations dealing with films and filmmakers.

We need to start investing in good writers. I don’t know why,but a majority of filmmakers just do not believe in getting professionals to write their scripts. Some are complacent,some believe that they can do it themselves,while a few feel that it’s just not required. A solid screenplay is 25 per cent of the battle won; the rest is about getting the right crew,cast and distributor/exhibitor.

More young and smart people should start taking up producing (this is different from financing) as a serious career option. For some reason,film professionals in India prefer becoming directors (that includes me). Dedicated producers,who can identify out-of-the-box concepts,have the talent to build the right team,raise finances and execute a project,will go a long way in building a robust industry. Film and business schools should start providing courses in producing.

Once it was respectable for a film to get into a festival,but not anymore. Now anybody can organise a film festival,just like anybody can open an IIT/IIM coaching centre. A set of minimum guidelines should be put in place for a film festival. The last thing we want is festivals that encourage mediocre content.

Initially,at Director’s Rare,we focussed only on Indian indie content,but soon we found it very difficult to sustain a banner on that alone,as a majority of them were just not up to the mark. That’s when we started doing a mix of indies,documentaries,short films,international indies and,most importantly,regional films.

I often meet filmmakers who make films for themselves and are least bothered or,worse,clueless about what to do with the film once it is ready. But making a motion picture is one of the highest forms of entrepreneurship and filmmakers should start thinking of themselves as entrepreneurs too.