Dhirubhai Shah

Big Leap for the Video King!

A man in tune with the changing times: that should aptly describe Dhirubhai Shah of Time Movies. From a modest video cassette dealer, he’s become the producer of a number of films, and the success is owing largely to his business acumen and hard work. The Video King of the Hindi film industry has donned the role of a movie moghul, with almost films in the pipeline, with Kurukshetra as the first off the block, and another six films to be launched in the first quarter of 2001...

From a video dealership, to cable and then to satellite and films, you’ve sure come a long way. What makes you bet on filmmaking?
One needs to change as per the dictates of time. As everyone knows, video business is no longer as good as it was a couple of years ago. So I decided we had a very good set-up and a committed team with me, and everything that we would need to make a great movie. That’s how the banner Time Movies was born.

Any other reason besides that?
I feel the audience is coming back to the cinemas again. This is a very good sign for the film industry. The idea of big screen entertainment has ushered in an altogether different aura to films. The revolutionary changes in the field of sound have been embraced by the film industry in a big way. The DTS, Dolby and other technological innovations in sound have given Hindi cinema a new look. So it’s indeed worth making films that cater to the tastes of the masses.

If the scene is so conducive to films, why isn’t there a spurt in production?
It’s because there are no proposal makers any more in this industry now. Filmmaking itself has become a costly venture and people who just launch films and wait for financiers are missing. You may well know that films used to be made for Rs 3 to 4 crore, and that figure has now more than doubled. Only genuine people are making films who have a sound financial background. It has become a place for only those people who know the ground realities well.

Why have the costs of production increased to this level?
New technology is a costly affair. Look at all the ultramodern theatres around you, and you’ll know we need to make films to match them. Our films should be polished products and that means pumping in more money.

Even the artistes’ fees have gone up. How do you justify that?
It’s all a question of demand and supply. It’s rather unfortunate that for such a big industry we have very few artistes who sell these days. No doubt, there are films being made with new comers. But how many Aditya Chopras and Barjatyas do we have? They have the guts to make films with newcomers and be successful too. So what I mean to say is, there are very few artistes who sell and there’s a mad rush among filmmakers to sign them.

But do the stars still sell?
They do. I feel they still command respect among distributors and the audience, though the situation has changed in this last ten years. Previously, we used to judge a success of the film if it does jubilee business in a theatre. But now if it runs for 7 to 8 week it brings in enough revenue. Then there are the music, satellite and overseas markets which have tremendous potential for the filmmaker.

Do the producers recover their investments despite such huge stakes?
Yes, they sure do. First and foremost, the product should be good enough and meet the tastes of the audience. Then the returns are automatic. Everyone knows the returns from music used to be so meagre a couple of years ago. Now it is more than ten times bigger. It is because the market has opened up for new products. Just a few years ago, there were just a few thousand CDs being sold in the market but now they sell in lakhs. So that makes all the difference.

There was a time when it was said that films were made for the Indian masses. Now the nomenclature has shifted to making films for the overseas audience. How far is it true?
That’s correct to some extent. Filmmakers are more focussed on the overseas market for revenue, but such films should first run in our country, too. In recent years, the demand from foreign countries has almost doubled. I remember just 15-20 prints used to be sent overseas for exploitation but the number has gone upto almost 100. From these one can imagine the response for Hindi films from the NRIs. But what I have observed is that only films with a social and family appeal have a fair chance for success abroad. They don’t look for action films as they have enough of it in English films. So I feel that films like Kurukshetra don’t have much scope compared to films like Mohabbatein.

You have launched six films at a time. Don’t you think it can get very taxing?
See, I have the resources and personnel to handle pressure situations. We also have an excellent rapport with distributors who pay advance amounts to our films. They know we deliver the goods. Despite so many problems faced by our company we have not put our distributors in any trouble. I remember we had raids by Tax authorities and enforcement agencies at the time of a release a couple of years back, but the delivery of our films went on unhindered. That’s the kind of trust they have in us.

Your Kurukshetra is due for release, this week. How do you rate Mahesh Manjrekar as a director?
We have two films with Mahesh, which proves I am very happy with his work. He is a workaholic, who works at a mindblowing pace. He has a tremendous story sense and knows the pulse of the audience exactly. I would love to work with directors like him. We have another six films lined up for next year, and Mahesh is bound to feature in them too.

Why is there no news of Times Music these days?
We have stopped buying music as we are not able to make much inroads in the market owing to piracy. We want to focus on film production and video business for the time being, for that’s where we feel most comfortable.

Padmaraj Nair