Focus

The state of the South Indian film industry in terms of box-office returns is no different from the Hindi film industry. However, Tamil and Telugu films have been an exception and provide a silver lining to an otherwise bleak picture...

This Summer, four Tamil films, out of the ten released, have done very good business. Some Telugu films have also done well. As for films in other southern languages, the success ratio is too low.

L Suresh, a knowledgeable Tamil film industry expert, said: “This summer has been very good for Tamil films. “Out of 10, four films have been hits. Mani Ratnam is back on the success track with his Tamil film Alaiparude which is expected to cross the 100-day run mark in eight to ten centres. Even its dubbed version in Telugu has done extra-ordinary business. Another hit film is Vijay Kumar’s own production, Vallarasu, which will also celebrate its 100-day run. A small-budget social-cum-mythological production like Rajkaliamman has also done very good business vis-a-vis its cost.Koshi is yet another film which is doing very well. The year had started on a dismal note but later things brightened up and the industry’s morale is high.”

AR Raju, veteran producer and distributor of Kannada and Telugu films (mostly D Rama Naidu’s films), says that generally, the success ratio for films made in any south Indian language is 10 to 1 or two. However, this year six to seven Tamil and Telugu films have been hits. “The cost of films,” he added, “is mounting. Today, the cost of production of a Tamil or Telugu film is around Rs 3.5 crores, while in the case of a Kannada film it is Rs 1.5 crores. Kannada films like Upendra, Shabd Bhedi and Preetse have done well. Kalisi Undamu Raa, Semungavilli Labhamugh Randi and Annayya in Telugu have been the successful films. Only 50 per cent of the remake films in Kannada have fared well.”

KV Gupta, former president of the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce, said: “The cost of production is going up because of the unseemly competition among producers who run after previously successful artistes, irrespective of whether they are really required or not as per dictates of the story. These artistes are paid much more, the amounts being disproportionate to the returns their names bring. In addition to production costs, the costs of exhibition, distribution and publicity of films have also gone beyond manageable limits compared to amounts of recovery at the box-office. Producers only are responsible for the present sorry state of affairs. Earlier, producers used to base their stories on the regional milieu but today they are making films of an all-India character with subjects which have no relevance to the social conditions of the region where they are exhibited with the result that the audience is forced to see glamour and not reality. Today, it has become impossible for any producer to make a film within the stipulated budget since the expenses mount as he attempts to give his film gloss of the kind seen in Hindi and English films. As a result he always fails and suffers. Previously, producers used to select a subject for their film, decide the cost structure involved in its mounting and discuss the feasibility of their project with the distributors who were aware of the taste of the public through the exhibitors.

That is absent today. What is happening is a distributor supplies pictures on the basis of fixed hire. Since the theatre rental is fixed, an exhibitor runs a film only if it has a face value. This is how the star system has crept in. The distributor has to recover his cost by hook or crook. But increase in the exhibition outlets is not in keeping with the increase in the production of films”.
KV Maruti, secretary of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, said that the electronic media was eating into the box-office collections of films as pirated cassettes were shown on cable. That was the reason why Hindi films were not running beyond one or two weeks on the Mysore circuit.

Dwarkeesh, veteran actor and producer of Kannada films, lamented that there were more proposal makers than filmmakers. “We need more filmmakers like Rakesh Roshan who can make good films and not fly-by-night producers who dish out routine fare,” he said and added, “today, the actors are ruling the industry and not producers. I have made 45 films so far including in Hindi, but today, it is impossible for filmmakers like me to bow down before artistes and make films. What we need is more filmmakers with whom we can compete and not proposal makers.”

Raghavendra Rajkumar, who is at the helm of his father’s film production business, said that film business was on low key because of lack of competitors not only among film makers but also film stars. “We hardly have any good stories. Even in Kannada films, there are hardly one or two top stars and able directors. Originality is at a low ebb and creativity is missing with the result that we are doing remakes. While the Government of Karnataka is giving tax benefits on the one hand, it prohibits shooting of films at Cubbon Park or Lalbag on the other. A film is entitled to subsidy only if 75 per cent of it is shot in Karnataka, and not otherwise. Further, it is the KFCC that decides which film deserves subsidy, which is hardly Rs 10 lakhs. Films like Upendra and Shabd Bhedi have done better business but they are not super hits. Compared to Tamil and Telugu, the Kannada film industry has less stars. Producers who depend on one top star keep idle till that star is available.

Whereas in Tamil and Telugu there are more stars and the producers are able to make a choice. Kannada film producers are fighting for remake rights of hit Tamil and Telugu films. As many as eight films are on the floor which are remakes of either Tamil or Telugu hits. The market for Kannada films is also restricted to the Mysore territory alone because Hindi films are dominating in Bombay Karnataka and Gulbarga, Telugu films in Bellary and Hyderabad Karnataka area and Tamil films in Kolar and Hosur areas. Therefore, Kannada films face stiff competition from non-Kannada films. The fact that seven to eight prints of Tamil and Telugu films are screened in Karnataka proves that the market for Kannada films is shrinking. But this is not the case in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh where Kannada films are not shown regularly, which is a pity.”

P Gangadharan, president of the Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce, said, “The condition of the Malayalam film industry is very bad. The costs of production is going up owing to several factors, while the returns are diminishing. The cost of a medium budget Malayalam film is around Rs 2 crore, while a big star-cast film costs anywhere between Rs 3 to 4 crore. Out of 20 films released this year, only one or two have succeeded at the box-office. This is because of video piracy and satellite channels screening Malayalam movies. It is my surmise that this year the production of Malayalam films will come down to just 40 from last year’s figure of 60.”

MSM Desai