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In August earlier this year, The Quint had published an insider’s view on why Bollywood was going bust pegged on the news that a couple of big film studios were on the verge of shutting shop. The article went viral and as a top film studio executive described it, “caused an earthquake of sorts in the film industry”.
A new blog published on madaboutmoviez.com brings the widely shared and discussed topic back under the spotlight. Titled What’s Wrong with Bollywood? The Explosive Truth Behind It, the write-up begins by citing The Quint’s article and the ramifications it had once it was published.
To put the record straight, I was in touch with the contributor of the piece and it was mutually agreed that the writer’s name would go with the write-up before the article was published on The Quint. I have the mail trail on which it was mutually decided that we would keep the initial of his first name and give out his surname in the byline. So the allegation that - “The tone was The Quint was supposed to carry the article under an anonymous byline. As it came under pressure it gave away my friend’s identity.” - is false.
We did have to give out his email address on the piece later though, but that was because the writer had gone incommunicado once (for the want of a better phrase) the shit hit the fan. Also The Quint considers it fair that the blogger should get a chance to defend his write up and correspond with others who wished to interact with him regarding the piece. But having read about the threats, blackmail, legal notices, hacking he went through, I can understand that he was going through a pretty rough patch himself.
Coming back to the new blog written by Sudama Bhatekar, it again illustrates with updated examples that why exactly the studio system in Bollywood is falling apart. Here are some excerpts from Sudama’s piece in which he names studios and executives in reverse. I don’t know if it protects him from legal action but it is sure fun to decipher.
The week that The Quint published his article sorE had a big film in theatre – ohkeD raaB raaB. The 70 crore film was a big dud that could not go beyond the weekend. It collected about 30 crore (share of 15 crore for producers). WTF! Exactly like my friend wrote. A big corporate studio, sorE produced it. We know the film’s writer Sri Rao quite well. He went to India for the film’s premiere too. But sorry mate, this was bad.Sudama Bhatekar (madaboutmoviez.com)
The piece goes on to point out why the studio produced the box-office disaster:
“Are you are wondering how did sorE produce such a bomb? Because they must be the only studio in this whole world where there is NO creative team. There is NO development team. NOBODY reads scripts there. NOBODY asks for narration there. Big hero, big heroine, KJo, kala chashma, lecxE – all big brands. How can all go wrong? They did. While KJo and lecxE made big money on the film (do notice how smart the independent producers are), about 50 crore loss was entirely of sorE, of no creative team fame.”
Sudama then cites the example of another debacle this year.
“Another big studio film was ayzriM. ardnihaMA again trying his luck. He is again trusting his friend who has no experience in films. He comes from hospitality business. Otherwise which moron will give a fucking 60 crore to a film with two newcomers. WHAT WERE THEY SMOKING? mpoR made 30 crore from the film which includes direction fees, producers fee. HOW DO DIRECTORS FOOL THE STUDIOS? The list of directors who fool studios and make money is also long. The film got bad reviews and made 10 crore (share of only 5 crore for producers).”
And then the irony, one of the most successful films this year -Pink, was not backed by any studio, because none of the big Bollywood studio heads believed in the film.
“The only film that made a big profit in the last 2 months was Shoojit Sircar’s Pink. At least 4 studios said no to it. Why? No big stars. Even the studio that produced Shoojit’s last film and made money on it, they also said no. How dumb. Whenever something is successful, both partners always try to collaborate again. Here they lost a big one. Shoojit independently produced and released the film. The 20 cr film made about 70 crore business and is one of the most profitable films of the year. But no studio.”
The article also highlights the culture of kickbacks and backend deals struck in the industry, which it cites as one of the main reasons for the almost blind backing of film projects by some studio heads.
Will the big flops of 2016 be a wake-up call for Bollywood? Are we going to see a shift in the way studio chiefs are hired, film studios are run and the way they approach scripts and pitches? Let’s hope ab dangal hoga.
(Excerpts from the blog are used here with permission from madaboutmoviez.com)
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