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| Aditya Bhattacharya in an interview with the ISB students, Vinay Rajpal and Ralston. |
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| “I don’t think management of the film business has evolved at all. It is just that, at the moment, there are more people into the business, getting higher salaries and learning on the job.” |
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television companies are told that they have a quota. This protects them but has harmed the industry. If somebody gave you a subsidy to make shoes, you would slowly not care about how good the shoes were, because you are not dealing with the real market. If you notice, except for the French who have somehow continued to make exportable films, the others have actually suffered. Their cost is about 35 percent more than Indian films of the same scale. This is interesting because somehow in theatrical runs, they manage to earn back from their successful films – up to 10-12 million Euros from 55 million people. However, they make very few movies, possibly 30-50 movies yearly. It is not a thriving industry. They actually look at India as a great hope. We can build twice the number of multiplexes and still be able to fill them. That is the statistical power that India has. The sad thing is that we don’t make movies that the world wants to watch. How come we make 1,000 movies a year, and the Mexican films have more entry into America and the Oscars? I think our being a feudal industry is what has made us suffer.
What would you say are the entry points for management students to get into the film business?
I would say pick up areas which have not been dealt with by the traditional film business. For example, how would one do a theatrical release of a Hindi film in North America? We need innovative ways of maximising demand, merchandise, tie-ups, etc., with a science to it. Minimising
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loss in terms of money, that keeps falling through the holes every time you are doing sales is another area. Then, one can work on how to make a global rights break up for a smaller film. Because if you have a smaller film, the traditional distributor is not going to release it theatrically, but if you have the rights to it; you can go ahead. There are lots of opportunities for people who are looking from outside. For example, how do you service, how do you create urban youth-based niche markets etc. Is there a way of going into, or buying or hiring old cinemas in certain areas and creating something like a Barista of cinemas – a cool place to hang out, and which plays a certain kind of movies. Obviously, film makers cannot think of all these.
Actor, producer, writer, director – you have been all of these. Which role do you enjoy the most?
Filmmaking. It’s a bit like, if you really like fast bikes, it is not enough to know how to ride it. You also have to know a little bit about how it works. It helps you to ride the bike better. I have been a producer by default because I have had to package and put together my films. I would love a time when I can have somebody else to do that. It’s a very privileged and expensive business. I believe that if you are not responsible with the money, at a certain point, it will dry up.
I am glad that I did other things. I am looking forward to applying that knowledge to produce other people’s films. I know how the bike works. |
