 "Bajirao Mastani")
Amol Gupte has just finished narrating the story of a kid who is a secret agent. The creator of Taare Zameen Par and director of Stanley Ka Dabba starts shooting this summer for a December release. At Eros International's Trinity Pictures, which is producing the film, the sense of anticipation is sharp.
Eros releases 65-70 films annually, but this is not just another film. With Gupte's forthcoming film, along with three others, India's largest film company is taking the first few steps towards backward integration.
Eros became a Rs 1,442-crore behemoth by acquiring and co-producing films such as Bajrangi Bhaijaan or Bajirao Mastani. Its competency, as one analyst puts it, is getting deals and distribution. Trinity, its in-house production arm set up 15 months ago, attempts to change that. The idea is to have control over intellectual property (IP) and in turn generate better returns.
"Out of our outlay of $200 million plus (Rs 1,320 crore) in content investment for the year, $25-30 million (Rs 165 crore to Rs 198 crore) will be towards Trinity. We will ramp this number up to around $50 million (Rs 330 crore) in two years," says Jyoti Deshpande, group CEO, Eros International. She reckons that Trinity will over time deliver up to six films a year. But these will "be among the top 15 revenue generating films of the year for Eros as well as the industry," she adds.
Trinity has 10 films going on the floor over the next two years. That is roughly what a regular Indian studio would produce in a year.
"It (Trinity) is absolutely the right thing to do. All studios should own IP and should be involved in production," says Ajit Andhare, chief operating officer, Viacom18 Motion Pictures. Viacom18, Eros, Disney, Yash Raj Films and Fox-Star are among the handful of serious studios that corporatisation has thrown up in the Rs 13,800-crore Indian film industry.
The trinity logic
"Trinity is to Eros what Marvel is to Disney," says Ajit Thakur, CEO, Trinity Pictures. "Earlier we were funding storytelling, now we are bringing storytelling and creation within Eros," says he. After Trinity was set up in 2015, the first thing Thakur did is look for a team of writers. Trinity's eight writers today are developing characters and scripts from scratch.
There are three filters that Trinity uses to greenlight a project: Is it franchisable? Is it in an unexplored genre? And can it hit Rs 1,000 crore in revenues as a franchise?
Take each of these. "Franchise films make for more discipline in storytelling, it works only if you invest in developing a character. The plots may run out but the characters live on and the economic viability of franchises is very clear," says Thakur. Globally, six to seven of the top ten grossers over the last couple of years have been franchises: films such as Avengers, James Bond's Spectre, Fast and Furious or The Hunger Games. This is because more than half of Hollywood's revenues now come from outside of America, notably from markets such as China or Korea. Known characters, with a built-in awareness, increase the appeal of a film and cut marketing costs. That explains why Deshpande brought David Maisel, founder of Marvel, on the Eros board. "A franchise puts a studio in a better position to negotiate," reckons Andhare.
Two, there is focus on unexplored genres: Gods and kings, mythological characters, animation and live action for kids and supernatural themes. Bollywood is not conventionally known for these genres; these have huge audiences but little content. Notice the popularity of the Chhota Bheem movies or of The Jungle Book. "Most of these genres lend themselves to franchises," says Shailesh Kapoor, CEO, Ormax Media. Ormax is helping Trinity test concepts and scripts. "We will not do comedies, love stories and drama," says Thakur.
The third filter, on becoming a Rs 1,000 crore franchise, says Thakur, is more a statement of intent of ambition. Top grossing Indian films do anywhere between Rs 50 and Rs 400 crore, whereas in China it ranges from Rs 500 to Rs 3,000 crore and more. The idea therefore is to look at scripts that can with two films in, say about three years, generate Rs 1,000 crore. Of Trinity's four films going into production this financial year, two are Indo-China co-productions. The first one is a bilingual, directed by Kabir Khan with Indian and Chinese stars, which Thakur thinks could reach Rs 1,000 crore.
The challenges
Haven't other studios attempted to replicate the independent spirit within? Thakur doesn't agree. "Trinity is not about small films, we don't want it to be Spotboy (Disney) or Y Films (Yashraj. It is as mainstream as possible," says Thakur.
But there is scepticism about Eros' ability to pull off such a feat. "They are deal-makers signing cheques for acquisitions with a weak understanding of production," says an analyst. "When we came in 2006, we were in the land-grab phase. We gave advances for two to three years for films to create a slate. But now we are a content company. We are trying to change the mix to movies where we are involved from the writing of the script onwards," Deshpande had told Business Standard when Trinity was launched.
The process of creating a film is painful and expensive; the first Trinity film will go on the floor more than 18 months after the launch of the studio. Most independent producers usually lose steam by then and sell it to whichever studio is willing to pick it up. But Trinity also has an advantage. "Unlike an independent, once I green-light a project, we can go all the way to distribution and marketing," says Thakur. As one analyst puts it, the rationale and design of Trinity is absolutely correct. Now for execution.
