Forget the Cassandras

Freeze Frame

Year-end surveys all talked of the good year that Bollywood had. Yet in most surveys put out there was an inherent contradiction "� they all said that only a handful of films made money and that the industry as a whole lost over Rs 100 crore. Balderdash.

This brings me back to a pet peeve that I have often brought up in this column.

A group of trade pundits who bring out lucrative 'tip-sheets' on Bollywood have in the last couple of years been given legitimacy by the mainline media, both print as well as electronic. One hears all kinds of 'figures' being bandied around with authority.

To add to the problem, most of these cocky resident gurus write columns for various websites and are more than willing to give a sound byte at the shift of a frame.

Unfortunately, for some strange reason, most of these honourable men and women are habitual purveyors of bad tidings. Almost parasitic, they revel in trying to paint a dismal picture. Hollywood celebrates success. Bollywood seems to venerate failure!

Let's take an example. "Kal Ho Na Ho" is being called a 'multiplex' hit, a film which is not doing well in small centres. Arbitrary collections of five weeks are being mentioned as a benchmark.

Box office figures for just the US, Canada and the UK are supposed to represent overseas collections.

It is strange that a film which will end up recovering Rs 100 crore (it cost Rs 30 crore) from various revenue streams is deemed to be only a qualified success.

What is not taken into account is that the so-called 'multiplex' hit will end up being one of the all-time top earners. Since movies have a devout following in India, newspapers, magazines and TV channels devote considerable time and space to "Kal Ho Na Ho."

No wonder you have pipsqueaks quoting unauthenticated numbers and passing judgment on films in the media. Some have the audacity to do a couple of spot interviews and decide the fate of the film.

To top it all, the same circumspect figures and experts emerge with remarkable ubiquity. It is important that all stakeholders realise that honest and transparent reporting of facts is a prerequisite for any industry's healthy growth.

Perhaps it is time for some independent rating agency to start tracking Indian box office receipts.

Some trade magazines and many filmwallahs are still unwilling to believe that the corporatisation and professionalisation of the film industry are not only healthy but also inevitable.

Clinging on to ramshackle notions of success with antiquated business models, these hapless souls are only too glad to drive others down.

In spite of the much-repeated menace of piracy and high entertainment tax, it is bad films and worse marketing which is responsible for film industry debacles.

A large but crumbling part of the industry mistakenly believes that constant chest beating will get it the elusive success they yearn for. These status quoists, including film journalists, are invariably the ones who seek the gray clouds rather than the silver lining.

To be sure, there is an emerging minority which is not only clued into contemporary business practices but is also adventurous enough to either make different films or at least market them differently.

Interestingly, many of this new breed of producers are scions of established Bollywood families. Yet it is the slow but sure entry of companies that is driving the much-needed change.

Let me reiterate that not only has 2003 been a good year but a great year for Bollywood. Except for a fall in the sale of recorded music "� a worldwide phenomenon "� theatrical attendance is up; box-office collections are up, exports are booming and non-theatrical revenues now constitute a minimum of 25 per cent of the total returns.

It is universally accepted that in any business all revenue is added up to determine a Profit & Loss account. Some of my learned friends in the film industry are hell bent on using only box office returns to determine whether a film is a hit or a flop. And then again, does it make a difference whether I recover my money from Moradabad or Manhattan?

There is no doubt that the production sector is far more organised today than it was a couple of years ago. The multiplexes and soon digital theatres are perforce going to change the exhibition sector.

The worst offenders are the distributors and the stars "� they're the least informed and least reformed!

What is heartening is that today at least a dozen production houses in Bollywood are making more than half-a-dozen films each. This may not automatically mean a complete makeover, but it signals a change for the better.

Insurance, completion bonds, time schedules even bound scripts are slowly making inroads into the chaotic world of Hindi cinema. Most analysts agree that Indian entertainment, especially films, is on the verge of big time.

If this opportunity is not to be missed, a whole lot of players need to get their act together. The stars, the creative professionals, the producers, the distributors and, last but not least, the so-called trade pundits.

Get your facts right before you predict doom. Let me just tell some of these boom busters that Indian film exports have crossed the Rs 1,000 crore mark and the film industry itself the Rs 5000 crore mark.

And yes, "Kal Ho Na Ho" and a dozen other films earned more than twice their cost or more in revenues in 2003. So let's spread the word around.

Amit Khanna is chairman of Reliance Entertainment and the views here expressed are his own