Filmmaker Karan Johar on the apparent recession in Bollywood as studios halt production
Karan Johar
Quoting his mentor while commenting on the ongoing production freeze among various cash-strapped studios in Bollywood, producer Karan Johar said, "There is one rule of the business of filmmaking I live by, which I learnt from Yash Chopra: Films don't fail, budgets do." In an hour-and-half long session at the Jagran Film Festival (JFF) on Saturday, Johar spoke extensively on the rather rhetorical topic, 'Is Bollywood shutting down?'.
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Responding to the topic itself, Johar admitted, "I wouldn't say there is a Herculean crisis currently because that will set the alarm bells ringing. But, yes, there's definitely a situation that needs to be addressed." The filmmaker was referring to UTV-Disney announcing they won't produce any new films and Ekta Kapoor's Balaji following suit. Reliance Entertainment last year had shut down its in-house production unit. Various other studios have now placed an embargo against green-lighting fresh films.
A key factor holding back the growth trajectory in Bollywood, Johar argued, has been an across-the-board drop in theatrical footfalls: "Let me illustrate my point with one simple example. My father made Agneepath in 1990, and it was a flop. I produced the remake of Agneepath in 2012, which was a hit. Yet, going by ticket sales, more people went to watch the old Agneepath in theatres than the new one. Footfalls in theatres have fallen by 30-40 per cent, the reasons for which are plenty — power of national television, digital, Internet..."
Karan unveils a tabloid, Cinema And I at the 7th Jagran Film Festival on Saturday. On the dais with him are (from left) Vinod Shrivastava, Prashant Kashyap, Mayank Shekhar and Ajay Brahmatmaj
This drop in cinema attendance isn't new, of course. What explains the present recession-like atmosphere, though? Where did studios go so wrong? In short, Johar reasoned, "Budget, cost efficiency, and monitoring your levels of delusion (about pricing of films) are essential. After sufficient analysis, course-correction, and re-strategising, they (the studios) will certainly be back in the game."
Another red-flag, Johar warned, is the relationship between studios and producers: "We can't see the studio as a funding bank. At Dharma (Johar's production company), I make sure that no studio loses money with us. We worked with Ronnie (Screwvala) and UTV on Kurbaan (2009), which didn't do too well. Immediately after that, we made I Hate Luv Storys (2010) that we gave to them at cost levels, so they (UTV) could make up for the loss. It's the same with Fox (that Dharma is currently partnering with), and Eros, with whom we have partnered on three films internationally."
Johar himself has, of course, been in news for reasons only tangentially related to his film — what with Fawad Khan, the lead actor of his next, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, having to leave India owing to threats and strong public sentiment against Pakistani artistes working in Bollywood.
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