Television
production companies aside, there is yet another
player that has its eyes set on the film industry.
It is the Indian corporate body.
Looking
at the ever growing movie business pie, corporate
bodies ventured into Bollywood to further their
business and sales promotion in 1999. But soon,
lured by the glamour and high returns, they fashioned
a move to fund films. Financial institutes like
the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI)
and State Bank of India (SBI) bank soon followed
suit.
Last year, Tata moved to finance Bhatt's Aeitbaar-
which was rumored to be stuck in financial troubles.
Meanwhile business major Reliance, Mumbai based
film distribution and exhibition house Shringar
Films, multiplex group Adlabs and film distributors
Kanakia group are also planning to join the bandwagon
as a gradual extension.
According to the companies, the move would help
them evolve as a vertically integrated film company.
After all, film production is an affiliated activity.
One
common consensus was that with the multiplexes trend
mushrooming, there would soon be a huge demand for
films in the near future. With infrastructure in
place, the move would fuel the trend futher. So,
in short, there is a place for everybody to chip
in.
However,
most veterans are a little skeptical about corporate
bodies financing films. The main issue here is that
corporatisation will kill individuality and creativity
- crucial aspects for successful filmmaking. Some
also voiced doubts about the corporates' flexibility
on film deadlines.
Some
think funding by banks and corporates will pen up
new avenues for funding for various kinds of cinema.
The move is positive as it would bring in efficiency
and better management.
Even
the Indian diaspora, which is a huge market for
Bollywood, is now putting money into the Indian
entertainment industry. Kaleidoscope Productions,
US investor Purnendu Chatterjee and others are exploring
the options of funding the Indian entertainment.
Chatterjee's
Crossover Films has already financed two films,
Priya Ruth Paul's The Perfect Husband and
Parvati Balagopalan's Rules: Pyaar Ka Superhit
Formula. While Media Dreams, the wholly-owned
subsidiary of Pentamedia Graphics Ltd, Dreams intends
to produce four movies in 2004, at an estimated
cost of Rs 15 crore, in Tamil, Telugu, English and
Hindi. The company had earlier financed Aparna Sen's
Mr and Mrs Iyer.
Newer
players in the film market are the smaller production
houses and individuals from the television industry.
While Kushan Nandi of Sarvodaya Visuals- producer
of 88 Antop Hill, is planning another film,
Deepak Tijori, despite the bad business of debut
venture Oops is planning to work on four
films. While three are under the Tijori Films banner,
one is for movie and television actor Kunikaa's
banner Karmic Konnection. Ashtavinayak's Sunjiv
Puri meanwhile is awaiting the release of a forthcoming
venture Agnipankh.
That
apart, on the talent front, television director
Vivek Agnihotri also has plans to broaden his horizon
with a silver screen venture. Hansal Mehta has announced
Hamrahi, Ravi Rai is planning yet another
big screen venture. While Yeh Joh Hai Zindagi
fame Ashok Pandit is awaiting the release of
Sahara media communications Sheen, former
television director Tigmanshu Dhulia, post Haasil,is
awaiting release of Charas.
Despite
the low success rates, most of the upcoming filmmakers
are still optimistic about their ventures. Does
that mean that filmmakers now will plan out a crystal
clear budget but also complete film schedules on
time? While the answer isn't clear, the trend however
seems to be here to stay.
