Bollywood in the Panic Room

Bollywood literally went bust this year. According to box office reports, 2002 saw just 3 hits out of 200 releases. The industry has lost about Rs. 300 crore. The producers are flummoxed, the distributors bankrupt, and the audiences cold.

All hopes had been pinned on to the much-delayed release, Kaante, which was hardly a Hindi film. The film is a copy of Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, shot in the U.S. with the help of American technicians. The only things Indian about the film are its language, cast, and the director. Mercifully, Kaante was not exactly a damp squib. Yet it could not lift the gloom.

According to Hindi film producer Vashu Bhagnani, most of the Hindi film producers have been wiped out. Veteran film producer-director Yash Chopra says that 2002 was the worst ever year for Hindi film producers. The only films that did well were Raaz, Devdas and Ek Chotti Si Love Story. According to industry pundits, the crisis is due to escalating ticket prices and large-scale piracy. Year after year, one has heard the same refrain from the filmwallas except for 2001 when Lagaan and Gadar had saved Hindi film industry from this disgrace.

What the industry veterans tend to forget is that films like Monsoon Wedding, Bend It Like Beckham, and Guru were also huge hits last year. In fact, the dubbed versions of Spiderman and Bend It Like Beckham were more profitable than almost any Hindi movie. Agreed that the above three films were not Hindi films. They were foreign productions and yet they were loved by the audiences. Where did the hurdle of escalating ticket prices and large-scale piracy come in the way of their box office success?
The writing on the wall is clear. The era of the typical formula-driven Bollywood films is passé. The only three successful Hindi films (Raaz, Devdas and Ek Chotti Si Love Story) owe their success more to their producers’ marketing wisdom than to their plot devices and storytelling skills. According to Vikram Bhatt, the director of Raaz, the film was a modern retelling of the old Satyavan-Savitri tale. One would, however, not discount the fact that Raaz reminded one of What Lies Beneath (starring Harrison Ford). All similarities, as they say in the movie disclaimers, are purely coincidental. The other reasons behind the film’s success were incessant TV promos, Bipasha Basu’s sex appeal, melodious songs (the year’s best), and a small budget (Rs. 4.5 crore).

Sanjay Bhansali’s Devdas was launched with unprecedented hype and hoopla. The Rs. 50-crore musical extravaganza was given a cover story by India Today. Ladies fell over each other, not to see how Shahrukh Khan drowned himself into a bottle of liquor, but how the Rs. 5 lakh lahenga looked like on the pretty Madhuri. Devdas was such a marketing success that Mr. Nimish V. Dwivedi (product head of a foreign bank) found many lessons for marketers in the film. He says, “Creating hype by publicising the product as one of the most expensive movies ever made in the history of Indian cinema, Devdas ensured enough trials for the relaunched version and created an unparalleled wave of curiosity even amongst those who were least interested in themes of this nature. While there have been remakes by Hollywood of superhits like Star Wars, ET and The Godfather in the past, they have been more in the league of commemorative initiatives riding on nostalgia. Creating an entirely new version and driving it like a brand relaunch is something that this version of Devdas has achieved.” (Making a Relaunch Work, The Business Standard, December 25, 2002).

No wonder then: Devdas has made it to the Time Magazine’s top ten flicks of the year!

The third of the luminaries, Ek Chotti Si Love Story, made it to the top charts taking a leaf from Bandit Queen and Bombay. Controversy was the name of the game. People were curious to see how the director had outraged the onscreen modesty of Manisha Koirala. Before the audiences realized that this was a bum of a movie, director Shashilal Nair was laughing his way to the bank.

What is the moral of the story then? Clearly, Bollywood needs a rethink and a self-analysis. Today’s Indian audiences are exposed to the best quality movies thanks to cable TV and Hollywood. They have become bored of Bollywood outputs. Who would like to see Analyze This masked as Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin, The Whole Nine Yards reworked as Awara Pagal Deewana and Primal Fear veiled as Deewangee. On the other hand, Hollywood films, dubbed or otherwise, with sounder stories and innovative presentation skills, have done better at the Indian box office. Before India, Hollywood has already conquered Europe and other big markets. If Bollywood doesn’t rise to the challenge of Hollywood now, it would go the Hong Kong film industry way.

Bollywood must do whatever it takes: slash budgets, find good writers and directors, and collaborate on projects. What is the point of churning out 200 flops every year. Producers can join hands and give 50 good films. Bollywood must learn to tell a good story with best possible techniques, and tell it well. It is time Bollywood sees the writing on the wall or perishes.