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FILM FRAMESB R Sharan |
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Aditya Chopra and Mahesh Bhatt are super Creative Directors!And Aamir Khan and Ajay Devgan turn directors as out-of-the-box careers open up … in advertising and cinema! |
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Till recently, the Hindi Film Industry was a forbidding fortress; open only to filmi scions or to the hardiest of adventurers who had an abundance of the powers of the 3 P’s: Passion, Persistence and Persuasiveness. Now, though, the Industry has become a still-dictatorial-but-benevolent sponge, soaking up talent … especially from advertising agencies. For example, Lowe’s Balki has become a director, McCann-Erickson’s Prasoon Joshi continues to pen lyrics and O&M’s Renzil D’Silva writes screenplays. While this migration from advertising to feature films itself is not unique (many people from Satyajit Ray to Shyam Benegal to Ridley Scott have made the transition), what is interesting to note is the change of roles. The ‘generalists’ of advertising have become ‘specialists’ in Hindi cinema. That is, Prasoon, a (Copy) Writer, grew to become Creative Director in Advertising, and now chooses to write lyrics for Hindi films. |
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On the other hand, the ‘specialists’ (i.e., producer-directors) of Hindi cinema have become ‘generalists’. Subhash Ghai, Mahesh Bhatt, Aditya Chopra, Vidhu Vinod Chopra et al have transferred – wittingly or unwittingly – the unique advertising agency concept of Creative Direction to film production houses. They have become ‘Creative Directors’ in the truest sense of the term: understanding viewers’ tastes, trend spotting and setting, identifying hit concepts, nurturing creative talent, then producing, marketing and promoting the ‘product’. While handling a ‘portfolio’ of different films, they treat every film like a ‘brand’. This confluence of advertising agencies and Hindi film production houses signals rang-de-basanti for ‘Creatives’ as new career opportunities open up. No longer does an advertising Creative Director have to chase the same paper for the rest of her/his life. Conversely, a Hindi film director doesn’t necessarily have to make only one film in 18 months. This, of course, augurs well for fresh talent (because more films get made) and the viewer (because a variety of films get made). |
Towards the end of 1993, I attended a Lintas Creative Directors’ Conference in New York, where I met Frank deVito, Creative Head out of Lintas USA, and Bob McLaren, Creative Head out of Lintas UK. Both in their mid-50s, their creative dynamos were revving on all 16 cylinders. It was fascinating to learn that in their spare time, Frank designed high-end golfing accessories while Bob restored castles in the south of France! They said these ‘creative’ diversions helped keep their batteries charged in their current advertising jobs – even as they saw these ‘hobbies’ blossoming into career options. Frank summed it up crisply: “Being ‘creative’ is about having fun, making money!” 2006 kick-started that philosophy – and the future looks bright for fun and money. |
Let’s start with ‘money’. Seven films – Rang De Basanti, KANK, Krrish, Fanaa, Lagey Raho Munnabhai, Dhoom 2 and Vivah – alone accounted for revenues of over Rs. 500 crores in 2006. This trend can only continue. Further, although the single-screen audiences seem to be petering out, the overseas markets have more than made up by contributing almost 40% of the overall take. So much so that even Umrao Jaan, which fared miserably in the domestic market, is believed to have racked up 8 crores in the international markets! (Here, of course, a caveat must be added: That single-screen audiences are thinning out may just be a myth, as proven by Vivah. By choosing an appropriate storyline and using well-targeted marketing that reaches out to audiences in the hinterland, the film generated good business. Most companies are investing heavily in rural marketing – the film industry, too, could perhaps benefit by taking a serious dekko at this.) |
Overseas and rural markets are here to stay – and savvy film businessmen are tapping into these. So money will continue to flow … There was a tsunami of money in 2006. For example, as everyone who can open up a tabloid or switch on a news channel knows, Hrithik Roshan was signed by the Anil Ambani-backed AdLabs for a 3-film deal at an incredible 35 crores. And there are more such deals in the pipeline. Does this mean only that stars’ bank balances will grow bigger? Not really. With such big monies involved, the accountability of stars will automatically increase. And they will take good care to see that good films get made. Traditionally, stars have always had this power – now they will have to take responsibility. So, to drive home the point: Big budget films with big revenues will continue to be the trend. |
Coming now to the ‘fun’ element: All the abovementioned films (and some others like Omkara, Khosla Ka Ghosla and Pyar Ke Side Effects) had unusual storylines. In fact, for example, if you take away a big star like Aamir from RDBasanti or Sunjay Dutt from LRMunnabhai, both these films could easily be considered ‘art’ films. Stars and production houses have realized that audiences will spend money to see out-of-the-box stuff, and are now insisting on unusual stories. Taking our theme of out-of-the-box career options forward, the end of 2006 saw Aamir Khan set up his own production house and turn director. 2007 will see Ajay Devgan doing the same. Given the intelligence, craft and power of these stars, one can only expect truly good cinema. |
So, yes, 2006 was a seminal year in many ways, and although 2007 has not got off to a good start (‘big’ films like Guru and Salaam-e-Ishq haven’t set the box office registers ringing and ‘smaller’ films like Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd haven’t set the house on fire as expected), the upbeat trends of 2006 will only continue, and we should see films that are big on budget, big on ideas and big on returns. More fun, more money.
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