Bollywood on road to professionalism, but has miles to go

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It’s moment of truth for Star Plus

: companies insure that the film is physically completed; no guarantee is made of its artistic, creative or commercial value)—that’s prevalent in Hollywood,” says Kapur, “but we need to do much more to make the production process more efficient. Our line production process needs to be tightened.”

Admittedly, things are different from what they used to be. Bollywood is not a cottage industry anymore where people have to mortgage homes to make films,” says Naveen Shah. “It’s a legitimate business and one can raise money from the market, which is opening up huge possibilities,” he adds.

There’s perhaps a reason why corporates are willing to finance films now more than ever. With the multiplex boom, if a film gets a good opening, the return on investment is assured. Though ticket prices aren’t as high as in the West, the sheer numbers make up for it—in 2007, India saw ticket sales of 3.25 billion, which, according to a PwC-Ficci report, is slated to rise to 3.5 billion by 2012.

But to ensure a good opening, only hype isn’t enough, good content is, as audiences have shown this year. Think Drona, Love Story 2050. “Clearly, the craft of film making hasn’t yet been touched by corporatisation,” says Shah. “Making a film is not quite like building a bridge.

There’s a whole creative process involved from story-telling, music, packaging and so forth. The studios still work as a financial bag relying on a creative mind,” he adds.

Bollywood has been having a good run for two years. “The market was so good that sheer quantity was driving the economics,” says an insider. Not anymore. “With funds drying up, quality is going to be the single most important differentiator. The difficult times will compel the industry to come up with high quality products,” points out Shah. But the film industry is also looking beyond the box-office to de-risk. New revenue streams are opening up—think satellite, overseas, digital, music rights, gaming, merchandising and so forth.

According to PwC-Ficci, ancillary revenues are expected to grow 16% over the next four years to reach an estimated Rs 1,800 crore in 2012 from Rs 850 crore in 2007. All this wouldn’t have been possible if key players hadn’t taken the difficult road to corporatisation.