Bollywood on road to professionalism, but has miles to go

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It’s moment of truth for Star Plus

: Will Asin Thottumkal (Ghajini) and Genelia D’souza (Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na) be able to cast their spell on the Star Screen jury? Or will the Best Actor (female) award be a toss-up between veterans Kajol (U Me Aur Hum) and Priyanka Chopra (Fashion)?

In the run-up to the 15th Star Screen Awards, slated for January 14, 2009, The Financial Express looks at Bollywood in a three-part series flagged off on January 10. In the first part we examined the effects of the economic slowdown on the Hindi film industry. Today, we look at Bollywood’s journey towards corporatisation.

This year at least three big-budget Bollywood films, Singh is Kinng, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Ghajini, saw a wide release with 1,000-plus prints, a trend similar to Hollywood films. What’s more, producers Vipul Shah, Yash Raj Films and Madhu Mantena put in place a mirror marketing plan to create that demand. For example, according to insiders, producers spent as much as Rs 8-15 crore on marketing Ghajini. The returns have been good, with all three collecting Rs 500 crore and counting at the box office.

With corporatisation finally producing results, the whole function of financing is getting streamlined, leading to a sea change in the way films are packaged, marketed and distributed. “There are various areas much more streamlined now. With several production houses opting for the studio model, we are producing, distributing and marketing the film,” says Siddharth Roy Kapur, CEO, UTV Motion Pictures.

Films are a risky business, “so like in the case of stocks, you need to have a portfolio approach”, says an insider. Big production houses, including the family-run Yash Raj Films, are releasing 5-10 films a year, which is a mix of big, medium and small budget films. “The investment returns on low budget films are really good,” says Naveen Shah, CEO, Percept Picture Company, which distributed Pakistani film Khuda Kay Liye in India with great success. “Besides doing well at the multiplexes, it’s been a big home video seller,” says Shah. Bollywood is experimenting with varied content in a bid to hedge risks.