Not all Hindi films can expect to get a grand opening overseas, said actor – producer Arjun Rampal, at a panel discussion on Tuesday. Giving an example of the Shah Rukh Khan starrer, My Name is Khan, Rampal said it was the only recent film which has done well overseas. ?The reason for MNIK getting a grand opening in key markets in Europe and the US, amongst other global markets, is because a globally known brand like Fox Star Studios distributed the film.?
He further said many companies like Warner Brothers and Columbia Studios want to have a grand entry in India, but there is already a huge presence of theatre chains in the country. But eventually, more and more international distributors will distribute Hindi films across the globe.
Rampal, along with producer and director Onir, director Rensil D?Silva and Pritish Nandy were participating in a panel discussion titled, ?Looking Bollywood, talking Hollywood,? organised by Screen, the weekly entertainment newspaper from the Indian Express Group. The panel discussed the basic tenets of what makes the Hindi film a success. Panelists also gave a bird’s eye view of the changing realities of Hindi cinema.
Rampal explained that there is no ?success formula? for a film. He said, when approached by a film maker, the only criteria for him to sign on a particular project is, whether as a cinema-goer, he would go to see the film first-day, first-show.
However, Nandy explained that the input cost is a determinant for the sale value of a film these days. For instance, when anyone is buying an art piece of painter MF Hussain, he has actually chosen a signature brand. In fact, there could be a young painter equally talented but does not have a market of his own. Similar to this situation, it depends what an audience wants – content or a brand name in the film.
Rampal gave an example of the latest Prakash Jha film, Rajneeti , which has characters inspired from the Mahabharat epic. ?The director took up the challenge to adapt characters from the epic and relate it to the Indian political system with an enhanced technology,? said Rampal, further adding that audience just need a connect to the characters they see on screen.
Onir touched upon the issue of how difficult it is to fund a film project. He explained how he was unable to gather sufficient funds for five different films, forcing him to merge five films and release it as one. The film’s budget is approximately Rs 1.5 crore. He made My Brother Nikhil four years ago at the same budget.
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