Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty is no longer just a face on the big screen. With a $15 million net worth, the entrepreneur and investor shared a lengthy post about how technology brought in the ‘bigger shift’ in Bollywood. Looking back at the 90s, counting down some of his iconic roles in Balwan, Mohra, and Gopi Kishan, he also explored how the business of cinema has become largely dependent on technology today – not just in production, but also in the final commercial success.
Taking to LinkedIn, the Bollywood entrepreneur pointed out the sharp contrast between the ‘pre-technology’ era, which played a huge role in the creative process of making film. From restricting retakes, where every new direction costs money, to endless corrections and last-minute creative additions, technology was largely limited to physical reels.
Then vs now of Bollywood: Suniel Shetty shares
“When we were making movies in the 90s, the word ‘technology’ didn’t come up much. We shot on film. Actual reels. Every take costs money. Mistakes were expensive,” he shared. He further added that ‘roll one more’ wasn’t really an option and how stars had to “rehearse because film stock wasn’t unlimited.”
Similar struggles have been shared by filmmakers and directors on how they judiciously used the reel, a huge cost in the film budget. While directors today can witness a live telecast from the monitor, “There was no instant playback on a monitor the way there is now,” Shetty shared. Moreover, “the director trusted instinct. You trusted your director,” was the larger idea on set.
“Editing was physical. Sound design was fairly limited by what you could recreate in the studio. Visual effects weren’t really a thing until much later,” Shetty shared in his in-our-time account.
What changed?
Cinema moved from physical reels to digital cameras over a decade. Sets no longer need to be in an actual location. A green screen could recreate water in post-production, while CGI could create a monster. “As an actor, it has changed the rhythm of performance. You can experiment more. Directors can review immediately. Scenes can be refined on the spot,” Shetty shared the impact of this technological innovation and its integration on sets.
At the same he acknowledged that while mistakes may not cost the production money, “discipline still matters.” There is no dearth of exploring a technologically advanced world of post-production, from physically cutting reels to artificial intelligence – it has come a long way. “Post production today is almost another universe. Colour grading, sound mixing, seamless VFX, and background scores built with global orchestras. The polish is on another level,” shared Shetty.
How has technology changed the box office trends?
Looking back, Suniel Shetty revealed that the distribution of films was largely physical. Causing delays and otherwise, conventional marketing techniques, reaching the audience has changed too. “But the bigger shift, from a business point of view, is what happened outside the creative process. Distribution has transformed completely,” the post read.
Today , buying tickets for a movie is just clicks away. As simple as opening an app, this was not the case a few years ago. “There was a time when Friday mornings meant standing outside a cinema and hoping tickets wouldn’t sell out before your turn,” recalled Shetty.
Not just tickets on the opening day, the advance collection data is equally important. Impacting the film’s fate before release, Shetty added, “Data is real-time. Trends are visible before the first show ends,” explaining how the opening weekend box office report potentially defines the trajectory of the film.
Not just transporting reels from one city to another, formats like IMAX, 3D, 4D and more have left little to no space for imagination. Not just a creative liberty, these formats have the ability to change marketing campaigns. What were once limited to hand-painted posters and trailer releases in theatres have a much wider advertising strategy. “Now, digital campaigns, social media conversations, influencer outreach, teaser drops and audience reactions that travel instantly. The audience has more access. More information. More choice. Which means the economics of risk have changed.”
With bigger budgets come higher stakes, technology in cinema, thus little margin for error. However, at the same time, “technology has made filmmaking faster, sharper and more scalable.” “And the next ten years may change even more than the last thirty did. Who knows what cinema will look like a decade from now?” predicted Suniel Shetty. He emphasised in the end that while technology may improve the tools, impact promotions, or final collections, the responsibility to tell stories that connect still lies with the film fraternity – a constant which hasn’t changed.