By Hindustan Times
Leave your comfort zone and concentrate on new ideas and new people to damage new ground, says director Dibakar Banerjee who did the similar with Shanghai and discloses how he has already turned his film right into a profitable venture. Shanghai, starring Abhay Deol and Emraan Hashmi and focussing at the 'tamasha' of coalition politics, has just released and the director talks at length concerning the making of the film and the business plan.
"We kept the price of production low and we did our marketing so intelligently through tie-ups that today we need to recover only Rs.4.75 crore from theatrical release to become profitable," Banerjee, who made the film at the cheap of Rs.10.5 crore, told IANS in an interview.
The man, who introduced new storytelling techniques with Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! and Love Sex Aur Dhokha, said: "Until and unless you step from your comfort zone and take a look at something new, no new grounds could be broken, no new films can be launched and no new stars might be discovered."
Excerpts from the interview:
Given the original roles that you've given for your lead actors, was Shanghai a risk?
Shanghai was not a risk. It was a well-kept secret, but now we will be able to give out that its production and marketing cost a specific amount. We kept the price of production low and we did our marketing so intelligently through tie-ups that today we need to recover only Rs.4.75 crore from theatrical release to make cash. The sheer choice of prints that we're entering into for is 1,200. So financially, it is all good.
How important is out-of-the-box thinking for filmmakers?
Until and unless you step from your comfort zone and check out something new, no new grounds could be broken, no new films can be launched, no new stars might be discovered, people won't get to look new stories and our industry might not be injected with new blood. And whilst you don't do that, you retain shrinking: Whilst you do that, you retain expanding.
Look on the last six, seven, eight years. Before that, you knew how Bollywood only had flops and flops. Ninety percent films were flopping. Within the last four years, have you ever seen any of that?
We love to talk so much about negatives; so, yes, there have been some flops, but take a look at the collection of successes we're having. Big budget and small budget films - what number of hits did we now have last year? From Dabangg to Delhi Belly and lots of more. New people, new directors, new actors, new voices, new writers and new stories are giving us a brand new lifeline. This renaissance or whatever it's your decision to name it, this resurgence of Bollywood is a part of that.
What causes filmmakers to set huge budgets in times when small budget movies with intelligent tie-ups are transforming into so profitable?
That relies on the subject, staff, format and the way efficient one is in getting the utmost business. I'VE BEEN producing films and ad films for the last 15 years. There's nothing I HAVE NEVER done myself. I'VE stood in the midst of the street and regulated traffic myself to get my shot, I'VE stood on a suite and painted a wall to get the appropriate shade.
I have produced each film personally with my partner Tejaswini. Nobody can let us know anything about the way to get the price down, and yet give better quality with an identical quantity of cash that is what producing means.
What is the significance of box office collection in today's time when films earn cash from tie-ups and by selling rights?
It really does matter. I'M telling you that the barest minimum we need to achieve to succeed in profitability. But we wish to make as much box office as possible because we wish money. Because we wish to show the arena that with a movie like Shanghai, it's possible to make money.
Imagine the volume of encouragement other producers and directors gets out of this. We're already profitable, but imagine if we become a lot more profitable. We've got already broken even. Rs.4.75 crore is an amount we will be able to get once we release the film. It is a mathematical quotient.
