SMALL IS (NOT) BEAUTIFUL

Small is (not) Beautiful

Hi Readers! I hope you enjoyed reading the live case study in the August issue of Galatta Cinema on our film Deivathirumagal (also spelt as Deiva Thiirumagal). In this issue, I wish to write on the flooding of small films in the South, films which fade into oblivion within a week or two. On an average, South Cinema produces 450 to 500 films; of them, over 55% to 60% are small budget films (meaning almost 300 films!). You will be disappointed to know that of these 300 odd small films releasing every year in the four South Indian languages, not even 25-30 are financially successful! We were earlier told that “Small is Beautiful” (meaning small films are good) but this is no longer true. Small films are finding it most difficult to succeed in South Cinema nowadays. Let us look at the data for 2011 so far.

In Tamil, of the 90 new films released till August 2011, 62 (69%) belong to small category (budget less than Rs.3.5 crores); of these, only two (Potta Potti and Kullanari Koottam) were spoken about and did average business. All the other 60 films were washed out and would not have recovered even the print and publicity cost.

In Malayalam, of the 55 new films released till August 2011, 28 (51%) belong to small category (budget less than Rs. 2 crores); of these, only one (Rathi Nirvedam) was a hit; three films (Ithu Nammude Kadha, Melvilasam & Chappa Kurish) did average business.

In Telugu, of the 60 new films released till August 2011, 30 (50%) belong to small category (budget less than Rs. 3 crores); of these, only one (Alaa Modhalaindhi) became a hit; two films (Jai Bolo Telangana & Dongala Mutha) were average grosser.

Though small films constituted 50% to 69% of the new films releasing in these three languages, their success ratio is just 10% or less. Clearly, something is seriously wrong and it is high time we address this. There are many things not going right for small films and I am attempting to address some serious issues:
Cluttering of new releases of small films

On 29th July, three small films were released in Telugu (Kireedom, Sanchalanam & Paravasamai); all of them bombed. On 5th August, three small films were released in Malayalam (Veetilekulla Vazhi, Oru Nunna Kadha & Ninnishtam Ennishtam 2); all of them bombed. On 12th August, four small films were released in Tamil (Konjam Veyil Konjam Mazhai, Sagakkal, Sankarankovil, Uyarthiru 420); all of them bombed.

The above are just examples of dates when many small films were released simultaneously in the last eight months and became flops. There were several such weeks in these three industries where multiple small films were released, and all of them bombed.

A small film rarely grabs audience attention, especially if it features a new artiste and a new director in addition to a new banner. In this situation, if it comes along with two or three other small films, where is the chance of such a film getting noticed and the audience coming to watch it?

Small or big, each film takes considerable effort and money to produce and then release. In this situation, what is the hurry to release a small film simultaneously with other small films? When a film maker and producer have taken almost an year to make a film, why not wait for another week or month and release it as a solo film or at best, with another small film? When a small film producer learns that there are many other releases on the same day, why does he or she not decide to postpone the release to a more appropriate date? What is the hurry? If the interest cost of the investment is an issue, losing out the entire investment is a bigger issue, when the film does not get a chance to be noticed by the audience.

Just ‘Good’ is not ‘Good enough’ with Small Films

If small films are to get noticed and spoken about, they need to be VERY GOOD or especially OUTSTANDING, especially when cluttered with many other films. Look at the films that flopped in all the three languages. None of them are worth talking about, and their failure is nothing to be concerned about. If it is a small film, being just GOOD is just not good enough (e.g. Vengayam, Potta Potti, Dongala Mutha & Chappa Kurish). If they are just GOOD, they might at best be average grossers, not hit films. They necessarily need to be VERY GOOD or OUTSTANDING (like last year’s Mynaa, Bindaas, Malarvadi Arts Club, Traffic). They have to be very good in their script or storyline, making, performance and promotions within this small budget (e.g. Mynaa). If they cannot be such outstanding films at least on paper (script) first, then they should not be made at all.

The biggest issue we are facing is the prolific releases of small films, films which are just not worth even reviewing; hence even Internet sites do not review or write about them, leave alone popular newspapers and magazines. I fail to understand for whom these small films were made and from where these producers found money to make such films (which do not achieve even the base quality needed).

The film industry has too many budding film makers who have worked for just one or two years as assistants (some of them have not even worked as assistants); with a film idea, they go around searching for a producer. If they find a naïve producer (who comes from a small town with big dreams), they catch hold of him, promise him huge or safe returns, make such films and finally end up with their producer’s entire investment written off. The director got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to direct a film, an opportunity which would have otherwise taken more years, hence he is happy; then he starts searching for another such naïve producer. But the producer, who invested and lost his money, ends up with no option but going back to his roots and earning again to recoup his losses.

It is unfortunate that most small film producers have no clue about the business opportunities and challenges in South Cinema. They just enter for the glamour and short term glory (one or two weeks of press publicity with their name as the producer) attached to it, then end up losing their entire life’s earnings. As a producer and well wisher of the film industry, I am currently trying to organize a three days’ workshop for new producers with the help of other experienced producers in Tamil Cinema to counsel new producers on the opportunities and challenges before they commence a new film so that they make wise decisions. I hope this initiative finds acceptance among them and they come forward with their active participation.

Films should not be made in a hurry and regretted in leisure

Most films are made in a hurry, without proper evaluation of the merits of the script, experience of the director and the potential of the film with such a casting; this is revealed by the facts before us. Most small film producers have little or no experience in the film industry; so they get carried away by the assurances of budding film makers and make such films in a hurry. Just have a glance at the advertisements of small films which appear every Friday in popular newspapers. Most of them are not worth a second look; such is the fate of these films even while they are under production or during their release.

Most small films are made like many people deciding on their marriage or having children or shifting jobs in a hurry, then regretting at leisure on how to manage the changes in their lives. The same is the case with small film producers. Without taking the advice of experienced producers and film makers or study the market in detail, they just make the film based on wrong assurances and hopes of budding film makers and production managers who promise to take care of the production part and mesmerize them with promises of big profit opportunities from their films. Most small film producers are given (false) hopes of making films like Mynaa or Alaa Modhalaindhi, but what they end up getting is not even 10% of such wonderful films!

Films are not fast food to be cooked and served instantly

Films are forever; they have the potential to influence society and create history. Whether they are small or big, films can bring glory at the global level if they are outstanding in theme and execution. Every film has an opportunity to be a part of the history, and hence needs to be made with all the seriousness, passion, sincerity and intensity like we cook rice at home. Making rice cannot be instant. It has to go through several processes before it is ready to eat. If rice is made in a hurry or the process of cooking is hastened, it will not be tasty. Rice is not like fast food (instant noodles), which can be just mixed with water, boiled and made in two minutes. In the same manner, every film needs to go through multiple processes before being produced. A small film producer should not decide to produce the film in a hurry (like making fast food). He has to go through several processes to understand whether the storyline is outstanding or not shown in films so far, whether the casting is presentable to the audience (I have seen many small films in which I could not stand the lead cast or actors as they had very average or rough looks; in the pretext of showing real people, most film makers forget that films are forever and for the common man, who wishes to see glorious people on screen), whether the director can deliver on his promise to make an outstanding film, whether the film can be made in a small budget or will exceed it, how to earn the revenues through other rights (satellite, overseas, etc.) to mitigate the risk, and many other aspects before green signaling a small film. If a small film producer does not follow the process and cooks rice like noodles in two minutes, he will end up with bad tasting rice (film) which is not worth eating. One recent example is Theneer Vidudhi (Tamil). A film made in a hurry, it ended up by going back to the producer in two weeks, losing over half the investment!

Films require film makers with rigorous training and learning

The problem with most small films is that they are made by less experienced or learning film makers who are able to convince naïve producers. These producers also do not understand whether the budding film maker can deliver on the film or not, then end up with a dud in their hands. Otherwise, there is no reason why so many such bad films are made in the small film category.

Most young people who come to the film industry aim to be either actor or directors. But unfortunately, they are not prepared to go through the rigorous training and learning needed to become a person with calibre. Learning the art of film making is like penance; until the learning is achieved on all fronts (including script and screenplay writing, dialogue writing, directing, camera techniques, production planning, etc.) one should not aim to be become a film maker. For at least 4 to 5 years, they must assist a couple of good film makers in at least 3 or 4 films and learn all the techniques before venturing into film making on their own. Film makers who do not have this patience and rush into film making after assisting for just one film (or come with no experience) rarely succeed in the film world.

Unfortunately, this is not the case with most budding film makers. How else one can explain a person serving tea and coffee in the office of a popular director becoming a director for a forthcoming film in Tamil? Just because he interacted with him and his assistants, does it qualify him to be a film maker? In the same way, on what basis can a film designer aspire to become a film director and get the opportunity? How can a stunt Master think he can be a good director for an entire film? He or she can be a good director for stunt scenes, but being the director for the entire film is a different ball game and needs rigorous learning of the technique of story telling. Just because Prabhu Deva and Raghava Lawrence succeeded as film makers, can every choreographer aim to become a director? The technicians who are fit to get into direction are the men who see the film along with the director in every shot, which is the cinematographer and the man who edits every shot, which is the editor. None of the other technicians can really become good film makers in a hurry, unless he or she has gone through rigorous training and learning. I can quote many live examples of wrong choice of directors by producers, which led to duds in small category films.

Small Films must create necessary excitement before they are released

Small films with no artiste value cannot have a big opening in the market unless they create good excitement before their release. Subramaniapuram, Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu, Pasanga, Mynaa, Malarvadi Arts Club and many such films created huge excitement before their release and when they met the expectations of the audience after release, they became big hits. The excitement will be there only if the subject chosen or execution of the film is most spoken about before release, or the film attracts the attention of the audience in some way for being ‘new’ or ‘innovative’. Unless there is some pre-release expectation from a small film (built up through its promotions and talk), the chances of its standing on its own feet after release are remote. A small film being released without expectations can still be a hit, if the subject and the execution are outstanding. Unfortunately, I do not have a live example for this; this is a testimony to how difficult it is to achieve such a feat.

The large number of failures in small films actually lead to aversion or disinterest among the audience to watch a small film, even if it is good, which is not good for the industry. Good small films must be encouraged and supported by the audience. For that to happen, this cluttering of new small films must reduce; an increase in the number of good small films will make the audience realize that “Small is actually Beautiful”.

In Hindi Cinema, the audiences have become more accepting of “different” and “offbeat” films and there is a trend towards content cinema, movies which are not ‘typical Bollywood’. Whether it is Tere Bin Laden or No One Killed Jessica, there is an audience for every variety of theme, budgets and star casts, and hence small films are thriving there. Even in the South, a market for content-based small films can exist and thrive, if they are made well and come with proper phasing.
Every film is a gamble, big-budget or small, star-studded or not; no one can exactly predict its fate at the box office. But if the film has been made well with a small budget, the chances of its success are high, as well-made films are always praised and appreciated by critics and audience. Both critics and audience look for such well-made good films, especially if they are made in small budgets with new artistes. When such a film comes to their notice, they go out of their way to support it (e.g. Pasanga, Mynaa, Kalavani, Traffic, Salt & Pepper, etc.). It is just that such films are rare in most film industries.

In reality, small budget films provide opportunities for new film makers to enter uncharted territory; they also facilitate the discovery of fresh talent and add a novel dimension to the Indian film industry. If producers and budding film makers realize this and fulfill their responsibility to bring out well made films, small films can actually be beautiful and their success will encourage more such ventures.

Your feedback on this series/ article may please be sent to him at dhananjayang@gmail.com.

Life is a "Roller Coaster" ride - This too shall pass ...

Life is a roller coaster ride, with ups and downs. One never stayed always on "top" and at the same time never been at the "bottom" all the time. One has to go through both the "Ups" and "downs" and yet remain in balance to be successful in life.

The best phrase to remember, which I came across some years back is "This too shall pass". There is an interesting story also to this phrase.

Once a King was very happy about the way his life is progressing and thought that nothing can change his status. Hence, he wanted to announce a contest to anyone who can make him "unhappy" and at the same time make him "happy". It is not easy as with a single act or sentence, one should make him both happy and sad!!!

Several people tried but none could succeed. But finally, one person came and given a phrase in a piece of paper and asked the King to read when he is happy and also when he is sad. The phrase was "This Too Shall Pass". The phrase was so impactful that the King who was happy till then, became unhappy. After he got into the sad mood, he read the phrase again and he became happy.

The phrase is universally applicable to everyone who is either happy or sad to make them understand that every stage in life shall pass and we have to face different situations every day. There is no need to be either totally unhappy or very happy as they are momentary and shall pass.

One has to remain balanced and approach life with equanimity to face every situation. If we keep in mind what the great discourse "Bhagvat Gita" said, "You have control over only your actions and not the fruits of the actions", life is more peaceful and meaningful. One has try to the best of his ability and then leave it to almighty to take over and give us the fruits for our efforts. Whatever is given, if accepted with gratitude, life is easy to live.

Life is a roller coaster ride and what goes up will come down and what comes down will come up. Who knows better than me, who has faced more failures than successes in life? What people see outside is only my current position and successes but the failures and challenges I go through in life is unknown to many and I have no intention to share the same. What I wish to state clearly is the failures did not deter me from trying again and again and is making me more resolved to fight it out. After all, what goes down must come up ... Two big failures in March (both my films Aval Peyar Tamilarasi (Tamil) and Hide & Seek(Hindi) bombed badly at box office despite sincere efforts for over a year) left me with lot of sadness for not delivering what the organization has expected me to do. It took couple of days to overcome and face the reality. But once I realized within myself that nothing I can do beyond this, I faced the situation bravely and managing to come out out it within the organization with lesser impact on my career.

The phrase, which is making me to face this situation is "This too shall Pass".

Be the Change You wish to See in Others

Mahatma Gandhi's famous quote "You must be the change you wish to see in the world" adores the walls of Mumbai airport when you arrive. I just made a small change from "World" to "Others".

We all need a working place and home where we don't have to keep explaining ourselves for each act of us. Nothing is more tiring than having to constantly explain ourselves as it will drain us emotionally more than physically in such a non-trusting environment. We need a workplace and home where we can enjoy our freedom of trust and don't have to explain everything about our acts.

Each one of us have our strengths and weakenesses. What we desire is our strengths are seen with a magnifying glass and appreciated and the weaknesses are seen with normal glass and not exaggerated. It is the normal human tendency to seek appreciation in public and criticism in private. We all expect that.

Our biggest desire from others at the workplace and at home is, our today is not viewed with the mistakes we made yesterday. We want to start afresh everyday and be treated newly without the mask of our mistakes of yesterday. We do not want someone to maintain the database of our mistakes and keep pointing at us by referring to it despite our sincere effort to improve ourselves. We want our yesterdays to be forgotten and only our today (& the work/contribution) is valued and respected.

We need a workplace and home where we can be ourselves every day for whatever we are worth and yet respected and given our due. We do not wish to fake at these two places where we spend all our life, by putting up false acts just to impress others or to get a good name.

We need a workplace and home where we can be open and transparent with everyone without worrying about how our openness will be misused and misintrepreted against us as nothing is more constraining than constantly worrying about who is going to misuse our point of views and opinions against us.

If any of us have such a home or workplace, then we must be thankful to God as there cannot be a greater gift from life than these.

If any of us do not have one, then, we should do something about it. There is a powerful saying "Do unto others what you want others do unto you?". Can we be the one to provide such an atmosphere to others at our workplace and at home? Can we be the change, we wish to see in others? Let us make ourself worthy of being other's greatest gift in their life ...

We all have expectations from others whether at workplace or at home. But others too have expectations from us ... Can we be the harbinger of change for others to emulate us for the great qualities one needs to have?

Life will be more happier and great if we change first and then expect others to change, to make it a happy world.

3 IDIOTS review by Taran Adarsh ...

On the whole, 3 IDIOTS easily ranks amongst Aamir, Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra's finest films. Do yourself and your family a favour: Watch 3 IDIOTS. It's emotional, it's entertaining, it's enlightening. The film has tremendous youth appeal and feel-good factor to work in a big way.

****1/2 (FOUR & HALF STARS) ... WOW!!

All those who read my 6 "E"s for script selection theory can understand the "E"s highlighted by Taran Adarsh as winning points for 3 Idiots.

A must watch and looking forward to watch it soon!

Perfection must be the Goal. Excellence can be tolerated

There is a powerful saying that "Perfection is the Goal, while Excellence will be tolerated". How many of us believe in this and operate in our life with this motto?

Today one of my business associate came to pick me up at Dubai to take me to some shopping complex. He parked his car in the parking bay and came to meet me. We both came out and then the fun started. He did not remember where he parked the car as the complex had three tier parking in each floor. I was astonished when he vaguely remembered where he parked the car and did not even note down the parking bay details, leave alone the floor where he parked. We both were walking around for 30 minutes to locate the car before he could remember it was parked near some under construction floor and then we located the car. I was damn tired and was cursing him openly on how he can do this, making me run around for 30 minutes. It was the most horrible act of how one can be imperfect on all accounts.

I have seen a film yesterday in the film festival, which has come from India (do not wish to name the film). It was a horrible quality beta tape, which was played with pixelated images, playing on such a wide screen in an International Film Festival theatre!!! The audio and video quality was so poor that no one could read the titles/credits also. Why people take it so easily and do what is expected of them so irresponsibly, lowering the image of our country and the industry?

Both these incidents made me to think how people take life so casually and compromise on minimum deliverable, which causes pain to others in every sphere of our life. If only each human being is little more perfect and responsible, the world will be a lot better is what I believe in strongly.

Why such a casual approach towards life? Why people take others for granted and do not attend to such small details? It is said, "God is in Details" in whichever work we do and why people do not attend to details. All that it was required was simple noting down in a piece of paper the floor and the bay number where the car was parked in the first incident. In the second case, all that it required was to get a proper quality tape to be played, which is the minimum deliverable for a film festival ...

Why people do not have a fall back option in the case of failure? When can we expect people to strive towards perfection so that at least they do things excellently, which will then become the benchmark for others? If they aim for the moon at least, they can land up on the roof top .. when will they do this?

I might sound to be too demanding with high expectations ... Of course I am. First with myself and then with others also. It is tough and painful at times when I notice such lower standards of work, causing me anxiety. But, there is no other choice as if I start accepting lower standards from others, over a period of time, my performance will also be of lower standard. Hence, I have to demand perfection from everyone (including myself in whatever work we do) so that we at least achieve excellence in our work to become a benchmark for others on deliverable ...

Life is a Tradeoff between the Choices

We must remember that life is a tradeoff between or among the choices we have. Tradeoff means, we need to lose something to gain something. Nothing comes free without attached challenges or issues.

We cannot achieve perfect health without willing to put in hard work for it in terms of daily exercises and right eating habits, living with less stress etc. Perfect health does not come with leisurely life and without effort.

In the same manner, Wealth cannot be achieved without the willingness to put in the hard work and sacrifices on several other worldly pleasures one can enjoy.

We cannot expect to achieve big career successes like others unless we are willing to put in the extra hours, which may come at the cost of family and personal life.

We cannot become a politician or a public figure unless we are willing to trade off our privacy, family life, peace and happiness etc.

We cannot achieve fame and wealth unless we are willing to pay the price of more hard work than others, superb networking, better relationship with everyone compared to others, more knowledge and wisdom and better creativity etc.

Each of our decisions comes with a price. Nothing comes easily and no one achieves the top without willing to trade off the choices. We can always live the life happily by working from 9 to 6 in a Government job and be contented with our progress and achievements. It is a choice we make. However, once we decide to lead such a life, we are also trading off the possible wealth and fame and accepting the lack of it as a price for it.

The conflict comes in our life, only when we are unable to accept this fact and always look for easy way out i.e. we wish to have perfect health without putting in the necessary hard work. We wish to have regular increase in salaries and career along with work-life balance, without putting in additional efforts to stand out among others. We wish to have fame, without compromising on personal life. Our best expectation from life is “Having the Cake and Eating it too”, which does not happen to any. When we are prepared for the trade offs and accept such tradeoffs and prepare others in our life also for such tradeoffs, life becomes a lot easier and stress free.

How Much We Value the Time in our Hand?

I live my life as if there is no tomorrow and try to do as many things as possible in one day. Many get astonished with my ability to multi-task and many complain about this frenzied activities and handling too many things as if stretching too far one's life. In fact, for many, who do not understand my ability to do multi-tasking and process the jobs in hand faster, my acts in a day seem to be "hasty" and I am constantly reminded that I am doing in haste, though I have considered various pros and cons before going ahead and doing what I have decided to do. The only difference is many a people, take longer time to complete their tasks in hand, which restricts their ability to handle too many things, while I finish the tasks in shorter time and hence have enough free time to think and do multi-tasks.

For me "Today" is a "Present" from God and must be utilized effectively to its fullest extent by doing everything possible during the day. There is a popular saying, "Yesterday is History", "Tomorrow is a Mystery" and "Today is a gift". That's why it's called the "Present"! I do not wish to have any regrets at the end of the day for not completing my tasks and wish to sleep happily having done my best in the present. I keep saying to my team that, when I go to sleep, I will have no mails or calls or jobs pending to be responded or acted upon, so even if I do not wake up next day, none of you would be left stranded for a reply.

However, the biggest challenge is to bring in the same understanding and work culture among everyone in the team, who believe that life has to be taken one step at a time and there is no need to show any urgency. They fail to realize that wasting a day of their life in postponing or delaying is actually an abuse of the "present" or gift from the God.

If each one believes today is a "Present" from God and go all out to make use of it effectively, the world will be a far better place with more productivity and progress. Just imagine, if you are told that you have only one more day to live by God, what will you do? How many things will you try to do in that day so that you leave the world with peace and happiness of having done your best? Will you do leisurely only a few things in such a scenario? You will go all out and stretch every bit of the minute to achieve as many things, make as many people happy in the time left. The same spirit is needed when we handle the "Present"/today.

Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with Rs.86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every rupee? of course!!!!

Each of us has such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with
86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft.
Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow". You must live in the present on today's
deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success! The clock is running. Make the most of today.

To realize the value of ONE YEAR,
ask a student who failed a grade.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH,
ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK,
ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR,
ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE,
ask a person who missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE SECOND,
ask a person who just avoided an accident.
To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND,
ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.

Remember that time waits for no one. The time in our hand is precious and let us not abuse it in wasteful things ...