The great Bollywood decline

Komal Nahta

The actors are in demand.

Money is in plenty and so is ambition.

And movies are still in vogue.

Then, what ails the film industry? Why are our films not doing well? Why is every film a cold turkey?

The industry has no film to boast about since the release of Mohabbatein, 16 weeks ago.

There have been a few successful exceptions -- but they are few and far between. And not a single release is a universal hit.

Blaming the audience is escapism. After all, every release is awaited with bated breath, since films are one of the cheapest forms of entertainment in India.

What then is going wrong?

The answer is simple.

Our film-makers and writers are going astray.

They dole out the same fare time and again, oblivious to the realisation that movie-goers require a certain degree of variety and novelty in either the subject matter or the presentation.

Thinking of new and zara hatke subjects may not be the easiest thing to do, but then again, what are the writers for! But our industry wallahs continue to faithfully stick to familiar territory.

Instead of things getting better, they are taking a turn for the worse.

The great decline began over two years ago, when new revenue sources, in the guise of satellite and television rights, and the manifold growth of the overseas territory distracted film-makers who diverted resources and energy to fund projects from these sources.

Originality was the first casualty.

Producers and directors were too busy putting together proposals that would sell and bring in heavy returns, to pay attention to the crux of any film -- the script.

Thus, the story became incidental, and film-making an assembly-line game.

It generally takes anywhere between 12 and 18 months to complete a film. Therefore, the end results of the myopic vision of the past two years are being felt now. That explains why films are falling like nine pins.

The coming months don't promise to get any better.

It is only when film-makers realise their folly and get down to the honest to goodness business of film-making will the scenario change.

It is only when they spend more time concentrating on the story, and not lucrative business proposals, will real films get made. Films that compel people to come back again and again.