Last fortnight was one of those
rare times, when I got to watch two recently released Tamil movies back-to-back
– Maniratnam’s ‘OK Kanmani’ (OKK) and
Cheran’s ‘JK ennum nanbanin vazhkai’ (The
life of a friend named JK) (JK) – both, much hyped films for different reasons.
OKK was being pitched as a
comeback film for Maniratnam who had been bogged down by two successive
failures in Kadal and Ravan(an). Not very long ago, he had been written off as a moviemaker who
had lost his touch. OKK, it seems has given him another lifeline. Marking his
return to the romantic genre of films that he is adept at making, OKK has been
declared a commercial success in India and the overseas markets.
But, in my opinion, OKK has
nothing new to say. It is nothing more than a contemporary retelling of Mani’s Alaipayuthe (Saathiya in Hindi), released
in 1999, minus its gloss (Remember how colourful the visualisation of the songs
in Alaipayuthe were?). Like Yeh Jawani Hai Diwani, OKK upholds (long-term)
commitment in a man-woman relationship. What is disappointing is that fifteen
years hence, Mani has not been able to add any new dimension to the idea. And
to think, I opted for this move over ‘Margherita with a straw’ is a classic
case of good judgement clouded by linguistic sentiments!!
On the other hand, JK is an
interesting experiment in the way cinema is consumed by the public. It is the
first Indian movie to be directly released through DVDs and the first Tamil
movie to be released directly over the Internet (Bollywood film, Striker was the first Indian movie to be
released on YouTube simultaneously with its theatrical release), boldly bypassing
the traditional channel, the cinema screens/theatres.
JK, no doubt, marks an important
milestone in Indian cinema. And the man of the moment is the film maker Cheran
(of Autograph fame), ‘cinema to home’
being his brainchild. His company, ‘c2h’ produced the movie and also undertook
the distribution of the movie DVDs across the state through a team of 4,000
handpicked dealers and 150 plus distributors.
This initiative hopes to battle
two villains of Tamil cinema – theatre non-availability and video piracy– simultaneously.
Theatre availability is a real
issue facing the Kollywood industry.
Take a look at the simple
mathematics behind the problem. In 2004, 59 Tamil films were released, i.e., a
little over one movie per week; a decade later, in 2014, this number had
increased four-fold to 202, which is over four new movies per week. But the
number of theatres screening the movies has not kept pace with the releases. Not
only have the number of screens across the state not kept pace with
single-screen theatres, their number has actually come down. According
to the Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Association of India, the number of cinema
screens in the state has halved to 1,260 in 2013 from nearly 2,600 earlier.
Since 2013, this number could only have gone down further. This has meant that several small-budget movies,
with no big star-cast, either don’t get
a theatrical release or don’t get adequate run time in the theatres; most
movies get to have a theatre run for only about a week, even if they are doing
well, as they have to make way for other forthcoming films.
It is no wonder that small-budget
movie makers are compelled to bypass this conventional channel. But, it has not
been an easy decision for the industry; antagonising the theatre owners, who
are in charge of the last mile distribution to the public, can be a big risk to
take.
To give a loose analogy, imagine a
small FMCG company making ‘Agarbattis’ deciding not to sell their wares through
any large retailer, instead opting to sell them directly (door-to-door
marketing) or through online channels, and that too at an aggressive price.
Remember, the stakes are much
higher in cinema!
JK DVD has been priced at Rs. 50,
bringing down the viewing cost per head for a family of four to a mere Rs.
12.50. Compare this with an average ticket price of Rs.30 per person (average
of ticket prices in rural, semi-urban and urban centres) for seeing it in the theatres;
total revenues from a family of four work out to Rs. 120 – ten times the revenue
earned from vending the movie through DVDs.
But, Cheran firmly believes in
the commercial potential of his venture. Last heard, the movie has sold 18 lakh
discs, raking in a neat Rs 9 crores in DVD sales, which is not bad! The movie
is also available at http://c2hnetwork.com/
for streaming at a nominal cost of 3$.
This idea is not new. Many
Hollywood ventures, including several Disney animation movies, have been released
direct to video. Japan and Philiipines have also experimented with this
model. Personally, it appeals to me
tremendously because, I believe, as an economy, we should not be investing the incredible
amounts that we do on mere entertainment. Call it a juvenile idea, or discount
it as righteous nonsense, or even argue with me on the multiplier effect of the
Indian cinema industry and its unparalleled ability to reach out to the global Indian
diaspora. But, I believe no mature society should be pumping in the kind of
money it does into films and stars.
C2H, obviously, makes economic sense
only films for smaller budgets of 5-6 crores or less. The risk factors as I see
them: in an industry, when money often chases goods, market forces will take
over this game too. Budgets for these movies will slowly inch up and the
marketability of the movies, irrespective of their quality, will increasingly depend
on either the cast or the key crew. Also, cultivating the habit of buying original
DVDs among the public (who are used to viewing them on pirated discs) and continuing
to maintain drawing-room audience quality of the films would be critical for success
of this idea.
As for the movie itself, it (JK) tells
a heart-warming, feel-good tale of a young man who evolves from being a brash
youngster into a highly successful businessman and caring family man. Though a
tad preachy, the movie, directed by Cheran himself, marks a good start to a bold
and novel venture.
Cheers, Cheran!
