How drop in budgets has hurt studios

A trade insider points out that the number of big-budget films have drastically been cut down to four or five in a year, compared to 20 in pre-pandemic times. However, thanks to the OTT demand, films and web series with micro-budgets featuring Sanjay Mishra, Vijay Varma, Pankaj Tripathi, Suvinder Vicky and similar actors are suddenly busy, apart from game shows and reality shows.

Mumbai: Hindi film industry’s noted art director Nitin Desai’s death by suicide, believed to have stemmed from his debt-ridden studio in Karjat, ND Studios, has led to conversations about the functioning of expansive studios and the failing economy of the industry in recent times. Is the glitter of showbiz only a mirage?

ND Studios prospered at a time when films like ‘Jodhaa Akbar’ and ‘Once Upon a Time in Mumbai’ were shot there. Post-pandemic it fell into hard times, as priorities of producers changed. (Bachchan Kumar/ HT PHOTO)

Those in film business are emphatic that the industry is indeed in a state of financial turmoil.

Jaipur-based distributor-exhibitor Raj Bansal said, “Hindi film industry is facing its worst period, since the Covid-19 pandemic. With the exception of ‘Pathaan’ which released in January this year, no other film in the last seven months has done big business.”

Picking the same line of thought, trade analyst Komal Nahta said ND Studio “suffered simply because of paucity of work in recent years. Frankly, the whole eco-system has changed”. There was a time, he said, when the studio prospered because of big films like ‘Jodhaa Akbar’, ‘Once Upon a Time in Mumbai’, ‘The Legend of Bhagat Singh’ and many others. “These films were shot there almost from start to finish. However, the scenario has changed. There are only a few historical or mythological films in the pipeline.”

Nahta dwelled on how films and web series for OTT platforms being filmed in the hinterlands, such as ‘Zara Hatke, Zara Bachke’ and ‘Dahaad’, have also contributed to the dent in the industry’s economy. The first was shot in Madhya Pradesh and the second in Rajasthan. “Live locations are preferred to sets, and the sops given by the governments of UP, MP and Uttarakhand -- ₹50 lakh to ₹2.50 crore in subsidies -- depending on the project size, encourages producers to shoot there.”

“There are many actors sitting at home without being able to decide what their next big film should be,” he added.

Aamir Khan has been on a sabbatical for the past year, following the debacle of ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’. Salman Khan is only shooting for the reality show ‘Big Boss’ and his earlier commitment ‘Tiger3’. Ajay Devgn’s production house has not embarked on any new project, since the house production ‘Bholaa’ had an average draw. While Devgn is himself busy filming for producers outside, his own production house is on a break.

Even a well-salted filmmaker like Rakesh Roshan seems to have developed cold feet on starting a new venture. “It would be hara-kiri to embark on an expensive venture now. When I think of ‘Krrish 4’ (the next in the series), I visualise it with a mega-budget of ₹300- ₹400 crore. The Bollywood box office has been erratic post-pandemic – I don’t feel it is the right time to take on a project with such high costs now.”

How does this impact the studios?

Rakesh Juneja, producer of ‘1920: Horrors of the Heart’ said the cost of shooting in city-based studios had lately turned out to be expensive. Taking Stage-3 at Mehboob Studios, in Bandra, as a barometer of price in the industry, he said, “The spot which costs around ₹2.5 lakh for a day may not be booked through the year. This studio is on prime location and an expensive one. Usually, big players like Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Karan Johar and top advertising agencies can afford it. Others have to look for places beyond Virar to shoot.”

Juneja himself is currently shooting a film in a studio in far-flung Malvani, which he has booked for the entire year on a monthly rental of ₹7 lakh.

The most sought-after film studios in Mumbai are Mehboob Studios, Bandra West; YRF, Andheri West; Filmistan, Goregaon West; Film City and Prime Focus, Goregaon East.

The annual rent earned by a busy studio is approximately ₹25 crore. The turnover depends on how busy the shooting floors and outdoor locations are. Barring Prime Focus and YRF, the others have not seen much action since the pandemic, making them loss making ventures, if one plugs in the cost of land, infrastructure, maintenance, staff salaries and other overheads.

That is the result of Bollywood budgets suddenly being compromised.

A trade insider points out that the number of big-budget films have drastically been cut down to four or five in a year, compared to 20 in pre-pandemic times. However, thanks to the OTT demand, films and web series with micro-budgets featuring Sanjay Mishra, Vijay Varma, Pankaj Tripathi, Suvinder Vicky and similar actors are suddenly busy, apart from game shows and reality shows.

Between the Government of Maharashtra-run Film City in Goregaon East and the Prime Focus studios, also in the same area, there are 10 projects being shot at the moment – a much diminished number compared to 35 projects going on at any given point of time, in pre-pandemic days. ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’, ‘Big Boss’, ‘The Kapil Sharma Show’, ‘India’s Best Dancer’, and a song-and-dance reality show are being shot in Film City.

Against this backdrop, ND Studios ran into rough weather as except Salman Khan who remained loyal to the studio for a decade, others had lost interest. It is believed that Khan who shot several seasons of his reality show and a few key films in Karjat kept the economy of the 52-acre studio running. In Bollywood, a superstar can single-handedly generate a mini-economy – when he is stationed there, an entire infrastructure is created around him: a chalet, gym, private outdoor exercise area, etc. His entourage and close circle also generate revenue.

Apart from this, 40% films these days, especially big-ticket ventures like ‘Pathaan’, are shot on location and 60% created in VFX studios. This is how it’s done – the filmmaker sends out a skeletal unit to shoot locations where the film is based, which is brought back home and struck to life superimposing the stock where actors have been filmed against green or blue background, referred as chroma background.

To that end, a filmmaker like Aditya Chopra is self-reliant. Chopra’s YRF has cracked a formula to work on tight budgets – their films reportedly use the chroma (green) background for shooting in the studio, as is evident with ‘Tiger Zinda Hai’, ‘War’ and ‘Pathaan’. The rest is put together through VFX.

So why are films constructed in VFX studios than shot in real locations?

Naveen Paul, co-founder, and creative head, NYVFXwaala said, “Computer generated images help to enhance the quality of cinema. They can add an edge. Everyone, from James Cameroon to Shah Rukh Khan, depends on VFX to recreate the magic. Real locations sometimes get cumbersome, like shooting on a mountain top or under water with a large unit. So, a compact unit flies over that very mountain or dives under water, shoot the necessary background needed for the film and then place the actors there. VFX saves the day.” Hence, films which are made in 150 days can be completed with half the number of shifts. “Everything -- from a tree, bird, fly and the tiger in ‘RRR’ was computer-generated. This is a boon especially at a time when you cannot use real animals, have no permissions to go to heritage sites and face so many other hindrances.”

The go-to VFX players in Bollywood are Prime Focus, Red Chillies, NYVFXwaala and YRF.

This points to how most film studios have lost their advantage, post pandemic. Producers either prefer shooting on a controlled environment within the city-limits or just head to snowclad Kashmir because it translates beautifully on screen.