Malayalam Cinema weigh down by internal crisis

There is a character in the masala entertainer Pokkiriraja, one of the three Malayalam films that broke the three-week long impasse in the Malayalam film industry, who keeps on interjecting every now and then with the words: There has to be a new twist.
Indeed, the film industry, which is mostly based in Chennai, has seen several twists in recent years. Its commercial run has been punctuated by regular spats between the various players in the industry.

And when three films, starring three superstars, opened to the relief of movie buffs in Kerala on May 7, they brought to an end a series of parleys that saw some hard bargaining which included some name-calling, anxiety, camaraderie and, of course, snacks.

Superstar Mohanlal, whose Alexander The Great (a rip-off of Dustin Hoffman-starrer Rain Man) one of the films that was released, triggered the standoff between cash-starved producers, hassled distributors theatre-owners and cine artistes.

Jairam’s Katha Thudarannu, the third film that made it to the theatres post-stalemate, was the actor-arbitrator.

The thaw in theatrics was celebrated mostly by fan associations, especially of the former two actors — yet again proving the kind of mass appeal these actors, well past their prime, are still able to command. A week later the new superstar Dileep’s Pappy Appacha hit the screens, bringing back the hit pair of Dileep and Kavya Madhavan after a hiatus.

Ironically, except for Mohanlal’s film, all the others are doing well with Pokkiriraja turning into a blockbuster. But this amicable situation was preceded by a storm that exposed the vulnerability of the industry which, till a few years ago, was robust both in content and commerce.

Producers and distributors joined hands and declared a strike on April 16. The producers refused to bring any movie onto the floors unless the superstars scaled down their remuneration so that spiralling production costs could be brought under control.

Distributors demanded that the collection from noon shows also be included while deciding the ‘hold over’ (return of films to distributors in case of lack of fixed collection). Later, exhibitors joined the melee, threatening that unless the stalemate was solved, no movies would be released in Kerala.

The fracas culminated in a bold 25% cut in remuneration, as declared by Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) for anyone who quoted a price higher than Rs 3 lakh.

The agreement between AMMA and Kerala Film Producers’ Association (KFPA), the body which led the strike, included other drastic decisions like film stars not starring in serials and reality shows, curbs on public shows, discipline on film sets and restricting the size of superstars’ entourage.

The distributors will get to know the fate of their wishes on May 27 after yet another meeting of all the parties concerned with the state government moderating the negotiation.

According to Kerala’s education and culture minister MA Baby, the state government’s appeal to the stakeholders to come out with a solution and accommodate everyone’s demands is giving dividends.

He says, “The government made it pretty clear that all parties would pget a say in the decision. We wouldn’t let just one party’s decision prevail.”

On an average, a Malayalam movie is made on a budget of around Rs 4-5 crore. Around 50-60% of this goes towards paying salaries of actors while the rest is spent on marketing and distribution. Despite such low budgets, producers are finding it difficult to even recover their investments, owing to sub-standard cinematic output and a dismal audience response.

“Actors quote their price, distributors decide the centres and the success or failure is the tight rope that the producers repeatedly tread. We cannot coerce the artists or the distributors. So, a strike was the only way out,” says producer Sabu Cheriyan, president of KFPA. When asked how this cut would benefit the producers, Cheriyan candidly admitted that the only profit would be in terms of lowering losses.

According to estimates provided by the Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC), of the 31 movies released this year only five can be considered hits — which modestly means breaking even.

“Of the approximately 75 movies certified last year (many of the certified movies were not released), only 15 broke even and some registered collection beyond it but nothing spectacular. Taking an average of Rs 5 crore per movie, around Rs 2.5 crore are recovered from theatrical collections. Around Rs 1 crore is earned through sale of copyrights and DVDs. The remaining Rs 1.5 crore is the average loss,” says KFCC president Fazal Gafoor.

“So the 60 unsuccessful movies registered a loss of around Rs 100 crore. That’s a huge figure for a small industry like ours,” he concludes.

According to ‘Indian Entertainment Down South: From Script to Screen’, a report by FICCI and Ernst &Young, the South Indian film industry was estimated to be around Rs 1,730 crore in 2009 to which the Malayalam segment contributes just Rs 140 crore.

“We spoke to a lot of people including producers, distributors, exhibitors and others to arrive at this figure. KFCC wasn’t willing to share this data. Kerala has the highest instance of piracy among the four states in the South so the data couldn’t have been completely reliable. Hence, collating the data for Malayalam cinema was a tough task,” says a source in E&Y who declined to be named.

“Around the ’80s, almost 130-150 movies were released every year. Now it’s down to somewhere in the 60s. That’s more than a 50% drop in the number of movies and there has been a 100% drop in terms of quality of content,” says Gafoor.

It is not just quality that Malayalam cinema is dependent on. It relies heavily on theatrical collections from a small domestic market which has to compete with other language films (OLFs) such as Tamil (which has a significant market share) Hindi and English.

“Hindi, English and even Tamil cinema have a huge audience not only in India but outside as well. But Kerala is the only market for Malayalam movies. These OLFs eat into their business,” argues Josey C Mundadan, secretary of Film Distributors Association (Kerala). The body has been demanding that OLFs get a delayed release in Kerala so that local cinema does not have to compete with these giants.

However, the exhibitors are wary of such a decision, as Tamil cinema brings in a lot of revenue for them. Exhibitors contend that the demand by distributors has a different angle to it.

“Other language films are usually made on big budgets and they quote a high price from distributors. Distributors’ demand to delay the release of OLFs is based on the premise that if the movie isn’t all that good, they can quote a lower price,” says MC Boby, secretary of Exhibitors Federation.

In this climate of uncertainty and a balance sheet in the red, the declaration of a remuneration cut and other measures by AMMA is being termed timely, significant and even drastic. The fee cut may cost Mohan Lal and Mammotty up to Rs 25 lakh, Suresh Gopi and Dileep up to Rs 20 lakh, Prithviraj and Jairam up to 10 lakh and other actors like Jayasurya, Indrajit, Naren up to Rs 5 lakh.

However, Jagadish, AMMA’s treasurer-cum-actor and professor, downplayed the hullabaloo over the decisions and said that it was a unanimous one, recognising the problems of the industry.

“There are many precedents in Hindi as well as regional cinema when in times of crises people have attempted to bring down the production costs. Also, the conditions are not binding and should be taken as recommendations. It is a big step but not ‘drastic’ in the least,” he said.

AMMA, with superstars at the helm of the affairs, has been the centre of many controversies, especially during the past few months. The verbal duel between superstar Mohanlal and respected social and literary critic Sukumar Azhikode brought to light many fissures.

It’s not just finances, but there are other infrastructural and social issues that affect the industry in the most adverse ways possible. Because of the sharp rise in the production costs, marketing films becomes difficult.

Add to that, Kerala is the only state in the whole of South India which imposes an entertainment tax in the range of 15-25%. Bad marketing, low ticket prices and taxes are a triple whammy for Malayalam films.

Jagadish sees the lack of success as the root of all problems. “When the going is good, there is no scope for any fights and misdemeanours. Artists are an insecure lot and for them ‘tomorrow’ is much more important than today,” he says.

Not that there’s going to be peace and love between all these big players in a small world. Things may get ugly, but for now they have to strike at something new. Because as they say in Malyalam: Pradarshanam Thudarunnu (The show continues).