Tamil cinema treacherous territory for producers without buyers

From about 150 movie releases this year, only a few manage to succeed on the box office due to cap on ticket prices.

By Sangeetha Kandavel, ET Bureau | Updated: Dec 22, 2012, 10.02 AM IST

CHENNAI: When Tamil star KamalHaasan recently decided to launch his magnum opus Vishwaroopam on DTH simultaneously with the theatrical release, the first big-budget movie in India to go that way, the theatre owners didn’t take it too well. They decided to boycott the film, a decision that stays till date.

The theatre owners fear that their business will increasingly be eaten away by formats such as DTH. On the other hand, Haasan’s predicament can be easily understood by someone who has tracked the Tamil film industry this year.

From about 150 movies released, only a handful managed to succeed at the box office. Of which, only two were big budget movies. The others fell by the wayside.

So, Haasan wants to make sure that every possible revenue tap is accessed. It may be an industry that’s been a budding place for superstars and even chief ministers in the past. Yet, in 2012, it has earned the tag of being a treacherous territory for film-makers. This, even as Bollywood is rejoicing over an ever-increasing number of blockbusters joining the Rs 100-crore club.

What’s wrong with Tamil film economics? The single-biggest problem that affects Tamil movie makers, unlike those in other languages, is a cap on ticket prices. This started when M Karunanidhi was at the helm in the state. He brought in a rule that not more than Rs 120 per ticket can be charged—even in the best of multiplexes. Though his arch-rival J Jayalalithaa is in power now, the decision stays. Multiplexes and single screens in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are charging Rs 150-Rs 300. In Delhi and Mumbai, the prices are even higher.

In fact, in Tamil Nadu, a tenth of the seats on offer need to be given away at a fanciful Rs 10. These are hot cakes, with people waiting in the queue very early in the morning to grab them. “This has restricted the growth of box office for even big hit films. With the lifecycle of films being reduced to three weeks at best (for a super hit film), at least the cost of inflation must reflect in the ticket prices,” says Dhananjayan Govind, who heads the south business for Disney UTV. “The ceiling of ticket prices fixed five years ago cannot be kept at the same level.”

Imagine, in a free-market situation, the price of a ticket doubles, the turnover for a producer straightaway doubles without any additional rupee of investment. Ashoka Holla, director of Berserk Media, which markets Indian film content across platforms, however, believes a cap is not such a bad idea. “However this cap should not act as a deterrent in modernising decrepit cinema halls or constructing newer ones. A two/three tier pricing system would be more apt, based on the location wherin these cinemas are located,” he says.

In other words, a theatre in upmarket Chennai should be able to charge, say, Rs 300 a ticket. And those in other semi-urban and rural locales far less. But while the ticket prices remain untouched, what makes a Tamil movie maker’s job even tougher is that actors’ fees are skyrocketing. The Tamil film industry, right from the days of MGR and Sivaji Ganesan to current day Rajinikant and Haasan, remains a star-driven business than a script-driven business. And that explains how the more saleable stars are always costly.

One of the top producers of the industry, who did not wish to be identified, says, “Movies fail as most of the actors are more worried about their packages than how the movie is performing. This is becoming a serious concern in the industry.”

Disney UTV’s Govind says, “The biggest challenge is the cost of artists and technicians. The kind of money sought is equal or more than what an equivalent Hindi star will demand, which is not appropriate as Hindi is a nation-wide market and a single language or state market cannot afford that.” In India, there are over 6 crore people who speak the Tamil language. On the other hand, more than 40 crore speak Hindi.

The cost of artists and technicians in the Tamil film industry makes up more than 60% of the cost of the film. Payout for the hero is itself a third of the cost, sometimes. “If a star shares same dates with two producers, there are chances of them quoting a high price,” says Sax Pictures head Hansraj Saxena, who previously headed Sun Pictures. But the other point of view is provided by Potluri Vara Prasad of PVP Ventures, the maker of the bilingual Tamil and Telugu film Naan Ee.

He says, “The star pricing in the Telugu industry is also similar to the Tamil industry. The only difference is Tamil movies have a huge overseas market.” Finally, producers are worried if there’s a genuine situation of over-supply. Interestingly, Bollywood in 2010 had cut down on its number of movies drastically due to high production costs. The Tamil movie-ecosystem, however, is still churning out good numbers. What’s made the process of churning out movies easier is the advent of digital films.

“On an average, Tamil cinema is releasing three films a week, which the industry can ill-afford. Ideally, it should not be more than two new films a week,” says Disney UTV’s Govind, who has postponed his upcoming film ‘Settai’ to February to avoid the crowd of big movies coming in January. Four different people in the industry confirmed that a whopping 120 movies are lying in the cans with no takers. That’s what the Tamil industry churns out in nine months of a typical year. They are not finding buyers.

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