digital What has caused the death of single screen theatres? Unlike in the past when were they were the only platform for watching feature films, today a variety of alternative media are readily available. The technological wave has effectively ensured that the spectator isn’t required to travel any distance at all to watch their desired film. Additionally, they may do so at a very minimal cost and as per their convenience.
Piracy too has a terrible impact on film business. Crores are being spent on making films, but leakage of original footage during post-production or preview screening or festival screening results in the availability of high-quality footage for audiences at a minimum cost or without any cost at all. This drastically minimizes footfalls at theatre and ruins the possibility of recovery of investment.
The third problem relates to the quality of the viewing experience. Lack of maintenance of the projection system, the seating areas, and the cooling system in the old single halls drove audiences toward the newly developed, properly-maintained multiplexes where they could live the movie experience on a screen with crystal clear images and Dolby digital 5.1/ 7.1 sound while lounging lazily in a recliner. At Kolkata, most of the single screen theatres had an average capacity of 800 seats and it was getting rather difficult to sell even five percent of the hall capacity on weekdays. Since costs such as electricity, maintenance, and manpower resource remained the same, the recovery of daily operational costs posed a major problem for the exhibitionists, and in the last half decade, most were compelled to permanently shut down. Currently, there are only four—yes, only four—single screen theatres in the whole of Kolkata.
In earlier times, people were habituated to celebrate any occasion by watching movies at the theatre, but in today’s fast-paced world, the joint family concept is obsolete. And almost every individual in the city has the power in their hands—the smart phone, in which most any movie is just a click away. As family get-togethers are rare, bulk booking of seats in theatres too is now rare. To add to this, television has captured the evening life of housewives so strongly that they have little wish to venture out of the comfort of their homes and their favourite daily soaps. On the occasions that they do, on the weekends, their first priority is for content similar to that of their daily soaps. This is why the weekend business of single screen theatres such as Navina, Star, Priya are successful. These single cinema halls have their own geographical benefit too as they are equipped with all modern facilities like their rival multiplexes.
Riding on the regular footfall of college students and corporate professionals especially on the weekends, multiplexes such as Inox, PVR, and Cinepolis used to enjoy good business in Kolkata. Comfortable and world-class experience of watching cinema is the main reason for this. However, there has been a drastic decline in recent times — before the pandemic made things even worse — primarily due to the hiking of ticket prices as well as those of food and water. After a survey, it was found that around INR 1,000 is spent for watching a movie at a multiplex, by a family or a couple who are working in a corporate setup; and that 1.5 times of the ticket was spent on food items and water. Many first timers prefer not to be repeat customers, and are opting instead to watch films on digital platforms such as Netflix, Zee5, Amazon Prime, Hotstar, and Hoichoi.
India experienced an internet revolution around half a decade ago. The launch of the mobile network ‘Jio’ drastically altered the distribution platform of content, especially films. It opened the doors for audiences to a theatre full of films on their Smartphone and Smart TV. Many young working professionals who used to be regulars at multiplexes are now loyal customers of digital streaming platforms. They are now required to pay only a relatively trifle sum, as monthly or yearly subscription fees. 2K and 4K Smart TV with home theatre offers them theatre-like experience at home, there is no need for them to wait for show time, and they are allowed too to pause at any point of time during the streaming.
It is thus boom time at the moment for digital platforms. Netflix, Amazon Prime, Zee5, and Hotstar are busy acquiring digital rights before the theatrical release of films. And satellite channels have their own digital platforms — Hotstar is part of Star, Zee5 is the digital platform of Zee, and Voot is a platform of Colors (Viacom18). Channel owners are even uploading episodes of daily soaps on the net before they are telecast on their own channels. There is no need now for one to wait for the telecast of a favourite show or feature film on TV. The early availability of content as well as the option to watch content at any point of time makes digital platforms highly popular. This also puts a much-needed check on piracy in the digital market.
It would be very difficult to bring back the aura that the episodes of Ramayana and Mahabharat once had. The days when people wouldn’t dare miss an episode and/or its repeat screening as there was no other option of watching them ever again is long gone. Some might even argue that it would be impossible for theatres to ever again pull crowds the way films such as Sholay and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge once did. This of course isn’t entirely true. For, even though everybody knows that all such content would be available on alternative platforms within weeks, if not days, the thrill of watching films on the huge screen in a huge hall with a huge crowd is an altogether different experience.
But yes, perhaps that day is not too far off when the single screen theatre would be as rare as the tram or the yellow taxi in Kolkata.
The universal language of the seventh art, cinema, unites us all together as one human race. Cinema has brought us closer. Sitting here in Guwahati, watching films, we can feel the agonies and ecstasies of the people by the Caribbean. We can feel the depth of the Mediterranean from the banks of the Brahmaputra.
Set with the onerous task on my head, a few years ago, of steering the first edition of the [highlight background=”#f79126″ color=”#ffffff”]Guwahati International Film Festival[/highlight] (GIFF), I experienced the shivering of a little bird just about to commence the very first flight of its life. Today, though, GIFF is well on track on its mission of assimilating culture and connecting hearts beyond boundaries. The moto of this Festival is basudhaivo kutumbakam, that is, the world is a family. I hope and would like to believe, therefore, that the films curated with much care will help in widening our horizons, and will lend a new perspective to our vision, as we explore ourselves and the world around us.
Those who are acquainted with the scenario of present day cinema with all its nuances right from pre-production to projection would immediately agree that the challenges are rapidly on the rise. For indie filmmakers, many of these challenges are colossal enough to sow fear and doubt in their minds and make them consider the idea of altogether discarding their dreams. Purely to inspire and encourage all, film festivals arrange interaction sessions, open forums, and panel discussions; and conduct film seminars, workshops, and master classes. At the [highlight background=”#f79126″ color=”#ffffff”]Chalachitram National Film Festival[/highlight], where I was a member of the jury in one of the categories this time, there are awards for the best debut film and the best screenplay too. By screening the amateur films of young debutants, and by encouraging them to to write, we prepare them for the future.
The purpose of all good film festivals is to create a platform where we not only strengthen our culture but also simultaneously groom our audience as future custodians of our grand heritage. I have the satisfaction of being a part of a campaign that recently planted the seed of an international film festival in an important yet long-neglected region that is presently once again contributing much to the universe of cinema. The future of heritage rests with how well our youths have been exposed to and educated on it; thus, it is immensely pleasurable to witness a sizeable increase in the number of student delegates at film festivals all over the country. It is reassuring to see the resurgence of an appreciation of good cinema by the passionate new generation.
“Alone I can say, together we can talk. Alone I can smile, together we can laugh. Alone I can enjoy, together we can celebrate. That is the beauty of harmony.” And of cinema. Thus, together, let us rejoice in the greatness of cinema. Together, let the goodness of cinema liberate us from the isolating bondage of human follies.
Being an effective mass medium, cinema has for long been manipulated for the celebration of national pride and for the recognition of they who demonstrate the highest form of sacrifice and valour. The ‘soldier theme’ has been a favorite of quite a few popular Hindi filmmakers from JP Dutta to Anil Sharma. Subhash Ghai’s Karma was a success back in its days, and its songs, penned by Anand Bakshi, are fondly hummed even now. The movies of Manoj Kumar were so closely identified with patriotism that he eventually earned himself the sobriquet ‘Bharat Kumar.’ There is a song too picturized on him—‘Bharat ka rehnewaala hoon, bharat ki baat sunaata hoon’. His movies such as Shaheed and Purab Aur Paschim connected well with Indian audiences, and the song Mere desh ki dharti from Upkar is an apt tribute to India.
The 80s and 90s witnessed actors such as Nana Patekar and Sunny Deol donning the role of the saviors of the motherland—Krantiveer, Kohraam, Border, Gadar. Aamir Khan et al roused patriotism in Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India as a team of village cricketers playing what passes off as a mental war of sorts, a tense match, against their British rulers. In recent times, films in this genre—Rustom, Baby, Naam Shabaana, Satyamev Jayate, Parmaanu, Uri: The Surgical Strike—have ensured actors Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, and Vicky Kaushal a major soar in their popularity.
What is of significance is that unlike in the past, when patriotic Hindi movies were scarce even if successful, since the last half decade or so it has actually become a visible trend—battle movies such as Kesari; anti-terrorism movies such as Batla House; and biopics such as the sports-historical Gold that celebrate national achievements. This trend is still very much strong. On Independence Day this year, Mission Mangal, which celebrates India’s journey to Mars, released all over India. And coming up soon is 83, which focuses on India’s cricket world cup victory in 1983. Talks are on too for a movie centered on Abhinav Bindra’s Olympic feat.
A lot has changed over the years, however, in the way movies in the genre get made. Earlier, there was greater drama and the plots weren’t multi-layered. Today, the drama is controlled, and the perspectives are varied. The songs in contemporary movies are no longer as memorable as those of then. The lyrics of present day songs fail to be etched in the memory. And the dialogues are devoid of hyperboles, and on most occasions, are crisp. The canvas has widened and the treatment and tone are varied, relative of the filmmaker’s sensibilities. The subject remains mainstream largely but there would be greater acceptance to a movie such as Dil Se in today’s times, which probably didn’t get its due at the time of its release. On the other hand, while Sunny Deol’s hand-pump lifting scene in Gadar was very popular in its time, it is debatable if such a presentation would be widely appreciated today.
With more avenues to cover costs available and top stars willing to experiment, filmmakers have greater independence in treating the subject. Rang De Basanti used an interesting sub-plot that saw audiences relate to the flawed but eager-to-reform characters led by Aamir Khan. A tragedy triggers the activists within them and the holier-than-thou representation of central characters was avoided. Though predictable, Chak De India kept audiences engaged as Shah Rukh Khan delivered a thoroughly controlled performance of a hockey coach redeeming himself with purposeful resilience. Baby saw an understated performance from Akshay Kumar. The restraint kept the performance real.
Contemporary filmmakers indulging in the nation glorification genre tend to lend importance to research. They consult authorities of the respective subjects; depict realistic setups; and avoid a lavish splash of songs and unreal dramatic sequences. Furthermore, they do not hesitate to address controversial issues employing multiple perspectives. Thus, Haider had a different take on the Kashmir crisis. And Fimistaan and War Chod Naa Yaar attempted to highlight the futility of war, and portrayed the common human challenges across the border. More filmmakers are now displaying the human side of characters. It is no longer a binary setup where one is for or against the national interest. The intent is to portray the challenges of conflict that aren’t resolved. Raazi and Romeo Akbar Walter both depicted the lives of a spy, but while the former was subtler, the latter did not withhold the drama. The template is just not the same anymore.
The artworks are by the author himself. He has done well over 350 portraits of film stars from the early to the present eras.
Cinema is an important medium, and is highly responsible worldwide in constructing otherness.[1] Film industries, since time immemorial, have been aware of this power that it holds, and several papers on this aspect using Hollywood as an example are available.[2] This present study is a result of 10 years of research, backed with a field survey based on experience while conducting 7 editions of Le Festival des Films Indiens de Toulouse/Toulouse Indian Film Festival (TIFF). It examines the biases regarding Indian culture held by a sizeable number of French spectators—a majority of them still have incorrect ideas about contemporary India—and attempts to find a way to show them the truth.
The primary reason for this widespread misinformation is the escapist Bollywood entertainers, such as Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (15,363 tickets sold in 2001) and Devdas (98,338, in 2003) as well as a few notable films set in India and made by the West, such as Slumdog Millionaire (2,694,389, in 2009) and Indian Palace (271,131, in 2012).[3] What such canvasses unscrupulously exhibit is an India of contrasting images—grandiose wealth and dire poverty; glamorous haute culture and filthy rags; colorful, luxurious ceremonies and beggars, human trafficking, and exploitation.
While regulars of TIFF have a clearer picture of the real India, new attendees are beginning slowly to see the other side. Though a gradual change in perception is observed, the nature of the questions raised at the post screening Q&A sessions are still indicative of years of wrong programming. When on the subject of Indian contemporary society, the questions tend to be related to rape culture, women’s rights, and poverty. When on the subject of geography, the questions generally tend to revolve around the holy city of Benares; the emblematic colonial Pondicherry; and that temple of love, the Taj Mahal. And when on the subject of politics and governance, the only question that comes up is related to World Yoga Day. Though factual, these narrowed questions demonstrate a very reductive perception about contemporary India, and consequently, of contemporary Indian cinema.[4]
Much of this has to do with the imagery fostered by colonial empires and not updated since. The first problem, created by the colonists, relates to exoticism and the condescending approach attached to it. The second is the total reliance of people on created images/media (largely, fiction film) for information about a foreign culture—a kind of persisting neo-colonialist approach to view the “outside world,” one that leans on ideologies, psychoanalysis, and social issues: “la géographie culturelle ne peut être distinguée de la géographie sociale ou politique” [cultural geography cannot be distinguished from social or political geography].[5]
TIFF came into existence in 2012—a time when there were no Indian film screenings in cinema halls outside the Parisian area and the only Indian films that a few French people had watched were that of Satyajit Ray. It is an NGO, and like most tiny NGOs in France, everyone is a volunteer, the team is small, and the budget is miniscule. Most everyone in France back then had however heard of Bollywood, which they viewed pejoratively as a pathetic genre of cheap entertainers that spilled out into real life in the form of fun and partying. Consequently, TIFF struggled for years in its attempt to convince the French that Indian cinema was worthy of a screening. Ironically, and unfortunately, the French were less interested in watching Indian films and showed more excitement in being invited to Bollywood song-and-dance parties.
A film festival audience is but a fragment and not a representative of a nation’s audience. The former is one that is eager to visit film theatres several times in a very short time, and even pay for each entry when required, even though they often have no idea what they are in for. They are willing to stake their time and money in return for the hope of discovering something new. The audience is an important part of a film festival, and this not just because they buy tickets—they are the very soul of a festival. At TIFF, as in many other such festivals, the audience appreciates that their film opinions are taken quite seriously, and they therefore enthusiastically look forward to being a part of the Audience Awards.
The city of Toulouse in France, where TIFF takes place, is renowned for its cinephile audience. Its uptown and suburban areas is a noticeable observation point for the French film industry every Wednesday, the film release day in France. Also noteworthy is that Toulouse hosts well over 30 film festivals every year, a significant number even in a country that conducts one of the largest number of film festivals in the entire world.[6] It effectively means that no film festival here can rest on its past laurels.
The journey of TIFF commenced sans variety, sans audience, sans budget. At the very start, diversity was non-existent, since most of the films screened were in Hindi. And the audience was scarce, since it seemed such a ridiculous, almost sacrilegious, idea to attend a festival of Indian films, and especially one that excluded the films of Ray. Forget audiences, even film journalists were totally confounded—one enthusiastic cutlet announcing the premier edition of TIFF published their story alongside the photograph of a native American.
The purpose of TIFF has always been clear—to introduce French audiences to contemporary India and contemporary Indian cinema. Initially, there was hardly an audience for such films, and instead, just a lot of bias and flak. Thus, a primary strategy came into being—to host as many Q&A sessions as possible; with or without guests.[7] This experiment proved to be the turning point. These days, a Q&A session happens after the screening of every film, and audiences are encouraged to voice their opinions. Such sessions require immense energy; strong will and determination; and a thorough knowledge of Indian cinema, culture, and society. But the results are astounding, and prove that French audiences and programmers can be much more fascinated with Indian culture and films than anybody, including themselves, ever supposed.
“We never imagined Indian cinema to be this,” “Why didn’t we hear about this (Indian) cinema before!” “Where can we get more information about Indian films and their context?” “Will this film be screened again, or released in France?” and “When would be the next edition?” are the class of positive, naïve, spontaneous testimonies of newbie French spectators of Indian cinema, these days, as they commence their wondrous journey into Indian culture.
The spectatorship of TIFF is now comparable to many other important French film festivals and comprises majorly of French people ranging from the regular attendees to newbie individuals who neither have any special connection to Indian cinema nor are Bollywood fans. Strangely, despite a significant Indian community in the Toulouse area, very few attend the screenings. There are various possible reasons for this, but this is another topic altogether.French audiences are gradually being drawn towards this variety exhibit of storytelling, cultures, and languages so very different from their own—from Malayalam (Ee. Ma. Yau), Tamil (Pariyerum Perumal), Hindi/Gondi (Newton), Assamese (Ishu), Khasi (Onaatah – of the Earth), Manipuri (Loktak Lairembee), Tibetan/Pahari/Hindi (Sound of Silence), Urdu (One Half Widow), and Bengali (Runanubandha) to Marathi (Gulabjaam). They have begun to recognize that what is different isn’t necessarily inferior. And nowadays when they dislike a film, it isn’t because it is Indian but because the film whatever its origin failed to move them—this is far removed from that earlier subconscious, arrogant attitude towards the so-termed illiterate, kitsch, immature cinema.
In conclusion
Quantitatively, the distribution of Indian film in France is still rather ridiculous. Qualitatively, in the sense of diversity of production, the scene is even worse. That distributors of Indian films in France rely chiefly on the Indian-origin community for attendance points toward a sure prospect of failure in the short term. Festival programming statistics clearly indicates that French spectators are more than willing to entertain the diversity and dynamics of Indian productions despite the obvious cultural, economical, and political biases. This leads to the real questions—Who would be willing to invest money and energy in this challenge? Quite to the contrary to what is being witnessed in every film industry in this age of globalization, who would be willing to think beyond a short-term return on investment, in France and in India?
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Bibliography
Staszak, La fabrique cinématographique de l’altérité. Les personnages de « Chinoises » dans le cinéma occidental, Annales de géographie 2011/6 (n°682)
Ronald Brownstein, The Power and the Glitter. The Hollywood-Washington Connection, New York, Vintage Books, 1992
Bianchi, Entretiens avec les spectatrices de Bollywood: La réception des films hindi en France, séminaire Cinéphilies populaires, Sorbonne nouvelle, Paris III, April 2014
[note note_color=”#f79125″ text_color=”#151113″ radius=”3″]The author’s film Andar Kahini has received innumerable awards at a variety of international film festivals, and is now set to release in West Bengal cinema halls. If you would like to be a part of it, check out https://www.wishberry.in/campaign/andarkahini-self-exile[/note]
The cinema market of Kolkata/West Bengal has primarily been dominated by Bengali cinema since the last 5 years. The market leader is Venkatesh Films, a company with huge production & distribution networks. The company produces both critically acclaimed art as well as blockbuster commercial films. Additionally, it produces fiction and non-fiction reality shows for Bengali GEC channels such as Star Jalsha, Rupashi Bangla and Mahuaa Bangla; has a very strong distribution chain with total control of over 200 theatres of WB (films such as Raavan and 3 Idiots were released on WB. through their network); and has created superstars in the cinema of Bengali who involve themselves in promoting the company’s films all through the year.
Almost all the stars in Kolkata, from directors such as Raj Chakraborty, Srijit Mukherjee, Ravi Kinagi, Sujit Mondal, and Rajeev Kumar; actors such as Dev, Jeet, Soham, Koel, Subhosree, Shravanty, and Payel; music directors such as Jeet Ganguly, Anupam Roy, and Debojyoti Mishra; editors such as Rabiranjan Moitra; to art directors such as Tanmoy Chakraborty, and Asish Adhikari are discoveries of Venkatesh Films. A majority of them are, naturally, loyal to their company and as a rule do not work for other producers.
Among the young generation of Bengali cinema audience, Dev has an extremely large fanbase and well before the release of each of his films, his fans tend to go into a frenzy and there is frequently a scarcity of tickets. Furthermore, Venkatesh Films creates a huge publicity buzz before each of its film’s releases, so much so that time even good Hindi or English films releasing in the same week are literally compelled to pray for footfalls.
Dominated by VENKATESH followed by Eskay Films & Surinder Films Strong control on Exhibitors
Bookers also has very strong network but traditional
Urban films confined to Metro & Suburbs only
Mainstream film can give the width
Monopoly & long relationship with the exhibitors
Emerging distributor PIYALI FILMS with strong system support
EXHIBITION
Universe is 515 – 37 A+ halls & 53 A halls
106 halls have UFO facilities. CUBE digital launched in bengal & 135 cube installed already.
Some 209 halls closed completely
Average ticket price is 40/- to 70/- in urban to 10/- to 25/- in suburbs
Can achieve 1 Cr. easily if its full show for a week with 60% occupancy.
Venkatesh trying to get 107 sick halls, got already 47 halls leased by him.
Piyali Films are growing heavily in strategising their entertainment wing to a diversified revenue source apart from their traditional business.
WAY FORWARD PRODUCTION & CONTENT
Priority on new stories, new stars & new directors
At least 6 movies is getting signed by each & every producers
Genre is contemporary based on Love, Masala
Buying stories which is rich & best sellers
Signing good & new directors on contracts
Banking on new actors & actress
Doing R&D for public domain
Remake of Tamil, Telegu, Oriya & Hindi Blockbusters i.e. only in Mainstream
WAY FORWARD DISTRIBUTION
High dependency on digitals
Penetration initial 2 weeks with max no of theatres
Some guys like Piyali Films adopted system very strongly Producer- Distributor planned year’s release well in advanceBig brothers started creating own chain
Multiplex creating troubles for show timing
Still no space for Mainstream in Multiplexes
WAY FORWARD MARKETING
Taken a big leap beyond KOLKATA
NEW STARS exploited more in all activities.
IN FILM is on high focus which adding 20% revenues
Media Buying are essentially combined with tie up
Radio & Website has opened a phenomenal information inflow Hyped programme opens for release platform
Corporates investing money for Outdoor Media
FOOD JOINT is being targeted as a key zone for Youth.
BRANDING & TIE UP
FESTIVALS are being targeted for a big budget movie
Corporate Co- branding is happening
Alliances are giving enormous mileage
Local Companies are highly pitching on movies
Barter deal is saving a substantial planned cost
College & Campus creating platforms for certain kind of films REGIONAL ICONS are placed in promoting the films in Premiere.
Objective of the Project
An audience research study is conducted to identify the habit & preference of the cinema-going audiences.
The objective of this project also involves reason behind less watch or not watch of English movie.
Research Methodology
This research methodology was developed after considering the research objectives and the purpose of the project seriously.
The Market Research Process
The market research process consists of six steps. These include:
Problem definition
Development of an approach
Research Design Formulation
Field Work
Data Interpretation and Analysis
Report Preparation.
Research Design
Keeping the research objectives in mind, a research design was developed for conducting the study and collecting the required data.
Research Instrument: A questionnaire was formulated. Most of the questions were closed-ended & a very few were open-ended.
Nature of Data: All the data used for this project were primary in nature.
Source of Data: The data collection method was that of Survey research,which in terms of marketing is defined as a ‘Systemic Collection of Information directly from the respondents.’
Sampling Plan: The sample unit or target group is the cinema-going audience of Kolkata. They are of age group between 18 to 35 yr. and fall into various segments on the basis of gender, education, profession & locality.
Sample Size: Total number of consumers surveyed was 138.
Area Covered: At first single screen theaters & multiplexes were divided into various parts according to their geographic position & profile of audiences.
Theatres covered for this survey:
INOX (SWABHUMI / CITY CENTRE / FORUM)
FAME (SOUTH CITY / HIGHLAND PARK)
CINEMAX (MANI SQUARE)
LONDON PARIS (MUKTI WORLD)
HDIL BROADWAY BIOSCOPE
NEW EMPIRE STAR
PARADISE ROXY
AJANTA PRACHI PRIYA NAVINA JAYA NANDAN INDIRA
Contact Method: Data was collected by field survey via direct interview by the investigator to the respondents.
Constraints of the Project
Time Constraint: One of the main shortfalls of the research study was that the survey period was limited. Hence, because of this time constraint, more number of respondents could not be covered.
Variation of movie: Actually to understand the taste & preference of audience is a long time process, audience profile varies from season to season, ie. During festivals a wide variety of audience go theatre to enjoy movie, who may be laggards. Their taste & preference is also important to bring them at theatre.
Although care has been taken in putting across the observations meticulously, yet these constraints of information tend to cause some minor aberrations in the final analysis.
Design of the Questionnaire
A questionnaire contains a formalized set of questions for obtaining information from respondents. Typically a questionnaire is one element in data collection package that might also include
· Field work procedures such as instruction for selecting, approaching and questioning respondents.
· Some reward, gift or payment offered to respondents. Any questionnaire has three specific objectives:First, it must translate the information needed into set of specific questions that the respondents can and will answer. Developing questions that respondents cannot answer may render the collection of information difficult.
Second, a questionnaire must uplift, motivate and encourage the respondents to co-operate and to complete the interview. Incomplete questionnaires have limited usefulness. The questionnaire must be so designed that it minimizesthe respondent’s fatigue and boredom. A well-designed questionnaire can motivate the respondents and increase the response rate.
Third, a questionnaire should minimize the response error.
Hence, the questionnaire for this project is designed keeping these information in mind.
Interviewing Method
An appreciation of how the type of interviewing method influences questionnaire design can be obtained by considering how the questionnaire will be administered under each method. In personal interview, the respondents see the questionnaire and interact fact-to-face with the interviewer. Thus various questions can be asked. In case of indirect interviewing method like through Email or mail, the questionnaire should be brief and easily understandable. Hence, for this project we have used mostly all primary data.
In case of my project, the survey has been conducted by myself where I have personally visited theatres of Kolkata and interviewed the respondents. In this regard, I have tried my level best to keep the questionnaire respondent-friendly.
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Questionnaire: AUDIENCE RESPONSE SHEET
Objective: To understand the habits & preferences of Bengali cinema-going audiences
Part
Name:
Gender
Age:
Locality
Profession
Education
Contact no. &/or E-mail id
Sub-Objective 1: How genre of film varies from segment to segment
Sub-Objective 2: Who are the target audience of ART of COMMERCIAL movie?
Sub-Objective 3: Which is/are the preferred language(s) in which audience enjoys a movie?
Sub-Objective 4: What combination of ingredients, the audience would like to watch a movie?
Sub-Objective 5: What is the preferred Showtime
Sub-Objective 6: What is the preferred mode to purchase movie tickets?
Sub-Objective 7: When audience prefers to visit theatre after release of a movie
Sub-Objective 8: What are the sources of information about a movie?
AUDIENCE RESPONSE SHEET
· Where do you watch films – Theatres, TV, CD/DVD
· Why do you watch the films in this format (put some thought into this)?
· Do you watch TV?
What channels do you watch?
Which programs?
Which language?
Technique and Theory for Data Analysis
Some mathematical and statistical tools were used for the analysis of different objectives of the project. The Statistical techniques used are as follows.
Percentage Distribution: Where the number in each category is expressed as a percentage of the total.
Bar Diagram: Pictorial representation of equidistant rectangular bars, one for each category is used to represent the data.
Pie Chart: A pictorial representation where circle is used to represent the total area and is divided proportionally among the different components by converting the proportional values into proportional segments of the circle.
Thurston technique of ranking: An analysis which helps in ranking different attributes according to their importance and also the distance between their levels of importance.
[box title=”Thurston Scale” style=”default” box_color=”#333333″ title_color=”#FFFFFF” radius=”3″]In psychology, the Thurston scale was the first formal technique for measuring an attitude. It was developed by Louis Leon Thurston in 1928 as a means of measuring attitudes towards religion. It is made up of statements about a particular issue, and each statement has a numerical value indicating how favorable or unfavorable it is judged to be. People check each of the statements to which they agree, and a mean score is computed, indicating their attitude. Thurston’s Method of Paired Comparisons can be considered a prototype of anormal distribution-based method for scaling-dominance matrices.[/box]
Research Analysis
Ranking by audience about their preference regarding genre of movie
Genre of films is divided into: Romantic, Drama, Action, Thriller, Comedy, and Experimental. In below audiences are segmented into various parts & how preferences of genre of film varies from segment to segment, that was measured.
RANKING BY AUDIENCE ABOUT THEIR PREFERENCE REGARDING GENRE OF MOVIE
In the below
R’ stands for ROMANTIC
‘D’ stands for DRAMA
‘A’ stands for ACTION
‘T’ stands for THRILLER
‘C’ stands for COMEDY
‘E’ stands for EXPERIMENTAL
Overall Ranking
Thurston Scale Measure
INFERENCE: From above analysis it can be said that overall preference of cinema-going audience of Kolkata regarding genre of movie is Romantic movie & closely followed by Comedy movie. Drama is least preferred by them.
GENDER-WISE RANKING
[A]FEMALE RANKING
Thurston Scale Measure
INFERENCE: From above analysis it can be said that overall preference of female cinema-going audience of Kolkata regarding genre of movie is Romantic movie & followed by Comedy movie. Drama is least preferred by them.
[B] MALE RANKING:
Thurston Scale Measure
INFERENCE: From above analysis it can be said that preference of male cinema-going audience of Kolkata regarding genre of movie is Action movie, followed by Comedy movie. The market position of Romantic & Thriller movie is same. Drama is least preferred by them.
AGE-WISE RANKING
[A] LESS THAN 22 yr.
Thurston Scale Measure
INFERENCE: From above analysis it can be said that preference of cinema- going audience of age group less than 22yr. regarding genre of movie is Comedy movie & closely followed by Romantic movie. Drama is least preferred by them.
[B] UPTO LESS THAN 23 yr.
Thurston Scale Measure
INFERENCE: From above analysis it can be said that l preference of cinema- going audience of age group less than 23yr., regarding genre of movie is Romantic movie & closely followed by Comedy movie. Drama is least preferred by them.
[C] 22yr. to less than 28 yr.
Thurston Scale Measure
INFERENCE: From above analysis it can be said that preference of cinema- going audience of Kolkata regarding genre of movie is Romantic movie & closely followed by Comedy movie. Drama is least preferred by them.
[D] 28 yr. To 35 yr.
Thurston Scale Measure
INFERENCE: From above analysis it can be said that preference of cinema- going audience of age group between 28 to 35yr., regarding genre of movie is comedy movie, followed by romantic & experimental movie. Overall market position of romantic & experimental movie is same. Drama is least preferred by them.
INFERENCE: From above analysis it can be said that preference of cinema- going audience of south kolkata regarding genre of movie is Romantic movie & followed by Comedy movie. Drama is least preferred by them.
INFERENCE: From above analysis it can be said that preference of cinema- going audience of North Kolkata regarding genre of movie is Comedy movie & closely followed by Romantic movie. Drama is least preferred by them.
[C] PART of NORTH 24PGS,HOWRAH, HOOGLY ATTACHED TO KOLKATA
INFERENCE: From above analysis it can be said that preference of cinema- going audience of attached part of Kolkata, regarding genre of movie is Comedy movie & very closely followed by Romantic movie. Drama is least preferred by them.
PROFESSION-WISE RANKING
[A] Working professionals:
Thurston Measure Scale
INFERENCE: From above analysis it can be said that preference of cinema- going audience of service professionals, regarding genre of movie is Romantic movie & followed by Comedy movie. Drama is least preferred by them.
[B] STUDENT
Thurston Scale Measure
INFERENCE: From above analysis it can be said that preference of cinema- going students, regarding genre of movie is Comedy movie, closely followed by Romantic &Thriller movie. Drama is least preferred by them.
EDUCATION-WISE RANKING
[A] GRADUATE OR UNDERGRADUATE
Thurston Scale Measure
INFERENCE: From above analysis it can be said that preference of cinema- going graduate or undergraduate audience regarding genre of movie is Romantic movie , closely followed by Comedy movie. Drama is least preferred by them.
[B] POST-GRADUATE OR STUDENT OF POST-GRADUATE
Thurston Scale Measure
INFERENCE: From above analysis it can be said that preference of cinema- going post-graduate audience regarding genre of movie is Romantic movie &Comedy movie. Both have same ranking. Drama is least preferred by them.
ONLY ART FILM AUDIENCE
Thurston Scale Measure
INFERENCE: From above analysis it can be said that preference of art film audience regarding genre of movie is Comedy movie. Drama is least preferred by them.
ONLY COMMERCIAL FILM AUDIENCE
Thurston Scale Measure
INFERENCE: From above analysis it can be said that preference of only commercial movie audience regarding genre of movie is Romantic movie, closely followed by Comedy movie. Experimental movie is least preferred by them.
GENERALLY ART FILMS, SOMETIMES COMMERCIAL FILM AUDIENCE
Thurston Scale Measure
INFERENCE: From above analysis it can be said that preference of this segment of movie audience regarding genre of movie is Romantic movie, closely followed by Action, Comedy & Thriller movie. Drama is least preferred by them.
GENERALLY COMMERCIAL FILM AUDIENCE
Thurston Scale Measure
INFERENCE: From above analysis it can be said that preference of this segment of movie audience regarding genre of movie is Romantic movie, followed by Comedy & Thriller movie.
ENGLISH & HINDI MOVIE AUDIENCE
Thurston Scale Measure
INFERENCE: From above analysis it can be said that preference of this segment of movie audience regarding genre of movie is Comedy movie, closely followed by Thriller movie.
HINDI & BENGALI MOVIE AUDIENCE
Thurston Scale Measure
INFERENCE: From above analysis it can be said that preference of this segment of movie audience regarding genre of movie is Romantic movie, followed by Comedy & Thriller movie.
ENGLISH, HINDI & BENGALI MOVIE AUDIENCE
Thurston Scale Measure
INFERENCE: From above analysis it can be said that preference of this segment of movie audience regarding genre of movie is Romantic & comedy movie, overall preference of this segment of audience regarding Romantic & comedy movie is same. Drama is least preferred by them.
MARKET OF ART & COMMERCIAL MOVIE
Movies are broadly divided into 2 types: art film & commercial film. For this survey, audiences were asked which kind of film(s) is/are watched by them to know their preferences. The options were as following:
[A] Audience of Only ART / INTELLECTUAL films which is expressed as A in chart below.
[B] Audience of Only COMMERCIAL films which is expressed as B in chart below.
[C] Audience of Generally ART / INTELLECTUAL films & sometimes COMMERCIAL films which is expressed as C in chart below.
[D] Audience of Generally COMMERCIAL films & sometimes ART / INTELLECTUAL films which is expressed as D in chart below.
People watch or like to watch art or commercial movie according to their taste & preferences.
PREFERENCE OF AUDIENCE TOWARDS LANGUAGE OR COMBINATIONS OF LANGUAGES
In Kolkata, mainly 3 languages of films run at theatres: English, Hindi, and Bengali. Apart from that Tamil & Bhojpuri films also have a very small market. During survey, audiences were asked about various combinations of languages of film, which they generally watch or prefer to watch.
The total scenario is represented below, in chart form.
MOST PREFERRED COMBINATION OF A MOVIE
To understand the preference of the audience, they were asked that if a cinema will be made according to their choice, then what would be their preferred combination. The ingredients were romance, action, comedy & drama and audience had to response their choice as % against each ingredient.
The main ingredients of a film: Romance, Action, Comedy & Drama may be at any of the following 3 states, i.e. high (0 to < 20%), medium (20 to <60%), low (60 to 100%).High state is decoded as 1, medium state is decoded as 2 & low state is decoded as 3.
Outcome from service professionals:
Outcome from students:
Market viable outcomes:
Total sample size for this question: 100 (Student: 63 & Service: 37):
Preferences about show time:
Preferences about mode of purchase of movie ticket
How movie ticket are purchased
Online
Advance
Current
By friends or family members
The group of audiences who purchase ticket through friends or family members; they are not decision maker regarding purchase of movie tickets.
ROGERS ADOPTION-INNOVATION MODEL
Adopter categories
Rogers defines an adopter category as a classification of individuals within a social system on the basis of innovativeness. In the book Diffusion of Innovations, Rogers suggests a total of five categories of adopters in order to standardize the usage of adopter categories in diffusion research. The adoption of an innovation follows an S curve when plotted over a length of time. The categories of adopters are: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards.
Adopter category Definition
[A]Innovators: Innovators are the first individuals to adopt an innovation. Innovators are willing to take risks, youngest in age, have the highest social class, have great financial lucidity, very social and have closest contact to scientific sources and interaction with other innovators. Risk tolerance has them adopting technologies which may ultimately fail. Financial resources help absorb these failures.
[B] Early Adopters: This is the second fastest category of individuals who adopt an innovation. These individuals have the highest degree of opinion leadership among the other adopter categories. Early adopters are typically younger in age, have a higher social status, have more financial lucidity, advanced education, and are more socially forward than late adopters. More discrete in adoption choices than innovators. Realize judicious choice of adoption will help them maintain central communication position.
[C] Early Majority: Individuals in this category adopt an innovation after a varying degree of time. This time of adoption is significantly longer than the innovators and early adopters. Early Majority tend to be slower in the adoption process, have above average social status, contact with early adopters, and seldom hold positions of opinion leadership in a system.
[D] Late Majority : Individuals in this category will adopt an innovation after the average member of the society. These individuals approach an innovation with a high degree of skepticism and after the majority of society has adopted the innovation. Late Majority are typically skeptical about an innovation, have below average social status, very little financial lucidity, in contact with others in late majority and early majority, very little opinion leadership.
[E] Laggards: Individuals in this category are the last to adopt an innovation. Unlike some of the previous categories, individuals in this category show little to no opinion leadership. These individuals typically have an aversion to change-agents and tend to be advanced in age. Laggards typically tend to befocused on “traditions”, likely to have lowest social status, lowest financial fluidity, be oldest of all other adopters, in contact with only family and close friends, very little to no opinion leadership.
Rogers model is utilized to segment the audiences as innovator, Early adopter, early majority, late majority, laggards. Among Cinema going audience there are some people, who always try to watch movie at the early days of release. There are also some people, who watch movie after a long time of release . Cinema going audience can be classified as per Rogers model.
In a 4 week life span of cinema the audience can be divided as follow:
INNOVATORS
EARLY ADOPTERS
EARLY MAJORITY
LATE MAJORITY
LAGGARDS
The audience were asked, when they go to watch a film after release? The options were as follows:
Always try to watch movie 1st day 1st show
Try to watch movie within 1st 3days of release
Try to watch movie within 1st week of release
Watch movie at 2nd to 3rd week, after recommendation by friends
Watch movie after long time of release, when reviews & feedback become good
SOURCES OF INFORMATION REGARDING A MOVIE
Audiences were asked about the sources of information regarding a movie. This was an open-ended question & feedback was plotted in pie-chart form below.
PRINT MEDIA
TV CHANNELS
FM CHANNELS
MISC. SOURCES
WHAT IS THE REASON TO WATCH MOVIE AT A THEATRE OR ON TV OR CD/DVD?
During the survey this question was asked to the audience. This was an open- ended question & feedbacks is as noted below.
REASON TO WATCH MOVIE AT THEATRE
Good picture & sound quality at theatre.
Likes to enjoy movie with friends or loved ones which cant possible athome.
It’s possible to forget all the external pressure during that time.
It’s easy to be familiar with characters at big screen.
It’s a part of outing or get together.
Likes to watch film when it release.
Fewer disturbances.
REASON TO WATCH MOVIE ON TV
No investment of money.
No need to travel anywhere.
Movies can be enjoyed at favourable time.
REASON TO WATCH MOVIE ON CD/DVD
Less investment of money.
Can see a movie at favourable time.
Can pause or stop at any time.
Not too much shout like local theatres.
Repeat watch is possible.
A person can enjoy 5 movies only for Rs.25, then why will he invest Rs. 100 for a movie.
All family members can enjoy a pirated movie DVD at cost of less than Rs. 1 to watch a movie (assumed that, no. Of family members: 5 & DVD contains 5 movies at Rs. 25), so why price-sensitive people will invest Rs. 100 per head for a movie?
REASON FOR LESS WATCH OR NOT WATCH OF ENGLISH MOVIE
People were asked why they don’t watch or less watch English movie. This was an open-ended question & feedback regarding this question is noted below:
Cannot associate with characters or story
Use of too much technology cannot touch heart.
Language problem
Basic taste & preference is developed from childhood & till then peopleused to watch regional language film with guardians.
Social structure, culture is different in Bengal.
Less no. of theatres show English movie
No such promotional events like Bengali or Hindi movie
Frequency of publicity is very less.
Late release of English movie at India or Bengal: as a result pirated CD/DVD becomes available in market & due to this delay of interest toward the film falls down
Very good quality of Bengali films
Strong distribution chain of Bengali film producers
Films under banner of Venkatesh/ Surinder films release at more than200 theatres in WB
Venkatesh/ Surinder Films have built up their own distribution channel & made a strong rapport with theatre owners.
Piyali Films has also strong distribution chain with their loyal followers of theatre owners
Producers of Bengali movie are doing strong campaigning for Bengali movie in a regular way, which is destroying the market of Hindi/English movie.
Venkatesh / Surinder Films release their movie with their strong chain once after another with an avg. Life span of 3 months. Other producers cannot enter those theatres.
Producers of Bengali movie also produce serials in Bengali GEC channels & they use their channels for promotional purposes before release of the film.
Too much involvement into the fictional or non-fictional reality shows of TV. Even young generation is also watching Bengali GEC channels too much now a day. The TV industry is almost changed over 2.5 years after introduction of Star Jalsha.
In West Bengal there are 6 Bengali GEC (General Entertainment Category) channels:
Star Jalsha
ZEEBangla
E-TVBangla
Ruposhi Bangla
MohuaaBangla
Akash Bangla
(Arranged as highest rating to lowest rating, as per TAM report)
Name of some TV shows with outstanding TRP (TELEVISION RATING POINT):
Preference of channels by audiences regarding shows:
The young generation of multiplex cinema-going audience of Kolkata also follow Hindi GEC channels such as Star One and Colors.
Recommendations
This research project indicates that most of the respondents’ preference goes for Romantic movie & Comedy movie. Both genre are highly preferred by each & every segment and as well as overall market. Remembering this fact, to release Comedy or Romantic film in Kolkata market may be a wise decision.
Media plays a big role to promote a movie. Selection of proper media is highly recommended to promote a movie before its release at Kolkata.
Kolkata cinema market has a potential customer-base of English movie. To develop the market regular PR activity, organising of events before film release, press meet, interview of actors of movie is highly required. This will help to make a loyal English movie audience. It is highly recommended to target young audience of Kolkata & positioning of English movie among them. This may be a wise decision for future aspect, because basic taste & preference regarding movie develops during their school or college life.
Kolkata film market has a huge opportunity/ possibility for English movie. As there is no other corporate houses (i.e. Warner Brothers, Paramount, Disney) promoting English movie in Kolkata market, so there is big opportunity for SPE to capture the market. If this becomes possible, then SPE can enjoy first movers’ advantage.
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Cover pic credit: Anirban Mukherjee. At the extreme left is the author, seated along with the audience at the screening of his film Andar Kahini.
Our primary research on French spectators of Indian films was conducted nearly a decade ago: the ideal age for a first assessment. At present, although reception studies have begun taking hold in France, there are very few publications for the subject. Firstly, working on the audience-level reception is still not fashionable, and secondly, it is actually more restrictive, moving and gigantic than studying from pre-existing material (statistics, professional interviews, and the film object itself). Additionally, the subject seriously lacks visibility, at least with regards to quantity. Few Indian films find a release in France, and even less reach audiences beyond Indian and fan communities.
Reception study of foreign films is never far from postcolonial studies. While working on French spectators of Indian films in mainland France it is logical to face issues from other disciplines. Staszak reminds us that geographical imaginary is inseparable from colonialism and exoticism.[1]The Frenchcontextis not an exception to this rule, especially regarding, firstly, the non-existence of a French market for Indian films, and secondly, the particular spontaneous interest for Indian films (or Western films set in India) by French spectators.
In this paper, by ‘Indian films’, we mean ‘Indian production films exclusively’. We shall not discuss ‘co-productions’.
Spectator profiles
From a survey we had conducted from 2010 to 2013[2]focused on spectators of Bollywood films, three significant profiles in Indian film spectatorship are observed: spectators of Indian origin, the Bollywood fan community, and spectators of foreign origin. For the survey, 80% of the respondents were women and 68% were in between 15 to 40 years of age. If statistically women are overrepresented, in a way it refers to French spectatorship specificity in film theatres: women are more numerous than men. With reference to the participants’ age, even as French film theatres spectatorship is getting older, this specific population is younger: 35% for 15-25 years of age and 34% for 25-40 years of age. If we refer to the CNC survey conducted in October 2018, film theatres audience distribution is 20% for 15-24 years of age and 22% for 60 years of age and beyond.[3]
Bearing in mind that the aim is to develop a French spectatorship for Indian films gives a significant clue regarding our specific audience potential for the near future. It would be interesting, in another paper, to present their enthusiasm and reasons for watching Indian films although there is very little about Indian cinema that appeals to the popular French film market.
Kind of films being discussed in this paper
It is worth noting that in this survey a majority of the target audience watches only Bollywood and Kollywood films. Theirs is not a deliberate rejection. The reason is the mass unawareness of films of the other Indian regions /languages. Such ignorance is perfectly understandable. For, even in official releases, one only gets to hear of films of Bollywood and Kollywood productions. The same is true in the cases of pirated versions subtitled in French, of the legally streamed films in France, and of the legal copies available in French DVD stores. Occasionally, a French “generalist” distributor may release an Indian film such as Umrikaor Hotel Salvation. [By “generalist” here is meant “not focused on Indian productions.”] For a country with an annual release of more than 1500 films produced all over India, and not just in Mumbai or Chennai, this reveals a serious lack of intent.
Options for French spectators of Indian films in France
A spectator who wishes to watch an Indian film in France has a very limited scope if they do not understand English. The situation gets more bleak if they do not live in the Parisian area.[4] Around 30 Bollywood /Kollywood films are released in the French market every year. And they follow a similar pattern: a single screening (or, at times, 2-3 screenings on the weekend) in a few cities in France and daily screenings for a single week in Paris (some of these films are released only in Paris and sans French subtitles).
Subscription to a VoD service such as Netflix or Amazon Prime, who have been streaming Indian films with French subtitles since 2014 and 2016, respectively, is another option. However, no French subtitles are available for Indian films distributed by Eros International, which pioneered this streaming service way back in 2012. French spectators who crave to watch Indian films as soon as they are released wouldn’t want to subscribe to several VoD channels. Instead, they would prefer to buy or rent DVDs; this isn’t at all a good idea unless they chance to live in the Parisian area, for there would be no stores of this kind in their town. Furthermore, the pirated DVDs available in French markets are inferior in quality, and the French subtitles are sometimes not even understandable.
The remaining option is the pirated version available online. The Internet offers spectators the opportunity to watch the latest Bollywood films as well as quite a few Bollywood cult films, made available by fan communities, and with French subtitles. It also allows French spectators to enter a community where they may share films in a like-minded environment. (It must be mentioned here that French spectators of Indian films in France attract judgmental comments.)
Consequently, French spectators all over France are at least enabled to watch Indian films, get the latest updates on Indian films and film events, share views, and learn more about Indian culture. The language barrier too is fast disappearing with the availability of free subtitles created by volunteers. These fan communities are highly active and possess a huger catalogue than any other platform and are thus a truly warm and friendly place to discover Indian cinema. Of course, this is simply an observation and not a personal endorsement of piracy in any way.
It is also observed that, irrespective of the medium, a majority of the films in the catalogue are mainstream Bollywood, a few are mainstream Kollywood, and the exceptions are small-budget Hindi and Tamil films. In the rarest of rare cases, one comes across a film such as Fandry, a Marathi film by Nagraj Manjule (available on Netflix France). Sadly, since there isn’t any available publicity/literature, it is improbable that such films come to the notice of French spectators. Even in the cases when a French spectator is aware that Indian cinema is larger than these Bollywood /Kollywood blockbusters and wishes to watch Indian films of other regions /languages, they would have no access to these films. Furthermore, being curious about Indian cinema requires a certain kind of braveness.
The prevailing misconception in France, therefore, remains that mainstream Bollywood /Kollywood constitutes Indian cinema. And French people continue to know very little about India, and in particular, about contemporary India and contemporary Indian cinema.
To understand the primary cause of this belief, it is necessary to examine the psychology of a nation. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, knowledge of Indian cinema in France was almost zilch, but the term “Bollywood” was widely used as a synonym for films from India that were of an inferior quality – a kind of ‘illiterate and childish cinema’. Though a totally unfortunate and unfair tag, it says a lot about the subconscious refusal of the elitist French to legitimize a film industry that neither belonged to a Western storytelling tradition nor swore allegiance to Western culture supremacy, in particular, in the field of cinema. This denial by the French cultural intellectuals was in line with their tendency to consider their own culture as the torchbearer. It isn’t at all surprising then to read the following words from the write-up on the Hindi film Gangs of Wasseypur, published in the 2012 edition of a French magazine: “le cinéma indien entre dans sa phase adulte et américanisée” (“Indian cinema enters its adult and Americanized phase”).[5]
The subtle contradiction between ‘becoming an adult’ but ‘under the hegemony of American cinema’ expresses the arrogant position from where these words arise—a country proud of fighting American film industry hegemony around the world, and proud of its own ‘cultural exception’. The famous “exception culturelle” (1993), related to French politic in culture undoubtedly has very positive effects, but these effects disguise with difficulty a cultural protectionism towards not only the American film industry but all foreign cultures[6]. (In turn, it becomes a perfect twist in the use of CNC financial support to local production/distribution when these financial helps to produce/distribute foreign big budget mainstream films in the French market. This is another topic altogether.) The fact is that there is an invisible cultural barrier, and crossing the limit exposes one to a blame for cultural betrayal, and it is taken as a proof of poor taste and a lack of style. This won’t help French spectators to be brave and curious. I still remember my first presentation at a symposium. At the end of the Q&A, a professor came up to me and asked, anxiously, “My dear, you don’t really watch these films, do you?”
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Bibliography
Staszack,L’écran de l’exotisme. La place de Joséphine Baker dans le cinéma français, Annales de géographie, 2014, 1-2 (n°695-696)
Bianchi, Séminaire “Le Cinéma en situation”, Sorbonne nouvelle, Paris III, January 2012
Bianchi, Paradoxes d’une dynamique de la gratuité: les films populaires indiens en France et leurs publicsin Art & Culture, Le coût et la gratuité, tome 1, L’Harmattan, 2013
Cinema screening was revived last week in Anantnag when a local theatre [highlight background=”#f79126″ color=”#ffffff”]Heewan[/highlight]—they actually mean ‘Heavan’—welcomed a big batch of CRPF personnel as its first audience in more than three decades, to watch a screening of a Hindi film brought in from Jallundhar.
Until about one year ago, the same movie hall was the shelter for the same CRPF men, who had been posted to not only guard the premises but also use the building as a base to send out patrolling parties into the militant infested town.
In 1997, I had visited this theatre, curious to know the brand of the machine used in this theatre when it was operational. The projector room had been taken over by the gazette officer-in-charge, for use as his office-cum-bedroom.
This theatre when operational was the biggest movie hall in the Valley with a seating capacity of 525 seats. It was owned by a family member of Bakshi Ghulam Mohd, once the Chief Minister of the State, and had Dolby Sound and a CinemaScope screen.
I had to climb three floor levels to reach the projection room, where I discovered the small rewinding room with empty spools still lying around, and the main room, where a pair of Gaumont projectors were lying dead, still waiting for the arc rods to warm their belly. The cobwebs and dust everywhere were sufficient indication that the paramilitary had no intent to make this place permanent for themselves. It took nearly thirty years to prove their foresight.
My first foray into theaters in Kashmir was in 1956 at [highlight background=”#f79126″ color=”#ffffff”]The Regal[/highlight] near the Residency. I saw an English film. In Srinagar all movie halls screened their entertainment in four shows daily, the first one starting at around 11:30 A.M. with a break that coincided with the afternoon prayer. The intermission would be extended wisely, and then the second half of the film would proceed. All evening shows screened English films, except on Fridays when there would again be a lull for the Jumme kinamaaz.
Cinema came to Kashmir around 1932, on demand from the resident British families who would drive up from Sialkot, Multan, and other cantonments, for the summer season. The British also decided to locate a big cantonment in the suburb of Srinagar town to watch over the doings of the Maharaja of Kashmir, who they never trusted. The first movie hall to be constructed was The Regal, located near the British Residency. A contractor family was pushed into constructing and running the establishment. An Indian exhibitor from Amritsar offered advice on how to run the establishment. And a film distributor of Jallundhar was attached to feed this movie hall with films.
For the locals, it was [highlight background=”#f79126″ color=”#ffffff”]Palladium[/highlight] theatre in Lal Chowk that was most patronized. I saw my next film, a Hindi feature, here, sitting on a rickety wooden seat and sharing the odour of local traders. Palladium screened the latest films and it required moviegoers to get their tickets in advance to avoid disappointment. The Palladium management was also more defiant of the militants, and continued its operations until one fateful night when the militants arrived and burnt down the entire premises. After a couple of years, the front portion of the theatre came to be used as a Police Post and thereafter the CRPF made it a base to guard the Lal Chowk from protests.
The Valley of Kashmir had 19 cinema halls working in its peak business during the 1970s; nine of them were running in Srinagar and its suburbs. There were three halls in Anantnag, two in Baramula, and two in Sopore, and the rest were scattered in smaller towns. The Army had garrison movie theatres in Baramula and Sopore, appropriately named Thimayya and Zorawar, respectively.
The rise of militancy and Wahabism proved the undoing of the cinema trade in the Valley. The first to send out signals that cinema viewing was haraam were cadets of the Hizbul Majaahideen who circulated messages to theatre managements to stop the screenings of films in their halls. First, the English films disappeared, since they also had occasionally Jewish artists, then, Hindi films were slowly withdrawn. Some enterprising theatre managers even started screening smuggled Pakistani films, but to no avail. Then, the militants burnt down Palladium in Srinagar and Nishat in Anantnag, to send a firm message to Kashmiris: NO FILMS FOR YOU.
Cinema screenings in the Valley closed down totally by 1992. In fact, film shooting also came to a close in Kashmir Valley. This lasted till 1998, when Faroukh Abdullah, Chief Minister of J&K, went to Mumbai requesting for the return of film companies to the Valley. A Telugu film unit from Hyderabad made the beginning. They came, did a guerrilla shoot of a film song, and returned before the militants could even know that they had visited the place!
Once the film shows were closed, the exhibitors waited for a signal to return to business, but when none came, all the property holders began to look for alternate activities to put these premises to an alternate use.
Theaters in the Valley such as Heewan, [highlight background=”#f79126″ color=”#ffffff”]Samad, Shiraz,[/highlight] and Neelam were offered to the security forces to convert the premises into camps. That ensured the physical safety of the infrastructures and an assured return as rents from the State.[highlight background=”#f79126″ color=”#ffffff”]Khayyam[/highlight] in Nowpura was converted into a temporary hospital. [highlight background=”#f79126″ color=”#ffffff”]Neelam,[/highlight] located behind the Srinagar State Secretariat, offered to screen films provided the State posted a large police contingent to avoid a militant’s protest. The State posted a police post and Neelam continued to screen single afternoon shows for the better period of the social ban, but the theater still observed the occasional calls of hartal, which is endemic in the Valley.
The Valley eventually began to realize that post-1990 a new generation was born that had never been to a movie hall. Video piracy bloomed. The age of viewing films by streaming on laptops also commenced. The elders would talk of seeing films during their youth. And Doordarshan screened films periodically, which were no fun because of the frequent power breaks in homes. The charm of social gatherings to see films had disappeared. The more enterprising ones began to hire taxis to travel to Jammu and Udhampur to see their favourite films. Women would occasionally hire a busload of their friends for such outings. The new National Highway Bypass, which reduced the travel time between Jammu and Srinagar by nearly two hours, also led to the rise of the taxi shuttles between the two towns, solely to ferry cinema patrons.
One enterprising Srinagar businessman, Vijay Dhar, son of D.P Dhar of yore, who had a hotel business in Srinagar, decided to restart cinema screenings in town. He started the [highlight background=”#f79126″ color=”#ffffff”]Broadway[/highlight] theatre, but found his audience disappear often because of the many hartals that were announced. After running the theatre for three years, he closed it down and converted it into an assembly hall for weddings. Dhar is presently planning to return as a movie exhibitor, now that PM Narendra Modi has urged for the return of film screenings in the Valley. In a way, this asserts that normalcy is returning to the Valley. But more than that, the return of Bollywood would also help in the return of Indian tourism. No one has forgotten how in 1965 when Kashmir Ki Kali was released nation wide, the Valley was swamped by tourists keen to explore this part of the country. The people of Kashmir had found a new vocation for themselves, and supporting film shootings was just one of them.
Adding to the call to bring cinema back to the Kashmir Valley are actors like Salman Khan, who stayed in the Valley during 2015 for a long duration to film Bajrangi Bhaijan. Kashmiri Pandit Vidhu Vinod Chopra too has endorsed Salman’s appeal. But the doors of the old premises are still closed.
Permanently closed will be the doors of such old favourite centers of gatherings such as [highlight background=”#f79126″ color=”#ffffff”]Firdouz, Shah, Kapra, Regina and Naaz[/highlight]; names that spelt entertainment; whose owners not only brought down the shutters but also the physical structures, and had them replaced with solid investments that sustained their respective families.
There is a move now in the State government to offer soft loans to any experienced enterprise that is willing to restart the business of cinema screenings In the Valley. All are still waiting and closely watching how the resident militants of the Valley react to the latest call of the State Government to revive cinema in the Valley.
Even two brazen entrepreneurs will do for a beginning!
Few would know that once upon a time Lucknow also featured on the map of India as a centre of film production.
Cinema came to Lucknow via Calcutta. The railway line of the East India Railways (EIR) traversed from Howrah, to Allahabad, to Agra and ended at Ambala. On this route there was much traffic of Englishmen moving into Punjab, of Bengali lower middle class moving into Punjab seeking jobs and the rich Bengali bhadralok venturing into Oudh for holidays and trade.
Lucknow was the centre for most of the Zamindaars (land owning gentry) whose wards were being sent abroad for higher education. The presence of the cantonment also suggested the presence of an army contingent . Lucknow had prosperity, youth and culture. Therefore when some people started constructing new cinema halls, there were others who dreamt of making films, and so this had to happen.
The wherewithal for film production came from the Bengali film makers who were scouting for funds for making new films. It was the time when silent films were being made and there was no language barriers. These silent films could be taken to any part of the world and shown on rent or sold outright.
Around 1922, some young scions of the landowning class decided to create a film cooperative to produce films. The production group was registered as Zamindara Film Company . This film company made two films and then closed down business.
In 1927, another set of businessmen created a new company for producing films and established a film production centre on modern lines. This was called the Kailash Studio which was located on a big plot of land opposite the Burlington Hotel in Hussainganj. Kailash Studio ran its business for nearly nine years and made five films. The later famed music composer, Naushad Ali, was also employed here briefly as an assistant table player for the Studio orchestra before he moved to the local All India Radio and finally moved to Bombay to join the crowd of youth seeking a career in the film business.
The closure of Kailash Studio sometime in 1934 finally also put an end to Lucknow being associated with film production. But film exhibition business flourished. From early 1950s Lucknow began to offer artists to the Hindi film industry starting with Naushad Ali, Pushpa Hans, Bina Rai, Sunil Dutt (he lived in Aminabad) Jaan Nisar Akhtar, Muzaffar Ali, Sudhir Misra, and Anupam Kher who worked in Bhartendu Academy for a couple of years.
It was Dilip Kumar who felt that Uttar Pradesh should have a film production centre and he applied for a piece of agricultural land in 1961, to develop a film studio. The State government allotted a piece of land in Mohan Nagar area but Dilip Kumar could not develop this idea and returned the land to the government. Sunil Dutt and Nargis followed the same route and then gave up the idea. All felt this business could not be run sitting in Bombay. Again in 1976, when Narain Dutt Tiwari was the CM, a scheme to bring industries into UP was conceived and NOIDA was planned. A full sector was earmarked for allotting plots to film and television operators. Some Bombay film producers were asked to buy some plots and start offering studio facilities. While film production did not take off, but when television activity came into being in 1983 after the Asian Games, NOIDA sprang into big activity in film crafts.
It was Muzaffar Ali when he started his film Gaman (1979) and Aagaman that UP began to be talked of as a possible place to shoot outdoor scenes of rural countryside. A major portion of the Shyam Benegal film Junoon (1979) was shot in Malihabad in the suburb of Lucknow. Ismail Merchant made his film Shakespearewala partly in Lucknow. Film Ghadar was also filmed in Lucknow.
Besides Lucknow, the other town which began to see visits of film crews from parts of India and even abroad, was Agra. Ismail Merchant again shot a portion of his colour film Guru in Varanasi.
Uttar Pradesh got special attention finally when Mulayam Singh became the Chief Minister for the first time with his political friend Amar Singh in tow.
Amar Singh had friends in Mumbai who wanted a new friendly film policy to be created in UP. This film policy was announced in the year 1999 which provided for big subsidy as incentives to film makers when they made films in UP and in Hindi. A series of small budget films are made and the promise of film subsidies was kept. This encouraged the bigger film producers to also move in. Today Uttar Pradesh is the back ground for over fifty film titles under production and another three dozen projects are in various stages of approval. UP which was once considered too dangerous a place for film folks to visit for promotional appearances or film shooting, is now bristling with film activity. A Rekha may still create a public stampede, but lesser artists can freely face the camera unmindful of interference by onlookers, who now appreciate the value of “silence” call from the film director at work.
All this has led to some reduction in pressure of work in the indoor studies in Mumbai. But Uttar Pradesh is now threatening to provide more incentives of hassle free studio facilities and strike free environment to film production companies.
The situation in Mumbai for film makers is riddled with artist labour union directives which make it expensive for any film startup to meet the demands. The Shiv Sena managed unions behave in a dictatorial manner, threatening closure of film project if they did not approve of the nationality of the artist. UP has no hiccups on this issue.
With the development of a new language cinema in Bhojpuri language, Varanasi has now emerged as a regular film shooting centre alternate to Mumbai and its neighbourhood. And with the return of Haryanavi language cinema, Meerut region is again a thriving film business centre which is seeing a regular film cassette business running at least into Rs 100 crore. An occasional film production team can also be seen making films in the local language. As for Lucknow, its air connectivity directly by air and rail and the development of good hotels for the stay of lesser stars, has helped big film production companies to anchor themselves in Lucknow and complete their projects at half the cost if the same were done in Mumbai.
How attractive has Uttar Pradesh become for film producers? A film producer who shots his film in UP can now see a subsidy offer upto Rs 2 crore which for a small film company be half the production cost. He gets an incentive of Rs 25 lakhs if the film employs five local artists, another Rs 50 lakhs if all the artists are from the State. This could mean that an astute film maker can get the State of UP fund upto 70 percent of the film production cost. Cities like Kanpur, Lucknow, Dehra Doon(Uttrakhand), Allahabad, Varanasi, Aligarh can offer fairly good class of acting talent to film companies and NOIDA has package deals in post production work. Mumbai can be given a farewell to visit for business if it comes to the crunch.
But there is a track two story of cinema in Uttar Pradesh. This is the work done by the government away from the film world of Bombay.
Beginning from 1947, as soon as the country attained its independence, the govt of United Provinces established its Department of Information. It also employed one Laxmi Kant Shukla, a former production manager from Bombay Talkies Production studios of Bombay to revamp the department. The UP dept of Information in the 1950s had two ‘star’ employees, Suresh Nigam and Sarla Sahni.
Nigam had joined the State department after doing a stint in the film studios of Bombay. As for Sarla Sahni, she had been briefly a protégée of the famous documentary film maker from Germany Leni Riefenstahl when the German lady was held back in France facing charges of Nazi collaboration during 1948-55.
Sarla Sahni took some of feisty dust from her German guru and was well known in the UP official circles as the ‘pants- officer’. It was Sarla Shni who pulled the first film crews from Bombay to come and use the countryside for their productions.
It was in her time that the Uttar Pradesh Film Development Corporation was established to promote films made in UP by film producers and also to show them on cinema theatres run by this Corporation. Unfortunately this experiment failed miserably because no one had learnt in the government how the film trade operated. There were also many cases of fund embezzlements. In 2000 the ‘Film Bandhu’ office was opened to implement the new State film policy.
Till date this State level corporation has supported over fifty film productions and is considered a success story in the context of UP government ‘culture’. Film production companies are no more afraid to come to Lucknow and Varanasi to make films which have a mix of small town and rural backgrounds. Successful films like Bareilly Ki Barfi, Toilet:Ek Prem Katha, Bahen Hogi Teri, Mukti Bhavan, Masaan, Bunty Aur Bubly, Tannu Weds Manu, Dedh Ishquiyaa, Jolly LLB, Raid, Youngistaan, are some examples of films which were made in several parts of the State. There are at least another 36 titles awaiting scrutiny because they involve State subsidies.
Lucknow in the past was identified by Oudh culture of good tehzeeb (manners) as seen in films like Mere Mehboob, Chaudhveen Ka Chand, Ghazal, Gomti Ke Kinare, Benazir, Shatranj Ke Khilari, Junoon, Umrao Jan, Umrao Jan Ada and more. The old time faded away as the culture regressed into the old bricks of the city. Modern Lucknow took its place, and has not lost any of its glint.
s future custodians of our grand heritage. I have the satisfaction of being a part of a campaign that recently planted the seed of an international film festival in an important yet long-neglected region that is presently once again contributing much to the universe of cinema. The future of heritage rests with how well our youths have been exposed to and educated on it; thus, it is immensely pleasurable to witness a sizeable increase in the number of student delegates at film festivals all over the country. It is reassuring to see the resurgence of an appreciation of good cinema by the passionate new generation.
The 80s and 90s witnessed actors such as Nana Patekar and Sunny Deol donning the role of the saviors of the motherland—Krantiveer, Kohraam, Border, Gadar. Aamir Khan et al roused patriotism in Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India as a team of village cricketers playing what passes off as a mental war of sorts, a tense match, against their British rulers. In recent times, films in this genre—Rustom, Baby, Naam Shabaana, Satyamev Jayate, Parmaanu, Uri: The Surgical Strike—have ensured actors Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, and Vicky Kaushal a major soar in their popularity.
With more avenues to cover costs available and top stars willing to experiment, filmmakers have greater independence in treating the subject. Rang De Basanti used an interesting sub-plot that saw audiences relate to the flawed but eager-to-reform characters led by Aamir Khan. A tragedy triggers the activists within them and the holier-than-thou representation of central characters was avoided. Though predictable, Chak De India kept audiences engaged as Shah Rukh Khan delivered a thoroughly controlled performance of a hockey coach redeeming himself with purposeful resilience. Baby saw an understated performance from Akshay Kumar. The restraint kept the performance real.
TV CHANNELS
The young generation of multiplex cinema-going audience of Kolkata also follow Hindi GEC channels such as Star One and Colors.
