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the 2009 Wharton India economic Forum
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titled India the road ahead took place
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in Philadelphia and brought together
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CEOs of leading Indian companies
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investors heads of nonprofit
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organizations Sports celebrities and
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Bollywood stars to discuss where India
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is headed in an age of economic
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uncertainty Indian knowledge at Wharton
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brings you one-on-one conversations with
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these leaders abish thank you so much
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for joining us today my pleasure let's
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start with a question about the fact
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that you come from a family where your
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dad and your mom have both been in the
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film industry for quite a long time uh
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how do you think the industry has
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changed uh from what it was in their day
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to what it is now especially on the
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business side oh vastly I think um
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there's a drastic difference between the
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industry in the in the ' 70s which is
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predominantly when my parents started
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working and uh now in 2009 I think it's
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become far more professional in uh
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approach and execution um how so
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um I think we had a very familial
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approach to our film making um in the
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past which is very representative of the
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kind of culture that we come from uh
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Indians are very uh uh family oriented
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and um that reflected itself in in the
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way we work as well and um I think what
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has happened with this new generation of
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of filmmakers and actors that has
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communist they've brought in a a greater
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sense of responsibility towards the
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professionalism of movie making um there
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are pros and cons to that but um I think
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in general it's it's it's we're moving
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the right direction uh at the end of the
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day it is um a commercial medium uh
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people pay a ticket so I think uh it
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only best that we do become more
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professional uh films are being made
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more efficiently uh they are funded uh
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through the right channels and um I
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think that would be the one major
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difference between uh the films of the
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past and the films today um your crews
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are changing the far more professional
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um actors are more well trained and
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prepared to do what they want actors
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also focusing predominantly on one film
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at a time as opposed to um in the past
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when um including me I mean when I first
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started off there there was a point of
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time I was doing 15 movies at the same
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time wow whereas now I shoot one film
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finish it and move on to the next right
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um so I think all in all um the film
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making as uh an Enterprise has become
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more efficient and professional so I
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think that would be the the greatest
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change you know your work on the
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creative side is very well known on the
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screen uh are you involved in the
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business side uh at all if you if so can
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you give us a sense of what's your invol
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my family has a a production house
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called AB cop and um we're currently
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producing a film which stars my father
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and me called pa um so I do look into
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the production aspect of it as well I
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also
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feel that uh today's actor is far more
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involved in the production aspect of
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film making than um just coming there
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and doing his job and leaving I think
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there's a lot more
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involvement so give me a sense of the
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kind of business skills that you might
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bring to bed on the commercial
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side um that would be tough to Define
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because it's weird although it is a
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business it is a creative business um so
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there aren't any hard and fast rules to
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uh to anything um apart from the fact
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that um you have a product which you're
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making which is a movie uh you have a
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budget set aside for it you have to
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bring in that product within that budget
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in a set period of time
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um you have your financing in place your
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distribution your exhibition uh these
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are all fixed in a sense um but where do
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you draw the line um in being
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professional in the sense um if you
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reach the end of a day's work and you
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haven't managed to can the amount of
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scenes that you need to does that mean
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the scene that was left out is just left
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out no you have to shoot that um so
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there's certain creative decisions how
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much time do you give a director to
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shoot a scene um you know if you have
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only if your um assistants your
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direction assistants have only uh
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planned for say 20 shots in a day and he
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ends up on the Trot wanting to take five
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extra shots do you not allow him to do
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that uh so these are creative decisions
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that needs to be taken on the spot so it
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does blur the lines a lot uh but um all
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in all I think um it
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is it is a very demanding thing to to
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bring it and make it more into a
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Machinery when knowing that it is also a
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creative field
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right actually one specific example
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might be let's say uh you have a
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production company as you said you get
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pitched ideas and stories all the time
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or even scripts perhaps how do you look
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at a script to see you might like the
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story but is this a winner of a movie
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how could you take me through the
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thought process of how you evaluate um I
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don't know any actor director producer
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or any film technician that knows which
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film is definitely going to work uh if
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we did we'd only be making successful
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films um we work in the industry which
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has a success ratio of I think at last
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count
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8% um you have to understand that you're
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dealing with the choices and the mood of
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an audience which is completely alien to
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the process of film making um you put in
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a lot of hard work heart and soul into a
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film and that that film is judged by an
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audience which has no emotional equation
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with your product uh they come in having
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spent hard earned money to buy a ticket
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to buy their popcorn and um they want to
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be entertained what you think might be
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entertaining for them they might not
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agree with so um how do you go about
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choosing a script I think you have to
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then go back and lean on your instinct
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which is what kind of film do you want
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to be a part of what kind of film do you
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want to uh make and what kind of film do
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you want what kind of story do you want
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to tell uh for me personally whenever I
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get a script to act in for example um
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the process is very simple you know you
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hear the story if it touches you if it
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inspires you to work you go ahead and do
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it cuz you really don't know what the
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outcome is going to be uh so you have to
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be part of a film which you think um
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will work uh as per your standards as a
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producer it's slightly different um
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because you get
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to allocate funds for a particular film
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there might be a film which might be off
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the beaten paath um might not seem to
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have all the ingredients people perceive
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to have in a in a commercial Indian film
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um which one would probably today could
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green light because if they felt it was
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would be made in a very uh very tight
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budget um I think today what's wonderful
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is because our exhibition circuit has
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suddenly just just blossomed um a lot of
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different smaller budgeted films are
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getting the opportunity to be seen so
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for example if there was a story which I
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felt was was very nice and unique and
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novel and something new uh but a bit
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risky possibly um um I would probably
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consider making it if it was made on a
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really Sho string budget cuz that would
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then ensure that I could make that film
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into a success so what would be an
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example of something like
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that
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um I did um a regional film about four
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years ago in Bengali called an mahel
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which was directed by a very renowned
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director from Kolkata called Ru pagos um
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anal was made for 1 CR um which is a lot
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lower than the films I'm usually used to
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to making um obviously you know the
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artists you take um understand the
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intention behind making the film the
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budget so you obviously don't end up
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paying them that kind of money and uh
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for their creative satisfaction I guess
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they do take a a a huge uh cut on their
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paycheck and um if I had made that movie
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in in 20 crw uh there was no way I could
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have made that film a success but having
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made it in one CR and being a Bengali
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film and having certain parameters to it
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uh which make it um more difficult to
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distribute to a pan uh India audience I
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think um having made it in one cow we we
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managed to make a success we made money
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out of it um but had we made it in in 20
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crw there was there was no chance for it
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uh conversely um I did a film called
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um dostana last year uh which released
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in November and uh that film was at a
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budget of 35 cres and um but that was in
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Hindi um we had very popular stars in it
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um it was a slightly um risky subject to
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make but um we tried to ensure that we
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covered all the other bases and went on
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to do great business um how well did it
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do it um I think I'm not sure of the
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exact worldwide uh gross but I think it
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was somewhere close to 9200 crores gross
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yeah now if you sense a tension between
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the creative side and the business side
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how do you resolve it you choose the
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creative I think that's the best way to
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resolve it um I think most uh producers
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and directors and actors would would
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agree with me because people do realize
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at the end of the day it is it is a
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creative Medium as well and um um that
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has to be given Prime importance uh I
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don't think anybody would do anything to
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compromise the quality of a film um
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obviously within reason I mean if uh if
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suddenly your director turns around and
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says I'm going to shoot a war scene and
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I want 100,000 people uh that's
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obviously not going to fit into your
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budget and you're going to ask them to
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try and um shoot around that but usually
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people don't make such absurd demands um
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but usually the weightage is given to
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the creative side how is globalization
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changing the Indian film industry and by
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that I mean a couple of things one is
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the increasing demand for Indian films
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not just within India but globally and
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and the greater attention that is being
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paid now to Indian films secondly also
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the F the fact that a number of
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international uh financiers are are
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funding Indian films and studios are
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getting
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involved how how is the landscape
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changing because of that well I think
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that was just bound to happen it was a
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matter of time
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um I don't think it's happening because
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they enjoy our films uh to answer the
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second part of your question where you
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said a lot of uh Studios from America
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are starting to do a lot of joint
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ventures in India it's got nothing to do
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with the kind of films we make I think
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it's got to do with the numbers uh
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you're talking about a country which has
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a population of over a billion people
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who religiously watch a movie um you
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know possibly more than once a week and
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um you can't um run away from those
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figures that's huge um Indian film
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industry is the largest film industry in
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the world we make over a thousand films
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a year um we still sell the most amount
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of tickets in the world um more than
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more than Hollywood or any other film
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industry
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um so I think those are figures you
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really can't ignore um the fact of the
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matter also which will attract Studios
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from Hollywood to India is I think the
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most expensive film ever made in India
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was costs 50 60 crores which in today's
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day and age would be just around $10
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million or slightly about 10 or 12
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million which is possibly one of the
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smallest budgets they can make for a big
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for for a studio so um the Returns on
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that are huge so I I think it just it's
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common sense and it's good business um
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obviously they're going to get attracted
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to it um so they have come into India
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they have um done a lot of joint
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ventures with with local production
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houses and made certain films they've
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had a rocky start I think it's going to
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take them time to understand um the
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Indian film industry and the Indian
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pallet um but I think they will get
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there um I think it's it's wonderful
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because you're broadening your horizons
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you're accepting another film industry
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and uh you know dipping into a larger
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creative pool to choose from so how has
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the landscape changed um back in India I
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think um there's a lot of optimism in
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the air I think um
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currently because of a lot of Indian
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films getting some notice abroad um and
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uh a lot of Indian technicians being
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recognized especially in the past year
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um I think the world that does not know
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our film industry is waking up to the
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film industry seeing the opportunities
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and the talent that lies there and I
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hope um the optimism is because people
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now feel that they can borrow um from uh
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each industry I hope a lot of Western
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Talent comes to India and works in India
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and uh conversely I hope a lot of Indian
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Talent growes abroad and works there as
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well do you think there'll be a sort of
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Slum Dog Millionaire impact or effect on
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the both Indian and Western film
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Industries yes I think what um well to
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set the record straight Slum Dog is is
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not an Indian film um which I don't know
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why a lot of people seem to think it is
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it's um an American film directed by
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British director yes it's got uh a
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global yeah it's got It's got an Indian
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starcast um I I I've been saying this
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for a long time I mean Hollywood goes
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and makes films in in in Italy that
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doesn't make that film an Italian film
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um but what's nice is that
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um it has employed a lot of Indian
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Talent which has gone on to prove its
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its worth on a global platform um that I
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think has you know really woken up the
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world to Indian talent and um has helped
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people realize the kind of talent that
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lies in India and I think there will be
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more um films made in which a lot more
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Indian Talent will be
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employed right uh you know in addition
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to globalization the other thing that is
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changing uh the film industry I think is
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technology M uh could you speak a little
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bit about how you see uh you know the
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use of uh the internet for example and
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what kind of intellectual property
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challenges the film industry is facing
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because of that and how do you how how
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do you think should be those issues
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should be dealt with well I think those
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things have to be dealt with on a
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governmental level um the I I would
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think one of the biggest problems our
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film industry faces today is
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piracy
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um I think in the west they've done a
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wonderful job at curbing piracy um
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are I'm not exactly sure but if I
00:15:03
remember
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correctly close to 40 to
00:15:08
50% is the amount we lose to piracy in
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our Revenue that's huge I think in the
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west they lose one or
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2% I to take a very specific example
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when doana was released there were
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websites that had the entire movie that
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you could watch for free yeah it was up
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on YouTube as well um like said there's
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very little we as as an industry can do
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if we don't have the backing of of of
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our government uh currently um I know
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there have been a lot of
00:15:38
attempts um by certain members of
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parliament to make piracy laws more
00:15:43
stringent and uh stricter but uh it it
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really isn't isn't helping and um I
00:15:49
really think we need to crack down upon
00:15:50
that uh cuz once you do that then it
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does have a ripple effect all the way
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down has your production company any
00:15:57
done done any deals with International
00:15:59
Studios and so forth no no why not
00:16:04
um we're currently only producing one
00:16:07
film um that's the way uh we wanted to
00:16:10
start we wanted to start off small um
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and um make a few films build up a bank
00:16:17
and then see where it leads us uh also
00:16:19
secondly I don't there really hasn't
00:16:20
been the need to tie up with any
00:16:22
International Studios cuz um as of right
00:16:25
now with the kind of films we're making
00:16:26
we don't really see the need for that um
00:16:29
as in when and if we do U what is
00:16:31
wonderful is today those Avenues are
00:16:33
open for us to to explore an opportunity
00:16:36
like that there have been a lot of
00:16:37
inquiries yes but uh uh we haven't
00:16:40
really thought it
00:16:43
um important as of right now to to do
00:16:46
something like that but I'm sure if in
00:16:48
the future we feel there is something
00:16:50
which we require their expertise and
00:16:52
something that we feel we will not be
00:16:53
able to fulfill I'm sure we can look
00:16:55
into something like that looking to the
00:16:58
future of the film industry you feel
00:16:59
that uh there will come a time when uh
00:17:03
the movie industry will require MBA
00:17:05
students for example we have a lot of
00:17:07
MBA students right now
00:17:08
actually one last question um yeah I I
00:17:11
think um there are a lot of them now
00:17:14
with with corporate with the you know
00:17:16
the corporates moving into into the film
00:17:18
industry over the last 5 to 10 years
00:17:20
with bank funding coming into the film
00:17:22
industry over the last decade I think um
00:17:25
like I said there's a more professional
00:17:26
approach so yes it's not very far away
00:17:28
where you you'll have a studio head who
00:17:30
who will be possibly a Wen graduate one
00:17:33
last question uh how do you define
00:17:40
success it's weird actually for an actor
00:17:43
it comes in two parts one obviously if a
00:17:46
film does well uh at the box office uh
00:17:49
that's success but plus um I think
00:17:51
because we are we we the creative side
00:17:54
in us also needs uh a lot of attention I
00:17:57
think it it would be just being happy
00:17:58
doing what you're doing um I I'd hate to
00:18:00
make a successful film if I wasn't proud
00:18:02
of it uh and I would have done it
00:18:04
because I knew um you know it would be
00:18:06
just successful but the actor and me
00:18:09
wouldn't be satisfied with the work I
00:18:10
was doing so it is it is a double Ed
00:18:13
sword so I think just just be happy with
00:18:15
what you're
00:18:26
doing
