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Tag: English Vinglish

  • Long before a film hits releases, its producers strike lucrative deals with TV channels. But what really happens after a film is sold to a channel?

    Big to small screen: Who benefits the most?

     

    By Kshama Rao

    with inputs from Ananya Saha

     

    When Sridevi’s English lessons premiered on Zee Cinema, the channel organized a press meet, probably the first time for a television premiere. Viewers eagerly awaited the arrival of Shashi Godbole in their living rooms. One of them, 67-year-old Shailaja Velankar, told her family to not bother her with housework or unnecessary phone calls during the film’s telecast. “I couldn’t watch the film in a theatre though most of my friends saw it,” she rues, adding, “Old age and weak knees make it impossible to go to a theatre these days. I normally don’t get excited by a movie screening but I heard and read good things about the film and Sridevi’s performance, so had to watch it.”

     

    Today, movie channels bring the best of Bollywood, Hollywood and dubbed south Indian films into our drawing rooms. Long before a film hits the theatres, its producers strike lucrative satellite deals with channels. Sometimes a producer sells one film or three (called a bouquet) at a time for a great fee and in all probability recovers most of his investment though these days channels prefer to wait and watch the film’s performance at the box-office before signing on the dotted line. Says an industry insider, a Zee TV-UTV deal on Joker, Barfi! and Heroine fell through when the former wanted to renegotiate after Joker’s damp b-o performance. Result: while they had to honour their commitment to airing Joker, they had to let go of Barfi! and Heroine. Today, satellite rights are an integral part of movie-selling and according to industry sources, big production houses have already begun to do away with liaising agencies and middlemen as they cut deals directly with the channels that benefit both the parties. “The idea is to sell three small films on the strength of one big film. For instance, a big ticket, big star film helps a production house to sell their smaller, average-business films too at a decent price,” says a source.

     

    Meanwhile, what happens after a film is sold to a channel? For how many years can a channel run it and milk it to its maximum? What are the dos and don’ts a channel follows after it buys a film? And what happens when the law of diminishing returns work, when a film dips after repeated airings? Vivek Sethi, Director, Primetime Communications noted, “The network buys a movie simply from commercial aspect. The channels acquire movies knowing well how much they can milk it for the network. They usually show it till the ratings keep pouring in. Filmy, as a channel, might not be doing good but as soon as Khosla Ka Ghosla is shown, ratings do shoot up.”

     

    A film is generally acquired for three to five years though Zee TV doesn’t settle for a contract anywhere between seven to 60 years. Once the film is sold, it can be run as many times as the channel wants it too. Says Neeraj Vyas, Executive Vice President and Business Head, Max and Sony Mix, “Well, the idea is to preserve the movie for the longest time possible once you acquire it. You need to know the market well, your viewership well enough to not kill a movie. No one repeats their movies in shorter intervals. The idea is to always increase the life span of a movie you have paid for so dearly and keep the library alive and kicking.

     

    “Movies like Ghajini and Jab We Met are great for TV but because they were sold across networks and shown repeatedly, their value did decrease as also it affected the ratings. Though we are extremely buoyant and bullish about the ratings we will get for Rowdy Rathore. It’s been a few weeks we haven’t got the TRPs but when we do, we are it would set a new record on TV.”

     

    Mr Vyas says the deal is always done for the network and not necessarily the movies-only channel, SET Max. “You acquire it for your network. It can then premiere on either Sony or Max. You have to gauge the market of a film, its potential and schedule it accordingly like putting it up around a big occasion, a festival etc.” Or when a rival channel is launching a new show? For instance, tonight as EV plays on Zee Cinema, the fifth edition of Nach Baliye launches on Star Plus. A media planner not wishing to be named said, “Colors or other GEC’s if they have decided to buy inventory, they typically think of GRPs. If I am number one channel, then i am claim in the market that i am number one, and give me the rights. Secondly, typically if a low-budget movie was shown on more than one channel of a group like a Zee and then Zee Movies, then they get a group advantage.”

     

    Says Jayantilal Gada, CMD, Pen India Pvt Ltd (the exclusive agency for Zee Network movie business), “The reason we picked up English Vinglish is because we were confident of the film, the content is just right for our channel. It has the potential to draw in the audience even after seven years! Two hundred films release in Bollywood every year. Out of those, 40 are pre-sold and 160 after its release depending on how they have fared at the box-office. The deals vary from film to film, no one formula applies to all. Before we buy a film, we consider three factors, the set-up, the release date of the film in theatres and the approximate time when we will get the film to run. Earlier, we had to wait for at least a year or two after its release to show it on TV but these days within months we get it. A lot has changed in the satellite rights business in the last 20 years. Today, for instance, a Salman Khan film sees not a 10 or 20 per cent rise in the pricing but a 100 per cent hike!”

     

    He adds, “With Zee, we are sure we don’t want any adult films as we have always been a family channel. Also, a premiere is always on Zee Cinema, our movie channel, and not Zee, our GEC.” But wasn’t the Hrithik Roshan-starrer Agneepath which premiered a few months ago on Zee Cinema too violent for the taste of a family audience? “Well, Sholay when it was released in 1975 was considered violent and Agneepath is today’s Sholay!”

     

    Mr Gada says while the presence of a film star may be crucial for its opening weekend, on TV there are no such worries. “The content is important. For instance, Ajay Devgn’s Singham will do better than his Rascals or an Ek Tha Tiger might bring in more ratings than a Bodyguard. A 3 Idiots never fails to get the audience. The initial rating is important but woh film agli baar kitna rating laayegi doesn’t really matter.”

     

    Which genres work better? Which stars are the audience-pullers? Looking at what’s played today ad nauseam – be it Ready, Rowdy Rathore, Dabangg, Singham, Golmaal, 3 Idiots, it looks like comedy and action work better. “Absolutely! Comedy and action fare extremely well. Salman is right up there though everyone is stacked up more or less the same way on the movie charts. The idea is to pick popular films. Having said that, a Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara may have been critically acclaimed and done well in the theatres but it has not done necessarily well on TV because the ratings come in largely from the people in the interiors and they may not identify with the sensibility of the movie. A Rowdy Rathore, for instance, is expected to cut across all markets, especially the interiors,” says Mr Vyas.

     

    Even adult films are a no-no. Says a source wryly, “Actually, except for the Bhatts and Balaji Telefilms, the no-showing of adult films makes no difference to any producer! The Dirty Picture had to suffer severely, first when its premiere was called off by Sony and later when it showed but with massive cuts! The I & B Ministry and the Censor Board are working towards making it mandatory for adult films to be shown after 11 pm and if that happens, then the channel might as well not touch the movie!”

     

    Coming to dubbed films, the channels say that they are largely used as fillers. “They are not the TRP drivers. If you get the feeling that movies like Don No 1, The Super Khiladi, Tapori Wanted, Pratighat The Revenge, which is the original Rowdy Rathore, are being repeatedly shown then it’s because south films more or less follow the same template of maar-dhaad and blood-curdling violence. And the dubbed lines which sound extremely funny are actually a hit with children!” says a channel spokesperson on the condition of anonymity.

     

    Last but not the least, what’s the deal with the sponsors? Is it just for the premiere and is a new deal struck every time a movie is aired? Says Mr Vyas, “Deals keep changing with every movie, every run. If the sponsors have tied up only for the premiere, then there is a premium to pay but if it’s a package of other activities on the channel they have signed up for, then it’s a different deal.”

     

    “If as an advertiser, the movie has relevance to my target audience or brand ambassadors like a Katrina Kaif or Hrithik Roshan, they will definitely advertise no matter on which channel it is airing. Secondly, the FMCG has to put money on the big movies being aired because it is competition to them. So there is no additional incremental rate for that. Usually the channels set a benchmark, for example Rs 20-30,000 for a 10-second spot in English Vinglish and Rs 1-1.25 lakh for Dabanng, apart from sponsorship and associate sponsorships. They definitely get their revenues. They might get higher revenue for a Dabanng compared to English Vinglish because of the star cast, and also because movies like Dabanng do well in the North belt,” noted another Delhi-based media planner. All said and done, movies on TV keep everyone happy – the producer who recovers part of his investment, the channel who fetches ratings and a bit of ‘glamour’ as it picks exclusive films, and the viewer who need not watch all the films in the theatre any more, given the expensive movie tickets and rising F & B costs.

     

    Says a source, who brokers deals between channels and producers, “Today channels have deeper pockets. Earlier this year, Star TV bought 500 titles from the Colors library for Rs 400 crore! It was a win-win situation as Star got some great films while Colors got Star to monetize some of its content and ease its debts.” Now with Star TV picking up Dabangg 2 for a reported Rs 35-40 crore and Kamal Haasan looking at releasing his bi-lingual 90-crore magnum opus Vishwaroopam on DTH first, things are only looking brighter and bigger for the satellite TV market.

     

    By the way, stock up on the popcorn, dim the lights, coordinate your loo visits with the ad breaks… because the film is about to begin.

     

  • Every week, Deepa Gahlot casts a critical eye over media reviews of Bollywood releases… in Reviewing the Reviews

    Reviewing the Reviews: English Vinglish

    English Vinglish

    Key Cast: Sridevi

    Written & Directed By: Gauri Shinde

    Produced By: Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, RK Damani, Sunil Lulla, R Balki

     

    Even after 15 years, Sridevi’s star power shone bright and dazzled most critics.  Gauri Shinde’s debut feature, English Vinglish, got a universal thumbs up with 3 to 4 stars.

     

    Everyone agreed that it was simple – cliched even – story well told, with loads of charm and great performances. It steered clear of melodrama, created a lovely heroine in Shashi Godbole and, everyone flipped for French star Mehdi Nebbou, even if the film’s leading lady did not.

     

    Anupama Chopra of The Hindustan Times wrote, “English Vinglish is that rare thing – a Hindi film that creates a heroine out of a homemaker… But even when the film feels shaky and stretched, Sridevi doesn’t miss a beat. Her performance is a triumph. She’s vulnerable and sad, yet selfless and strong, in the way we all know our mothers to be. She imbues Shashi’s quest for respect with genuine emotion. It’s hard to imagine that this is an actor who hasn’t worked in fifteen years.”

     

    Rajeev Masand of IBNLive commented, “There’s little that’s blazingly original here; much of it feels formulaic and predictable, in fact. Yet Shinde knows there’s comfort to be found in the familiar, and she mines feel-good moments in been-there-seen-that territory.”

     

    Shubhra Gupta of the Indian Express was zapped too, “English Vinglish, Gauri Shinde’s first feature, is a likeable film, which gives us a silky-smooth first half, a slowed-down second, broad-brushstroke-y characters, and an actress who makes it all work. Despite the saucer-large eyes and too-squeaky delivery, Sridevi makes Shashi a living, breathing woman, who channels pain and joy and the subtle shades in-between with a look and smile and a tear.”

     

    Raja Sen of rediff.com was bowled over and it’s not all that easy to get him to gush thus. “Go watch English Vinglish, and take your mothers along. As shown by one great scene which has Shashi speaking furiously in Hindi to her chef friend Laurent, who replies back in thoughtful-sounding French, it isn’t about language. It’s about one of the biggest stars of her era transformed into the plainest Jane, a delightful heroine who saves all her grace for hoisting her son onto her pillow. It’s about how vital the smallest-seeming dreams can prove to be. Ah, spell it English Win-glish, I say.”

     

    Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV seemed slightly underwhelmed. “This film hinges on an idea that only reinforces the phony notion that a woman, no matter how gifted, must speak fluent English in order to truly assert herself.  Tame superficiality is indeed the biggest bane of English Vinglish, which, for the most part, is otherwise reasonably watchable, especially owing to a charming performance by Sridevi, back on the big screen after a 15-year hiatus. A star is reborn and one wants to fall in love with her all over again. But despite the temptation, it is eventually too docile an affair to send the heart pounding and the pulse racing.  English Vinglish, for all its surface gloss and clean family entertainer aspirations, doesn’t possess that little something needed to turn a one-dimensional account of the makeover of an unassuming homemaker into a convincing, universal drama about a woman’s empowerment.”

     

    Meena Iyer of The Times of India raved, “Easily one of the best films of 2012; is a tale of women empowerment (actually it is bound to empower every viewer) because it strikes a chord, right from the start to the end titles. Debutant Gauri Shinde, who made advertising films before she ventured into the feature area; proves she’s an ace cinema writer-director. The result is a sweet, sensitive and superlative film that makes you laugh, cry and smile. Every emotion is identifiable, every nuance is balanced. The characters are real, the performances effortless.”

     

    Aniruddha Guha of DNA commented, “English Vinglish, the directorial debut of Gauri Shinde – Balki’s collaborator and wife – does something similar. It tells a story that revels in its simplicity, with aid from some witty writing and honest moments that elicit a smile here, a laugh there, and which leave you touched. Here too, at the centre of it all, is an actor who earned the tag of superstar years ago, but who appears to have reinvented herself to fit into Shinde’s world with remarkable ease. In Sridevi, Shinde finds her Bachchan.”

     

    The inernational press, exposed to the film at the Toronto film festival, was impressed too.

     

    Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote, “It’s very amiable, feel-good entertainment, featuring some broad comedy and stereotypes, yet with a notably bold repudiation of homophobia. An undemanding picture that goes down as well as the heroine’s tasty ladoos.”

     

    Kate Taylor of the Globe And Mail commented, “It’s hard to believe that anyone would take for granted the glittering presence of Sridevi, the Indian movie star now making a professional comeback after a 14-year-absence during which she raised her two daughters. At 49, she can still convincingly play fresh sweetness on screen; off-screen she emits a don’t-mess-with-me maturity. But in Bollywood, as in Hollywood, your downtrodden heroine can’t look too downtrodden.”

     

    Joe Leydon of Variety wrote, “Far more often, though, English Vinglish is traditional Bollywood escapism, a lightly enjoyable trifle featuring exuberant musical interludes, an extremely chaste approach to conjugal relations and extramarital temptation, and a crowd-pleasing wrap-up that allows the lead character to be all she can be while still respecting family values.”

     

  • The Lowe Lintas big boss freewheels with Anil Thakraney about Bs big and small, talent, and why he won't participate in the Abby

    Awards have no relevance to advtertising: Balki

     

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    It’s always fun meeting the big boss of Lowe Lintas. Since we have worked together before and since Balki is always forthright and politically incorrect, one is assured of an exciting but meaningful exchange. Here is he, speaking his mind on various issues. Movies, advertising, the challenges facing the industry, the kind of people he’d like to hire, and yes, about his continuing allergy to advertising awards.

     

    You have to respect the man for the wonderful work he’s been doing on both, the small and the large screen. And more so for being that rare individual in the ad world who has the balls to stand up for something he believes in.

     

    Still around in advertising? Shouldn’t you be busy making big films with Big B?

    I am making a movie a day, it’s the same thing. An idea is an idea whether it’s three hours or thirty seconds. The day I stop tripping on getting the high when one gets an idea, that’s the day I will stop. In fact, I haven’t done a film in the last two years, I have been caught up with Lowe Lintas. I do have an idea for a film which I will work on towards the end of this year.

     

    And it will back to Bachchan, I suppose.

    Not back to, WITH Bachchan. I haven’t gone away from him.

     

    What’s with the Bachchan fetish?

    When you work with the ultimate guy it becomes difficult to work with somebody else. He’s phenomenal. Such hunger and greed for performing at the age of 70… it’s truly inspirational. I can keep on making films with him for the rest of my life.

     

    Are you a fan of Abhishek Bachchan too? His career isn’t going anywhere.

    Actually I found his performance in ‘Paa’ the best. It was the most difficult role. I think his problem is more the choice of films rather than the quality of his acting. He’s got his niche, he’s very good at certain things. He’s also a good friend.

     

    So that’s why you keep using him in the IDEA commercials, often when he’s not even needed.

    He’s a better friend of IDEA than he’s of mine. I didn’t choose him, IDEA chose Abhishek.

     

    What are the learnings from movies you’ve taken to advertising?

    The biggest thing that happens when you come back from cinema to advertising is that you are even more impatient. Because cinema takes so much time to execute, you want to make the ads even faster. That’s the reason I like making ads. You make them fast and you move on. There’s an idea a day, and that’s an addiction which is difficult to escape.

     

    Your wife’s directing ‘English Vinglish’. Are you the producer? And what’s it about?

    Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has co-produced it with me, along with another investor. It’s about the insecurities of a middle class woman who doesn’t know English in today’s context. It’s about how she overcomes the fear of English. It’s a very relevant issue to a lot of people in this country. In India, it’s money, fame and (knowledge of) English which determine the class and quality of a person.

     

    Let’s cut to Lowe. Are you still as hands-on as ever?

    I am. There’s so much of work, yaar. Today, Arun (Iyer) and Amer (Jaleel) have taken on a hell of a lot, they handle 50 percent of the business. My travel has come down but my ideation hasn’t. So yes, I am still involved in major things, I know what’s happening. This is not a profession where internal structures and motivations of the agency can dictate solutions for a client. The client comes to an agency for a solution and we have to get it, by hook or by crook. Gone are the days when creative directors would sit on a revolving chair and give motivational advice to people on how to crack things.

     

    Piyush Pandey said to me the reason he isn’t making movies is because he’s not bored of advertising.

    It’s about the number of things you can do, it has nothing to do with being bored of advertising. So maybe some people are capable of doing a lot more and some people are not.

     

    Significant changes you’ve observed in the ad world in recent times.

    It’s the same, in so far as it’s still a problem/solution business. What I find is that the clients today are hungrier for more interesting solutions. I find that clients don’t want to waste an idea. And because of the complexities of the marketing issues, the problem articulation is no longer simple. You can no longer say this is small, this is big or that is cheap. It’s about understanding the complexities and simplifying them. And I find that fewer and fewer people are able to do this. Therefore far more is expected of a creative person today than it ever was. The creative person is now seen as the solutions provider. Planning is now playing a big role in the articulation of the problem. Planners are now working more for the clients than for the agency. This shift is something I don’t quite agree with, but it’s happening. This situation requires more discipline, rigour and understanding from a creative person than ever before.

     

    And I guess this impacts your hiring policies.

    It impacts that hugely. The three Cannes Gold winners don’t make sense any more. Today a lot of senior creative people have to grow within the current system. So you hire junior people who are clever and intelligent and then groom them into the system of understanding problems. It’s very dangerous hiring very senior people from the outside. We went through a phase in advertising where we said we are losing our respect as an industry. That’s changed. Today the clients respect the advertising agency for providing solutions.

     

    Both, Prasoon Joshi and Piyush Pandey told me that the industry is losing talent. There seems to be too much pressure from clients, they no longer pamper creative people. And opportunities have opened up for agency personnel in other industries.

    I don’t agree with this. I actually think there’s never been a better time to be in advertising. You are no longer respected for your whacky ideas, being a maverick won’t get you any special respect. The problem isn’t that the industry is losing talent, the problem is it’s not attracting talent. It’s damn difficult to find talent to address today’s problems. In fact, today there are a lot of people in marketing who want to join advertising. Where we are not attracting the right talent is at the junior level. We as an industry haven’t been able to articulate what is the kind of people we want.

     

    As an old-world creative director, do you find yourself struggling with the new media?

    No. Clients want you do virals in the new media, but it’s still film. The video will never die, though the medium for broadcasting it may have changed. The production methodologies may also have changed. But the idea is the key to it all.

     

    You are not even on Twitter and Facebook. How will you ever understand the digital world?

    The reason I am not on it is that I don’t want the world to know what the fuck I am doing. That’s a personal choice, it has nothing to do with the new media. In fact, today if I am on Facebook, I am a fuddy duddy cock.

     

    The problem, Balki, is that all you uncles are obsessed with the TV commercial.

    I approach a problem very simply. There is a solution, and there is an idea. And if the solution demands a certain kind of medium, you use that. Nobody knew how to make films before or how to make a digital programme. So it’s all about expression. And you go into that particular medium and do it. I didn’t know how to shoot a film earlier, so I went to the experts to do it for me. I don’t watch television at all, but that doesn’t mean I am fuddy duddy on television.

     

    Small shops are springing up. People like Aggie are doing very well. Does that worry you?

    It’s always been happening. What do you think Mohammed Khan and Ravi Gupta did? If Ogilvy and JWT don’t worry me, then why should they? They are all competition. In fact, the more the merrier, it means more people are doing better ads, and that’s fantastic for the ad industry.

     

    Why are so many creative directors branching out on their own?

    In some cases they believe their talent is far superior to what a large agency can harness. The other reason is there are only so many people who can grow to a point in an agency. So it could be the frustration of not being able to grow beyond a point. They have to start their own thing to be what they want to be. The third thing of course is money. Some people want to be richer than what they are.

     

    Words of wisdom for young creative people.

    I think if you like sport, you should come to advertising. There is a hurdle to be crossed every day, there is a goal to be scored, there is a wicket to be taken, there are problems that come your way. It is like a game. The moment you start taking it too seriously, it’s very difficult to function in this business. A lot of things don’t make sense out here.

     

    Shashi Sinha tells me he’s cleaned up the GoaFest judging process. All the scams have been dealt with. But you still won’t take part.

    I believe the advertising industry needs credible awards. But how do you judge advertising? You say, ‘Haha, this is so funny! Oh, what a technique in this one!’ And based on that you award some ads. And two months later the agency loses the business. So obviously it doesn’t work. What the fuck are we doing in advertising? We are supposed to solve a problem interestingly. You are supposed to state the problem and the judges are supposed to ask if that ad could have solved that problem. I judged at Cannes once, and I refused to judge after that. I’ll give you an example of what happens: Those Coke print ads, where someone is sleeping under the shadow of Coca Cola bottles, has been hailed as the greatest piece of creativity. And then you have those great TVCs of Coke with Aamir Khan, which the nation loved, but which they (the Cannes jury) didn’t understand! This kind of judging has no relevance to what the purpose of advertising is. Basically the award show is a game and you play it. So it’s not about cleaning it up, I don’t value what you award.

     

    And you also have a problem with your peers doing the judging.

    Some of them I respect and some I don’t.

     

    So what sort of jury will satisfy you?

    Having some respected marketers on the jury would help. And some very good advertising people. Right now they ask anybody who’s free to come and judge, and that’s not the way to do it. You can’t choose people just because you want representation from various agencies. Thing is, before I give you a piece of work to be evaluated, before I give you the right to say if I am good or bad, I need to be assured you are a person who’s capable of telling me that. We need to first judge the judges.

     

    What disappoints you about the ad world?

    What pains me is the amount we try to market the barometers which decide who’s good and who’s bad in the Indian industry. The Gunn report, the Asian awards, etc, they tom-tom the barometers rather than the advertising itself. And all this has absolutely no relevance to what we do here. It’s time we found a barometer or an evaluation process that tells India which is a good agency. A method through which clients can credibly choose agencies beyond just the surveys and the awards. And this lack of a proper barometer has led to personality driven agencies. This propels a lot of false media management. PR for advertising people happens because of this.

     

    Why don’t YOU work on that barometer?

    Piyush Pandey and I have had many whiskies discussing this, but we only walk away promising that we should drink some more, and that’s about it. (Laughs.)

     

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