Hollywood takes a short cut in India, loses its way

[OhioChick]

8 Feb 2009, 0515 hrs IST, Meena Iyer & Bharati Dubey, TNN

MUMBAI: A year-and-a-half into the marriage, the chinks in the armour are already gaping wide.

Combining Bollywood's masala content with Hollywood's long and powerful distribution arm seemed an ideal marriage of convenience. So when Sony Pictures, Warner Brothers and Walt Disney upped their stakes in local cinema production, cash-strapped Bollywood rejoiced.

But the report card of first lot of local films produced or distributed by foreign studios is dismal, suggesting a serious disconnect between the moneybags and the content providers. A trade insider said: "Like true novices, Hollywood chased the big names without paying any attention to detail.''

In June 2007, when Disney signed up with Yash Chopra, Disney Motion Pictures president Mark Zorady said: "Who better to partner with than YRF, India's strongest and most creative studio?'' Sony was ecstatic to associate with Sanjay Leela Bhansali. And Warner Bros executive vice-president Richard Fox said: "Both Nikhil Advani and Mukesh Talreja are dynamic creative individuals whose vision we share.''

But, a year later, things are looking rather dismal. A Bollywood trade insider estimates that between Sony's Saawariya, Disney's Roadside Romeo, Warner's Saas Bahu Aur Sensex, and the tepid response to Chandni Chowk to China, losses accruing to movies released by foreign studios could amount to around Rs 70 crore.

Industry watcher Vikramjit Roy of Mumbai Mantra says the reason for this disaster is because there was too much focus on marketing and little on content. "Everyone has so far is only worried about the output. You have grandiose marketing plans made and you have extensive exhibition plans chalked out but, at the script level, there is a lot left to be desired. In the West, studios rarely go wrong because they continuously research scripts, the script is doctored by various focus groups and bounced off experts.''

Somehow, in India, this due diligence was abandoned. Hard-nosed Hollywood took a short cut and in the process lost its way. "They've gone with the best local talent available. The script has taken a backseat,'' points out trade analyst Komal Nahata. "Hollywood production houses need to know that money is not everything. Saawariya was a huge disaster. Chandni Chowk to China too failed to work with the audiences,'' he added.

But, unlike Nahata, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap takes a more pragmatic view of the situation. He is happy with the megabucks the studios are pouring into the country. "The Hollywood production houses are dependent on the Indian sensibility, they are basically testing the waters,'' he says.

So is all lost? Apparently not. Sony Pictures Entertainment India has released Raaz and studios like Fox Star are ready to foray into Bollywood. Forewarned by the current crisis, Vijay Singh of Fox Star says: "We are being very careful about the content that we chose. We have entered the local Indian market with Slumdog Crorepati. The audience cannot be taken for granted.''

In any case, say industry watchers, Hollywood is a tough old bird. It has gone local in other places like the United Kingdom, France and China and come up smelling roses. It may have faltered in Bollywood but, as Roy says: "They'll chalk a different path soon.''

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Hollywood_takes_short_cut_in_India_loses_way/articleshow/4092810.cms

[MrModerate]

1. Interesting. I would never have expected them to abandon . . .

Script doctoring -- it's so much a part of the Hollywood sucess process.