Producers should not miss the OTT bus

The postponement of the opening of cinema halls and film shootings has further entrenched the OTT platforms and given audience time to cultivate the habit of watching entertainment from home. Theaters are gung-ho on the simple belief that there is a large population in the rural India known as Bharat that has this pent-up feeling of not seeing a film in a theater with the family or friends. Once the curtains are up and a Star driven film is released, all the fears of Covid 19 will vanish and it will be business as usual. The theaters in Tamil Nadu cite the case of crowds coming back to TASMAC after a long closure. As some producer’s pointed out that the theaters equating them to TASMAC shop closure is mis placed. The people going to a theater to see a film and a tippler going to buy his drink every day from TASMAC are two different entities. There are two reasons that work against the theater viewing experience, when they reopen. The urban class known as India has shown a tremendous shift in habits and there is a spike in subscriptions to OTT platforms. A report says the fall in outdoor entertainment like theme parks, events and theaters, where social distancing is a must will take a hit. The urban class especially in the cities that have been severely hit by Covid will shift to home entertainment. In the case of smaller cities and rural areas, there has been a reverse migration of population and halt in economic activity would mean that spending on theaters and even on paying extra subscriptions for OTT would not be on the spending list. If the closure further continues, the OTT subscription model will gain momentum in both the urban and non-urban areas. Given that the theaters are opened with a 50% crowd capacity, monetization by theaters could take much more time. In this scenario, the digital rights will be more lucrative than the theatrical rights. Many production companies have already moved OTT platforms with proposals for web series and films exclusively for them. Top directors too are in the bandwagon. Mani Rathnam, Vetrimaran and Gautam Menon are those already signed up. Malayalam film industry has cashed the most from the OTT demand as the patronage by other language viewers for the dubbed versions is in great demand. Khalid Rahman, director of hits like Anuraga Karikkin Vellam and Unda , finished his movie starring Shine Tom Chacko and Rajisha Vijayan in the lead, and has been titled Love. It was shot for 23 days following the Covid precautions and is soon to hit an OTT platform. Though the theater owners are putting up a brave front saying that OTT has stopped buying films after the flop of Ponmaghal Vandhal and Punguin, the reality is that the business module that these films were acquired by the OTT has given both the parties a sizable profit. At present, OTT’s are advancing money for making `original’ films and web series. This may change as situation changes due to restoration of normalcy or more producers’ lining up. Use of AI by OTT to get to the root of user preference and need to have more cash liquidity as technology grows, will cut advance spend. OTT too has to grapple with the low advertising budgets of consumer- auto, e-commerce companies and recovery of money. The time is ripe for those who feel that CONTENT IS KING. An actor like Suriya has agreed to work in an episode of a web series as he wants to use the remuneration to donate to worker’s federation. Will many others follow?

Thala Ajith next Hindi film is by Karan Johar

In a latest, we heard that Karan Johar is to produce Thala Ajith’s Hindi film. Director Vishnuvardhan is said to have got the approval of Thala Ajith and Karan is in talks with him. Karan Johar stands accused of being in a way responsible for the suicide of Sushanth as he is part of the Aditya Chopra- Salman Khan gang. Boney who is producing his second film with Ajith in Tamil has acquired the copyright of two films -Vaali and Vaaralaaru, both acted by Ajith and produced by Nic Arts Chakravarthy. A newspaper notification inviting objections, if any, to acquiring the rights was published. At one time S S Chakravarthy was the central point in Ajith’s life. From the struggling times of Raasi flop,SS decided on what subject should Ajith hear and the dates and remuneration was handled by him. Even if the director told Ajith, the story, a second rendition had to be told to Chakrvarthy. `Vaali’ produced by Chakravarthy and directed by S J Suryah was going on in fits and starts due to cash crunch. Ajith pooled in his earnings from each film to keep the production going. Finally, the film which had Ajith in a dual role was a blockbuster hit. Ajith left everything to NIC Arts. Vaaralaru, a NIC Arts film, was another film that was caught in a financial crunch and finally when it was released, it was a hit. Ajith slowly found that his box-office was slipping and Chakravarthy had let many good projects slip by for reasons best known to him. Ajith finally decided to part ways and take his own decision. The two films that Boney is to produce were suggested by Ajith. Thala Ajith is said to have told Boney to give Rs 1 crore each as copyright fees. Chakravarthy had in the meanwhile turned producer of Simbhu film Vaalu and all his past debts came to haunt him. Added to this the erratic behavior of Simbhu after his breakup with the heroine Hansika added to the misery. Chakravarthy was also producing a film Vettai Mannan with Simbhu and Hansika. Finally TR had to pay up the creditors to get Vaallu released as it was holding up releases of Simbhu’s films. The Rs 2 crore as royalty would be music to old pal Chakravarthy. Though Boney Kapoor had a three film deal with Thala Ajith, it has been limited to two. Vaali might star Arjun Kapoor ( son of Boney) in the lead. Veteran producer K Rajan had questioned the logic of Thala Ajith giving dates to Boney Kapoor when his first producer Chozha Ponurangam was is in distress. So Thala Ajith accused of nepotism is joining hands with Karan Johar `gang’. S J Suryah meanwhile reminded Boney that he deserves a part of copyright fees as he is the director. Ajith made his Hindi debut with Asoka the Shah Rukh Khan film.

Dubbing- Recording studios might spread Covid 19

The biggest threat to Film Industries across the nation is the dubbing and recording theaters. As I had given you a sneak peek of the scenario that awaits theater goers when the curtain goes up, yet startling information that comes is from dubbing artistes in Chennai and Thiruvanthapuram. These dubbing theaters are nothing but death traps and points that can cause spread of the Corona 19 virus. The situation has reached a flash point that the dubbing artistes are now asking directors to allow them to dub from home. Some of the well to do artistes has invested in mini studios setup at home. The main reason being that the dubbing studios that are functional now are primarily engaged by TV serial producers. The economics of a TV serial production does not allow for studio owners to buy santizers, gloves, masks of the high variety and periodic spraying of disinfectants in wash room areas. In the social distancing norms, the dining hall inside the studio or outside the premises is not possible. It means ordering food from delivery apps. The dubbing of a serial work is entrusted to a senior dubbing artiste who runs an agency that has a wide range of voices that suit the TV actors. The rate is fixed per episode and an advance paid. The final settlement comes after a month. The dubbing in-charge has to pay the artistes daily batta and their fees as well as studio hire. In case of artistes and studios, a package deal is made before the commencement. As there was a three month lull and now that TV shootings have picked up, dubbing industry has begun to thrive. Most of the dubbing theaters are housed in two room apartments and sometimes in makeshift enclosures on roof of a building. Sun TV, Vijay and Zee have strict standards of audio quality and they cannot be done in any seedy studio, other serials all thrive on the small outfits. As the studio owners have not included any provision for extra costs due to Covid 19 safety norms, the old system continues. The artistes say that the studio owners are doing eyewash by giving sanitizers at entry points and spraying disinfectants and sometimes even room fresheners are passed off as cleansing agent. The problem starts from the old cushioned chairs onwards to the popup filter in front of the mike. A dubbing artiste said that when he stood in front of the mike, he could smell the chicken biryani eaten by the previous user. A pop filter, pop shield or pop screen is a noise protection filter for microphones, typically used in a recording studio. It serves to reduce or eliminate popping sounds caused by the mechanical impact of fast-moving air on the microphone during recorded speech and singing. Though the studios wash the filter and put it up, the artistes say that each time a new user comes, a new filter should be used. Though for medium and big budgeted films, this can be affordable, it cannot be implemented for TV serials and small time film producers. Those doing short films, documentaries, small time jingle- advt film makers have no option but to go with the available facility. If a dubbing artiste makes a demand for new popup filter, the studio owners asks them to dub or sing without one. This is very difficult, they say. The dubbing artistes who dub for 6-7 serials a day say that they are hard-pressed for time that they stop to notice if Covid 19 precautions are in place. They say that travelling in autos and cabs during lockdown are a major problem as most of them stink and a quarrel can only let you be offloaded. Yet another aspect is that the dialogue sheet comes straight from the location and nothing is done about it. So far the valve masks were considered must for artistes and staff, but now studio officials say that it is most harmful and must not be worn. The news that Abhishek Bachchan might have got the infection at dubbing theatre (later proved wrong) points to the danger lurking in these studios. Govt has come out with norms for TV serial shootings but nothing for the recording theaters.