DAMAGE CONTROL

Although the ring of money on the box office is fainter than ever before, the seasoned players of Bollywood are finding recession an event they believe should come once in a while!! Surprised? Don’t be! The current slowdown is being seen as a reality check in Bollywood which was long overdue. The world’s second largest film industry is now looking at a more realistic environment, thus making film production cheaper.The current economic outlook has brought some sanity in production budgets, say film industry veterans. Movie making is set to be cheaper by around 30 per cent this year as most of the actors are expected to take a cut in fees or striking innovative pricing deals with their producers which are more variabalised, linked to the outcome of the movie. With the future looking gloomy, producers are now looking at paying a reduced upfront fee or fixed fee to actors. Instead, they will be a given a share in the profits made by the film, as this will lead to 30-40 per cent cut in the fixed fees of all bankable actors,” There are unconfirmed reports that Bollywood actors such as Shahrukh Khan and Aamir Khan have recently entered into such revenue-sharing arrangements with their producers.A majority of the films made in this year will hit the box office in 2010.In the past few years, the euphoria had led to a overall escalation of costs beyond logical realms. Production, acquisition of talent, and salary costs had shot through the roof defying the logic of return on investment. Stars that were being paid above Rs 20 crore for a movie are now willing to take a 50 per cent cut in their fixed fee.Around 30-40 per cent of planned Bollywood films will not take off this year due to tightening of budgets by corporations, banks and other players, Even if these movies are made, they may not be released as the marketing costs of a movie are on the same lines of producing a movie. Considering that we have double the output of films as compared to Hollywood in a recession time one will have to just wait and watch how low financially the industry will be hit.