Mahesh Ramanathan, COO, Big Pictures, feels that the advent of corporate filmmakers will lead to growth in the industry;pix by Gajanan Dudhalkar (below) Bipasha Basu in Shob Charitra Kalponik, produced by Big Pictures

By Tollywood standards, Rajib Chatterjee is a man in a hurry. The senior vice president of Zee Motion Pictures has already masterminded the release of four movies and another one is on its way in a few months. One film, Olot Palot, is a comedy that’s a hit and currently in theatres across Bengal. Coming up soon is Handa Bhonda, starring Mithun Chakraborty, which is another comedy about a father-son relationship.

After a slow start, the cameras are rolling at the Rose Valley Group. It started slowly but released Ma Amar Ma by Haranath Chakraborty earlier this year. And it now has five films scheduled for release in the next one year — including an untitled movie to be directed by Aparna Sen.

It happened in Bollywood where corporate moviemakers moved in and introduced new ways of functioning. Now, Tollywood, which has always worked on tiny shoestring budgets, has become the new arena for these filmmakers who hope tightly-controlled budgets and a more organised style of functioning will bring in bigger profits.

Says leading director Haranath Chakraborty: “The budgets have increased with the coming of the corporate moviemakers. They are willing to spend big bucks and the movies are becoming technically sound — with good music and locations.”

The newcomers to the Bengali movie scene are a mixed bunch. There are giant national level players like Zee and Big Pictures from the Anil D. Ambani Group. Then there’s music company Saregama, which has also made a debut in Bengali industry. Others with big ambitions are Planman Motion Pictures which has made films like Dosar and Faltu in 2007.

Saregama’s Apurv Nagpal says the company has invested Rs 8 crore in the market; Pix by Rashbehari Das

They are also coming up with Sunglass, a Rituparno Ghosh movie, now at post-production stage. Also, there are smaller and even local players like Channel Eight Motion Pictures, which aims to produce 15 films annually. Then, there’s the Calcutta-based SPS Group and Mumbai Mantra owned by Mahindra & Mahindra.

The corporate moviemakers are coming with welcome infusions of cash. Take Saregama, which released Rituparno Ghosh’s Khela and Mantra among others. It’ll soon release another talked about film, The Japanese Wife. “We’ve already invested Rs 8 crore in the market,” says Apurv Nagpal, vice president, Saregama.

Aparna Sen on the sets of The Japanese Wife

Other companies too are loosening their purse strings to make bigger and better movies. Rose Valley says it’s spent Rs 10 crore and plans to spend a similar amount in the coming year.

While some are moving ahead aggressively, the others are treading cautiously. Big Pictures, for instance, wants to focus on the three films they have in hand at the moment — Janala, Abohoman and Shob Charitra Kalponik — before they plunge into too many new ventures. “We are keen to work with directors who want to make good films and who understand the economics of cinema,” says Bipin Vohra, chairman, SPS Arts and Entertainment, the producers of films like 15 Park Avenue which plans to pump in about Rs 5 crore in the next financial year.

Newbies Pikolina and Smaranjit in a moment from Channel Eight’s Protham Bhalobasa, a love story based on a Samaresh Majumdar novel

But everyone’s got big plans for the future — and they are trying to expand the market. So, some Tollywood films are now being released outside Bengal. Mumbai Mantra released Antaheen in Delhi and Mumbai.

Reliance, for instance, wants to expand into the international market and take their movies to prestigious film festivals. That means it will aim to develop the NRI market for Bengali films. “Nobody other than corporate entities have the patience to take films around the world and give them a good release. Most Bengali films are released only in Bengal,” says Mahesh Ramanathan, COO, Big Pictures. Ashok Surana of Channel Eight Motion Pictures plans to take commercial movies abroad: “We can approach international markets that individual producers can’t.”

A still from Zee’s latest release Olot Palot; (below) Zee’s Rajib Chatterjee believes the Bengal market could grow by three or four times

Zee is hoping to take over the rundown Technician’s Studio. “We want create a state-of-the-art facility. Now we are awaiting government clearance,” says Chatterjee. The company’s also planning to bring in Mumbai directors like Mahesh Manjrekar to direct Bengali films.

As the corporate filmmakers make their entry, the budgets are moving up — though the amounts are still peanuts by Bollywood standards. A few years ago most big-budget Bengali movies were made for around Rs 80 lakh and more and medium-budget ones cost about Rs 60 lakh to Rs 80 lakh. “An average big-budget Bengali movie now requires anything upwards of Rs 1.3 crore, while medium-budget movies would fall into the Rs 70 lakh to Rs 1.3 crore bracket,” says Vikramjit Roy, head, media and promotions, Mumbai Mantra. About 48 Tollywood movies were made in 2008. Industry experts say about 10 per cent of these were made by corporate filmmakers but reckon the number will rise.

What does corporatisation mean for the Bengali film industry? To answer that you have to understand how the movie industry has changed globally. Usually corporate entities go about filmmaking in a different way. For a start, they attempt to reduce the risk element and spread their bets over several movies in a year. Also, they try to keep a tight control on costs.

Companies try to bring a method to the madness of film production. “Most of our executive producers and line producers are management graduates,” says Shubho Shekhar Bhattacharya, CEO and creative head, Planman.

(From top) Shabana Azmi and Konkona Sen Sharma in the SPS Arts and Entertainment produced 15 Park Avenue; Bipin Vohra, chairman, SPS, pix by Rashbehari Das; Posters of films produced by Rose Valley

Channel Eight has professionals handling the filmmaking process — from evaluating scripts to managing the directors, to ensure the process is time-bound.

They like to have everything chalked out even before the project starts. This way, cost overruns can be avoided. “So shooting doesn’t stop midway like in the case of individual producers where budgets often go for a toss and producers are left to raise more money,” says Surana. At Big Pictures, a bunch of in-house executive producers keep a track of expenses.

And gone are the days when scripts would be written or changed on the floors. Pre-approved bound scripts are in. “At Mumbai Mantra, there’s great emphasis on the content. We have a creative department that goes through the script and then gives the go-ahead,” says Roy.

Also, crucially, all films are insured, though most companies still feel there is a long way to go before they can enforce film completion contracts. Planman is also making people associated with the film, stakeholders in the project.

One effect of corporate moviemakers is that it makes way for new talent. That makes it easier for young directors to make a mark. Zee worked with Nilanjan Banerjee when he had just one TV show under his belt. Channel Eight is working with newbies like Sankar Roy and Nehal Dutta. Mumbai Mantra is coming up with Shukno Lanka directed by newcomer Gaurab Pandey.

Rose Valley is also keen on new talent. “We started producing Bengali films to detect new local talent,” says Gautam Kundu, director, Rose Valley.

The other change is the way money is raised. Corporates can get bank loans. But the amounts involved in Bengal are still small, so the newcomers aren’t yet raising money from the banks. “The films we’ve done are experimental, so we avoided bank loans. But we will take loans for commercial ventures,” says Planman’s Bhattacharya.

Swastika Mukherjee, Parambrata Chatterjee, Annu Kapoor and Saswata Chatterjee in Mumbai Mantra’s Brake Fail

Also, old-style filmmakers can’t match the corporates in marketing and distribution. “Audiences can sample the product through different mediums. So, the trailer of a new release might be on the Net in advance,” says Ramanathan.

So what’s luring big corporate houses into the supposedly small market? Some like Zee were already in the Bengali TV business. And most importantly, Chatterjee believes that the Bengal film industry has the potential to grow 300 per cent to 400 per cent. That’s why the company has invested around Rs 6 crore to Rs 7 crore in the market. Says Chatterjee: “The industry has grown. In Bengal, the mother tongue rules, and TV has propelled new players.”

Several of Planman’s executive producers and line producers are management graduates, says Planman CEO Shubho Shekhar Bhattacharya; Pix by Gajanan Dudhalkar

Bhattacharya of Planman insists that it’s love for the language that propelled them into the Bengali movie industry. “Both Arindam (Chaudhuri, the managing director of Planman) and I are Bengalis and it was only natural for us to get into the market,” he says. Others like Channel Eight and Big Pictures wanted to make a foray into the regional market and Bengal seemed like the right place.

The old-timers are sceptical about the corporate newcomers. Some even predict that they aren’t really committed to the market and might pack their bags at the first sign of trouble. Moxie Entertainment’s Joy Ganguly gives the example of Sahara, which dipped its toe in the market and quickly left. “They feel that marketing films is the same as selling FMCG products. They need to tie up with a good production company,” says Nitesh Sharma of Bangla Talkies.

“They have the money but not the creativity. Producer involvement is missing. They are clueless about the kind of halls where they should release,” says Haranath Chakraborty.

Nevertheless, even if some corporate filmmakers do pack up, others are bound to hang on. And if they change the way movies are made in Bengal, that can only be a good thing for the audiences.