Chokher Bali

A few producers in Tollywood stared wide-eyed when we told them the Saawariya makers are spending Rs 20 crore on its promotion.

“Tai naki!” gasped one, because Rs 20 crore can comfortably produce and promote 20 Tollywood blockbusters.

Yes, you read that right.

t2 explores the money mechanics that drives Tollywood.

AVERAGE BUDGET...

Is well below the Rs 1-crore mark. For a small film with newcomers, a producer thinks thrice before shelling out more than Rs 50-70 lakh. For a big film with a big star cast (read Mithun Chakraborty or Prosenjit), the budget is raised sky high, to, er, Rs 1.25-Rs 2 crore.

“Star presence determines how fat the budget will be. With Mithunda in a film, it’s never less than Rs 1.25 crore. Of course there are exceptions like I Love You, which introduced newcomers Dev and Payel and had a budget of Rs 2 crore,” says producer Nishpal Singh, whose Surinder Films made Hero and Ghatak with Jeet and Koel.

MONEYSPEND...

The Bong Connection

A lead pair, with some box-office draw, takes home around Rs 12 lakh, while the director demands Rs 4-5 lakh. About 20 per cent of the total budget is allotted for artistes, and eight to 10 per cent for the director and technicians.

It’s a different story when dada-turned-MLA-turned Minister Fatakesto comes into the picture. He demands and gets Rs 45-50 lakh, and with good reason.

Producers don’t mind shelling out more for Mithunda because he finishes the entire shoot in less than a month, thus curbing other production costs.

The film shoot eats up 45-50 per cent of the budget and the producer’s purse comes under serious strain if Tollywood decides to go places (though the farthest it has gone in these days of low-cost airfares is Singapore-Thailand or Dubai, for Ghatak, Hero, Bandhan or I Love You). The far more popular shooting spots? Calcutta’s streets, shopping malls, Aquatica and the SRFTI campus.

Around Rs 4-5 lakh is kept aside for post-production. Editing accounts for Rs 1 lakh, dubbing another lakh, mixing Rs 40,000, background score Rs 75,000, optical work Rs 1 lakh and special effects Rs 50,000.

Often the producer doubles as distributor, saving on distribution cost. Screening rates depend on the theatre. If the rent is Rs 1.4 lakh a month for the Minar-Bijoli-Chhabighar chain and Rs 1.7 lakh a month for Prachi-Darpana-Bharati, it’s Rs 4 lakh per month at Priya.

PUBLICITY PEANUTS....

Most producers work on a fixed budget for the minimum visibility needed, which is about 10 per cent of the total cost. So, the publicity cost can range from Rs 5-7 lakh to Rs 20-40 lakh.

A big Tolly banner goes in for big-bang publicity — which would be no more than a whimper in Bolly terms — when it launches a fresh face. But bigger the name, smaller the publicity budget.

“We spent only Rs 25 lakh to promote Minister Fatakesto, which had a budget of Rs 2.5 crore. For a Mithunda film, a few posters a week before release are enough to pull in the crowd,” says Mahendra Soni of Shree Venkatesh Films.

“But while launching newcomers, we go for aggressive publicity. The strategy is to ensure 99 per cent footfall in the first three days, after which it’s word-of-mouth. We generated a lot of hype before I love You,” adds Soni, whose production house spent Rs 40 lakh out of the film’s Rs 2 crore budget on promotion.

In case of a romantic film, the music release is done in a big way, followed by TV promos. But an action film is not so lucky — it must make do with some radio and TV promos.

The countdown to The Bong Connection, Anjan Dutt’s Rs 2.25 crore box-office hit, was marked by out-of-the box planning.

“When we sat with the post-production work of The Bong Connection, we realised that the film’s USP was its music. That set the tenor of the publicity. We decided to hold live concerts at Barista and Cafe Coffee Day outlets. We also had premieres in Delhi and Mumbai, apart from Calcutta. We spent Rs 25 lakh out of Rs 2.5 crore for the promotion and we are happy with the results,” says Soumya Ganguly of Moxie Entertainments.

The channels of communication are also beginning to grow beyond the conventional mix of television- radio-billboard-poster-print ads.

Dev and Payel of I Love You, for instance, hit suburban roads to get up close to their target audience. The Bong Connection roadshows invaded college and university campuses, even after release.

COSTLIEST TOLLY FILM MADE...

Rituparno Ghosh’s Chokher Bali, with Aishwarya Rai, Prosenjit, Raima Sen and Tota Roy Chowdhury. Shree Venkatesh Films forked out Rs 3 crore to make this period piece in 2003.

WITH THE SAAWARIYA PROMO SPEND...

“No less than 20 Tollywood blockbusters could be made from Rs 20 crore,” says Soni.

The arithmetic is simple. “Tollywood churns out about 40 films a year. Their budget would add up to Rs 40 crore,” concludes exhibitor-cum-distributor Arijit Dutta.

COSTLIEST TOLLY DREAM DREAMT...

If Shree Venkatesh Films were to remake MLA Fatakesto with the Rs 65 crore budget of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Diwali release....
The Hero: Amitabh Bachchan beats Mithun to the chair.
The Heroine: Angelina Jolie nudges out Debashree Roy to be Amitabh’s bou who is bumped off by goons.
The Villain: Michael Douglas replaces Rajatava Dutta (if only to ensure that Catherine Zeta-Jones comes to studio para).
Special effects: Done by Prime Focus, the company which has handled Om Shanti Om. The film would be shot with the high-end ARRI 535 mm camera, with which Rang De Basanti was shot.
Promotion in town: The promotional budget will be around 20 per cent of the total budget. “The tools of promotion would be full front-page ads in The Telegraph and Anandabazar Patrika. We would take over City Centre and Forum for a few days to promote the film. We would even have a display of Fatakesto paintings at Science City,” smiles Mahendra Soni of Shree Venkatesh.

(Who do you blame for the lack of funds in Tollywood? Tell t2@abpmail.com)