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Kalapi Nagdas
What has been the effect of the Covid-19 on your business?
The impact can be seen globally and we too haven't been spared. Entertainment industry in totality has suffered a lot as theaters are shut and no films have been released. Hence other perennial rights tradings, etc all have been affected. Closure of cinemas which account for 65% of the total revenue to the industry is a big loss to those big budget films, and the entire chain like distributors, exhibitors, production houses have incurred tremendous losses. Losses to individuals employees working in the said industry on field like theatre staff, staff from production houses like light man, spot boys, varied professional suppliers have been completely on a stand still. On the flip side home entertainment has gained multiple fold traction thanks to the OTT platforms. The B talent of the industry have been front line stars and that industry of OTT world has really gained importance and momentum which was subdued due to big films only.
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How do you think the distribution model has changed since the pandemic?
The traditional method of distribution was simple with theatres initially to roll down the curtains of all big films and then followed by OTT and satellite channels exhibition. Since the pandemic the theatrical revenue column has disappeared from the recovery chart of every producer. So the only ideal model of distribution is to have films released on OTT or satellite channels that is essentially home viewing recovery and then try managing your balance sheets. This model has been very fruitful for medium and small-scale movies which did not see the light of the day in cinemas but can be seen and recognized prominently on OTT platforms. Even web series which are a shorter version of our conventional long serials on satellite channels have been the most supportive pillars to the industry which were a lost format.
What are the things that the government can do so that the film industry can recover faster?
It would be ideal if theatres are allowed to start with all the necessary precautions. But the most important help could be giving tax rebates for some months on entertainment tax , subsidies for shootings in our state of Maharashtra as other states do, creating entertainment studios, floors and encourage as much production as possible like other states so that local industry gets a boost in the form of employments and create best content locally . This will help other industries like hotel, travel and tourism also locally to get boost due home pitch industry evolution of entertainment.
Many producers are waiting for occupancies to rise before releasing films, but occupancies are low because there is no new content. What will come first?
It’s a chicken and a egg situation but of course this mammoth industry can only revive when a huge big budget commercial film hits the cinema. People have a fast mindset to overcome any situation and move on. With the vaccination coming already a great part of the audiences are geared to enter the cinemas but again like I said it has to be one big film to push and attract the audiences in the theatres. Once that happens the flow starts.
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