Disney India officially drew the curtains on Hindi film production recently, due to the losses they faced in the last few years. Disney India, which owns UTV Motion Pictures, announced last month that it intended to focus on its Hollywood film distribution and television licensing and merchandising business instead, effectively pulling the plug on its Hindi film production business.
There are also reports that owing to the back-to-back box-office debacles of Kya Kool Hai Hum 3, Azhar and Great Grand Masti, Balaji Motion Pictures too intends to shut down.
At a special event of Jio MAMI 18th Mumbai Film Festival with Star, filmmaker Karan Johar said that studios shutting down isn’t something new, and hence is not a matter for panic.
“We’re not in grave crisis,” said Karan, who owns Dharma Productions, one of the biggest production houses in the country. “There is absolutely no crisis looming large. There is a reason why studios start, and there’s a reason why they shut. If there’s one thing in common between all the panelists, it is that we are all filmmakers trying to tell stories.”
Scoffing at the dread in the air over the situation, Karan recounted, “The other day, someone thrust a mic in my face when I was coming out of the airport, asking ‘Will Indian cinema vanish?’ I was like ‘When did this happen?’ When studios came up, it was surprising; when some of them are leaving, it’s equally surprising. The producer, the director, and the film will always survive. We were trying to control budgets, ever since I can remember. The congenial problem has remained.”
Producer Siddharth Roy Kapur, the managing director of Disney India, said he looked at the situation as a great opportunity to improve the financial condition of the film industry. “In every time of crisis, there is a time of opportunity as well. I think it is an interesting time for the industry right now to take stock and figure out what’s going on and see what we can do for the next generation of Indian cinema to actually be much more effective financially than it has been over the last few years,” he said.
