Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 22 : With multiple high-budget Hindi films posting disappointing Box-Office collections and movies on OTT seen to be attracting more viewers, renowned film producer Anand Pandit has sought to attribute the current rough patch of Bollywood to a lack of originality from filmmakers as well as a forceful inclusion of item songs in recent years.
in an interview toon Tuesday, Pandit recalled the era of Salim-Javed when films did spectacularly well at the Box Office just on the basis of the credit rolls.
"I think there are two to three reasons. Earlier films were made, now more projects are made. Earlier, we writers and directors used to focus more on creative people," said Pandit.
He continued, "You must have seen a time when films were sold in the name of Salim Javed. Today, in the last 5 years, you might not even know that a big writer's film was sold. So, I think it's very important that we focus on how the film will perform at the Box Office."
The producer said that filmmakers now perceive films as mere projects which has to factor in calculations for OTT streaming, satellite, music, and overseas rights.
He complained of filmmakers ignoring the importance of the Box Office in India and stated that their primary focus remains on how to sell their films on OTT platforms rather than to the audience in theatres.
"Rather than thinking that if I am making a film, I will get the OTT streaming rights, satellite rights, music rights, overseas rights. So, the calculation is based on that and in the end, the box office is counted. There was a time in the 80s and 90s when there was no collateral business. " said Pandit.
He continued, "Box office was the only business. So, keeping the audience in mind, whether they will buy the ticket and come to the cinema hall or not, keeping that in mind, films were written and made. Today, unfortunately, this is not happening because the mentality of OTT is different, the mentality of satellite is different, overseas is different."
The second issue, which Anand Pandit believes has slide of Bollywood, is the lack of originality in the scripts.
"The second issue is that we have completely become like an inspired industry. We are inspired by the South, we are inspired by Korea, we are inspired by this language. So, the originality that was there earlier, that originality is not there today," said Anand Pandit.
While giving the example of regional films, the producer asserted on spending a good amount on the writers of the film.
The lack of conviction among the filmmakers is also one of the reasons for the disappointing performance of Hindi movies in recent years, added Anand Pandit.
"The director has a vision, the producer has a vision, they have a conviction about the project, about the film. I think we should not move from there. But sometimes, the director is not so confident, or the producer is not so confident, and your hero becomes very overpowering," said Pandit.
The lack of conviction leads to a change in the scripts and the inclusion of unnecessary material in the movies, such as item song numbers.
"And then, not according to the project, but according to their character, they make the change, then this project is ruined. So, the item number is sometimes very important for promotion. If you get a good item number, it is very helpful for promotion on television or social media."
"And because of that item number, your music rights also increase. But if you forcefully put an item number, I think that picture also becomes boring, and its track is lost. So, I think, these things should be taken care of," added Anand Pandit.
Anand Pandit is known for producing movies like 'Total Dhammaal', 'Thank God', 'Kabzaa' among others.
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