Soft-porn films add to financial woes of Malayalam filmdom

Joseph Alexander

Malayalam filmdom has proved its class in the national scene by collecting the highest number of national awards time and again.

The filmmakers recieved international fame and were held in high esteem.

However, none of these laurels could help the industry from slipping into its worst financial crisis.

Adding to its woes, the Malayalam film world which boasted of class productions, is swept by a wave of low budget soft-porn films now, giving a run to the big banners of serious filmmakers.

About 70 per cent of the 73 films which were released last year, bombed in the box office. At least Rs 600 million out of total investment of Rs 1.20 billion vanished without a trace.

The unprecedented crisis was a great leveller too, as it did notspare small or big players.

Nor did it save the faces of reigning super stars.

Out of the total 73 films, only eight turned out to be hits and ten managed without loss.

The rest of the producers had their fingers badly burnt.

Kireedom Unni, who produced Millennium Stars roping in three big stars and award-winning Jayaraj as director, with a budget of 25 million, faced the worst setback of his career when the film presented him with a Rs 15 million net loss.

It spoke volumes about the characteristic uncertainty and ambiguity of filmdom.

Interestingly, out of the three big hits of the year, one was a soft-porn low budget film!

While the two films Narasimham of Mohanlal and Valiyettan of Mammootty turned super hits, Kinnarathumpikal, which was produced with a cost of just below Rs two million returned above Rs 15 million for the producers.

Besides, the film set a new wave of soft-porns, which were spending just below Rs one million for each film. It also introduced sex bomb, Shakeela, who went on to be the hottest heroine of the year.

The reasons for the crisis are many, according to the pundits in the field: high production cost, unplanned schedules, high remuneration to stars, advent of TV channels forcing the family audience to reception rooms, high rates of tickets and lack of well-written scripts and storyboards.

Mammootty, in a recent interview, said it was not the high remuneration to stars which pushed the industry in a crisis, but lack of planning.

Backing the idea of meticulous planning to avoid unnecessary production cost, Mohanlal viewed that lack of good stories has also contributed to the crisis.

"MACTA, the leading association in the field, is holding a survey to ascertain the reasons of the crisis. The association also plans to get the films registered before their release and have an assessment after three weeks of show," MACTA General Secretary and Director K Madhu said.

The uncertainity was such that even the super stars could not ensure a minimum guarantee in the box office.

Mohanlal could make hits of only two of his eight films while Mammootty has just one out of ten.

A super star production may cost from Rs 25 million to Rs 30 million, even though there is no guarantee of returns at all.

If it is starring middle rung stars, producers opt for multi - starrers to woo the viewers, putting the cost to almost the same.

With soft-porns dominating the class A theatres, only men viewers move to theatres while the women and children restrict themselves to the suspense and drama of about 140 serials a week, being telecast by four channels.

Shaji Kailas, who churned two hits last year, also stressed on the need for proper planning. According to him, producers should plan projects suiting their purses rather than depending heavily on private financiers.

Producer Suresh Kumar said the reluctance to adopt new technology and the director's craze for excellence disregarding the financial budget were also factors that led to the crisis.

The crisis was not restricted to stars and producers alone, as thousands attached to 1,664 theatres were also drawing livelihood from this industry.

The number of productions too, presented a bleak picture. If the Malayalam film industry won a record by producing 129 films in 1979, the number stood at 81 in 1997, 63 in 1998 and 59 in 1999.

UNI