Chapter 179 Return of investment
Indian films have five different distribution areas based on geographical location. If you want to release the film smoothly and maximize profits, you have to negotiate with distributors in different regions one by one.
The target audience of "Hymn to Durga Puja" was already identified before filming: Central India and North India.
Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Haryana…
These are all populous states in India. As long as the movie is popular here, even if it cannot be released in South India, it will not affect the film's profitability.
In order to help find a suitable distributor for the film, director Shiv personally went to Uttar Pradesh.
According to the normal operating mode of Bollywood, he should be in Mumbai and then the distributors should come to him.
Mumbai is the entertainment hub of India, and distributors of all stripes travel between the director's residences in Bandra and Juhu every day.
But after all, "Hail Durga" is a religious film, and the entire crew is waiting for the North Indian box office share to settle their salaries.
Shiv is the soul of the team and he has to ensure that the film gets a large release in Hindi theatres.
Getting approval from the Film Censorship Board only means that you are qualified to release your film.
The ones who actually get movies into theaters are distributors, who have theater channels in the corresponding regions.
Not long after Shiv arrived in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, publishers approached him.
The publisher, Balam, handed over a blank check without saying a word.
"Sir, name your price. I'll never forget the film 'Shameless' you directed! The story in it is so tragic! Such a thing should never have happened. It's a masterpiece, I'll never forget it!"
"Shameless" is Schiff's previous film, which tells the story of the adult industry, where men are willing to buy and women are sold, and contains many restricted scenes.
He was hesitant to speak and stopped at the right moment. I don’t know whether it was tragic or not, but this did not affect Balam’s praise.
In the Indian film industry, deals are bound to be emotional and shameless flattery is a must.
Shiv glanced helplessly at Ron beside him, as if to say: Look, Bollywood is full of greedy people!
"Sorry, Balram, we are not selling the one-time distribution rights for 'Hymn to Durga Puja'. We are selling it in theaters."
"Cinema chains!" Balram screamed. "Sir, please listen to me. The situation in Uttar Pradesh is very complicated. Many theaters are hidden in villages, and you can't count how many people have bought tickets. Some villains even refuse to pay!
The reason I wanted to release this film was not for money or belief, but out of respect for you."
Balram's words were sincere and he tried to please Shiv in every way.
His words and deeds emphasized that even if he knew that the movie would not be a box office hit, he would still take it if it was directed by Schiff even if it resulted in a loss.
"Balaam," Ron said, almost amused by the publisher, "Uttar Pradesh is not that dangerous. I can guarantee it."
"Sir, you are..." His shrewd eyes flickered.
“I am from Uttar Pradesh. You know Varanasi, right?”
"Oh! The Crazy East."
"Yes, that's right. My family has a machine gun team, thirty people in total, each holding an AK.
If you're worried about the villains refusing to pay, I can have them follow you to collect the debt, how about that?"
"Sir, you are such a joker." Balam kept wiping his sweat.
"You've seen the sample for 'A Tribute to the Unapproachable Mother,' right?" Ron asked.
“Of course, there is no doubt about director Schiff’s work.”
"We'll follow the rules. Ten percent issuance fee. Also, what I just said still applies. If you have any problems in Uttar Pradesh, go directly to the Sur family."
For Bollywood films, distributors generally take 10 percent of the total revenue from theaters.
In his own base, there is no reason for Ron not to take a share.
He is even planning to adopt this model for the populous states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.
Even though other places are out of reach, it is not impossible to sell the distribution rights.
"Some of the scenes in the movie are very explicit, and I'm worried about censorship. But it doesn't matter, I know an official." Balam coaxed.
"This is a permit from the Uttar Pradesh Film Censorship Board." Ron waved the stamped page towards him.
Balam was discouraged; he had no bargaining chips left.
"Listen, man, this is not a simple mythological film. It is a blend of love, action, religion and other elements. It is a blockbuster film and the audience will find it worthwhile, believe me."
This time it was Ron's turn to guide the audience. The script of "Praise to the Inaccessible Mother" is actually very good. It has all the characteristics of a low-budget film.
It has horror, romance and tantra elements all in one!
"You know better than us how destructive religious films are in Uttar Pradesh, which has a population of nearly 100 million Hindus."
Balram was tickled by the scene, as he certainly understood the audience in Uttar Pradesh, especially the men, who would surely go crazy for some of the scenes.
"There is no problem with going through theaters. Not only Uttar Pradesh, but also Bihar and Jharkhand are in my distribution area. I know the owner of every theater in North India, but you have to agree to one condition of mine," he said.
"What conditions?" Ron and Schiff asked at the same time.
"Sell me the distribution rights of several northeastern states in one package." Balam said in a loud voice.
His channels are spread across North India and he knows which regions and films are popular.
The Northeast has not received much attention in Bollywood due to its limited land and population size.
But the more places like this are, the more they become the fat meat that publishers are eyeing.
The producers don't want to waste energy on going to theaters, so they can do that.
As long as they pay a small packaging fee and buy the distribution rights, they will dominate the film market in these regions.
Ron agreed to Balam's request. They really didn't have the energy or channels to pay attention to the share of theater chains in those places.
After the final round of bargaining, Balram bought out the distribution rights of several northeastern states for 800,000 rupees.
"When will the film copy be delivered?" Balam was already impatient.
"We have also prepared some publicity methods for this week, which may require your cooperation." Schiff replied.
"No problem, I have good relationships with many newspapers." This is Balam's responsibility as a publisher.
After finalizing the details of the cooperation, both parties immediately started working.
Balam was responsible for contacting theaters and newspapers for promotion, while Ron and his team had to ensure that the copies were delivered in a timely manner.
The cost of producing a 35mm film copy is about 20,000 rupees, and there are thousands of cinemas and tens of thousands of screens across India.
Of course, it is impossible to give one to each company, as the production cost would be frighteningly high.
The usual practice is to share several copies across a region, and only luxury theaters in big cities like Mumbai and New Delhi will have independent copies distributed.
"Hymn to Durga Puja" was a low-budget film and was not expected to be released on a large scale in South India, so all the copies were shared by several theaters.
Given the size of the market in North India, thirty or so copies would be sufficient.
Indian films don't release all at once on a single day. Instead, each state has its own schedule, and a film can often be shown for two or three years across the subcontinent.
First it was Uttar Pradesh, then Bihar, and so on, and dozens of copies were enough to meet the screening needs.
Actually, the entire crew still owes their wages for making these copies, including the director, the leading actors and actresses.
It's not that Ron is stingy, but that's how it works in Bollywood.
If the movie is a hit, everyone is happy. If the movie loses money, forget about the salary.
After all, Ron has been getting something for free these past few months.
But Schiff was not panicked at all, as he had heard the good news before coming.
"We have already made back the cost of the film."
"What do you mean?" Ron has been in Uttar Pradesh recently and is not aware of what is happening in Mumbai.
"Tips Records bought the rights to the film's music cassette for 2 million rupees."
"Wow, Mary and the others are quite resourceful."
"The two young ladies are indeed formidable. That Taolani is a ruthless character. Few people can get the upper hand from him."
"Now I believe that this movie will definitely make money."
This was a pleasant surprise, but it is also one of the characteristics of Bollywood.
The earliest financier of an Indian film is actually the record company that purchases the music copyright.
Indians love singing and dancing, and of course, music. Bollywood music can be heard everywhere from speakers in the streets and alleys.
Even children from the slums could sing the theme song skillfully shortly after the movie was released.
Record companies are usually interested in music cassettes from Bollywood films as long as the recorded songs are not too bad.
"Praise to the Unapproachable Mother" has five songs, and the singers are also well-known.
Ron had heard it once before, and he had to admit that Asan was really good at music.
Those songs are really nice, with catchy melodies and very memorable parts.
The only drawback is that there are too few songs.
Ideally, record companies would like a movie to have eight songs so that they can fit on both sides of the music cassette.
Mary's original plan was to fill one side of the cassette with music and then use background music on the other side.
But when she returned to Bollywood for post-production, she decided to add a few more songs on the spur of the moment.
So Lanka and Urmila were conscripted again, each singing a song and adding a chorus.
By the time the filming was finished, both sides of the cassette were fully recorded.
This is another creative invention forced by insufficient budget.
The male and female protagonists don’t have to pay extra for singing, as it’s all included in the film remuneration, which saves a lot of money compared to hiring singers.
Now the little trick of saving money has worked, and I got 2 million rupees easily.
Ron called Mary and she said she would come to Uttar Pradesh with copies in two days.
As this was her first time as a producer, she naturally had to attend the screening in person.
But Lanka and Urmila don't need to come, there is no such thing as a roadshow in India now.
With Third Brother's character, if he saw a female celebrity, especially in rural areas, who knows what would happen.
Therefore, publicity relies entirely on newspapers and tricycles going to the countryside and shouting to sell goods.
Ron had already booked a table at the best cinema in Varanasi.
The first movie, of course, has to have a sense of ceremony.
(End of this chapter)
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