Gujarati films are now making money

The Gujarati film industry seems to be catching up with the current wave as the producers and directors of these films are now planning to address progressive Gujarati youth. Interestingly, producers and directors now can make Rs 10 lakh or more in span of less than six months.

Yes, it sounds like lucrative business. But with lots of 'ifs' and 'buts.' Gujarati film producers and directors with an investment of up to Rs80 lakh make revenues of up to Rs1 crore. A good star cast, storyline and good publicity can make the film hit at the box-office.

According to director-producer, Maulin Mehta, "There are only 5% Gujarati films that turn into box-office hits and these are films, which I have seen in the last eight months, that had a budget in the range of Rs50 lakh to Rs1 crore. Low budget films, unless they have an outstanding star-cast, storyline and out-of-the-box publicity such as Better Half, are not being made anymore."

Then there are around 10% films that do average business at the box office. "A Gujarati film costing Rs55 to Rs80 lakh comprising known or reputed faces from Gollywood and having a good storyline helps the earnings to reach highs of at least Rs1 crore," Mehta explained.

Basically, a high budget film earns around Rs10 lakh or even more from sales of rights; conditionally, it demands a superstar. Second portion of earnings comes in from the collection it receives while the film is released in theatres and multiplexes.

This section of earnings depends entirely on the quality of film and story, the stars acting in it and the timing of its release. This can help a film recover around Rs50 lakh and above. Last is the sale of song albums of film through which it can earn an
extra sum of Rs10-15 lakh.

Dilip Dave, executive producer of the film, Better Half somewhat agrees to Mehta's statements. He said, "Better Half was made with a budget of Rs25-30 lakh. Here, the important thing was the subject and performance of the stars rather than the money involved. Therefore, when we marketed our produce, the concentration was on story, star cast and their performance. Producers and directors are now definitely trying to make films based on Gujarati youth of modern times."

Dave explained that the ideal production cost for a film comes to around Rs30-35 lakh. However, the problem with small budget films is that producers and directors are unable to carry out the right kind of publicity required to promote the film across theatres in city and outside. Hence, Dave insists that they should always reserve extra sum apart from production cost for publicity and promotion. This is a mandatory step for all.

Further explaining the economics of Gollywood, well-known director, Sandeep Patel, who claims that most of the films running today are entirely based on personal finance, said that Gujarati films are based on social issues. "These films, made with a budget of Rs80- Rs90 lakh, comprising of excellent fight sequences, songs and current superstars, are the need of the hour to bring back the lost Gujarati audience," he said.

Patel said that, unlike Hindi cinema, Gollywood has very limited film actors who could go from village to village promoting their movie. Even for them, going about promoting their movie from one place to another is difficult. Besides, even if a film is campaigned across the state, not all screens will showcase the movie in one-go.

According to Ashish Kakkad, director of the film, Better Half, "When you talk about economics, a low budget film is quite rewarding, as it yields almost 300% more benefit than a film budgeted at around Rs70 lakh to Rs80 lakh. Reason being low budget films have lesser risk attached to it. Films made with a higher budget end up, many a time, earning the same amount they have invested. Or probably a little more but the element of risk involved is high.

Simultaneously, state government provides a subsidy of Rs5 lakh. This helps the producers to recover the amount in time."

The industry has also found new sources of funds. Kakkad explained that his film Better Half worked very well at the box office as it targeted a new section of society. He said, "Due to such films, we have come across a new section of finance sources such as corporate houses and Mumbai-based film production houses that are now showing interest in the Gujarati film industry.

All this will help Gollywood see new films with contemporary relevance and also help them earn great revenues for the film-makers."