A year back, we wrote an editorial advocating the need for a studio system in Kerala.
Right now the the film industry is held hostage by organizations like AMMA which is like a coterie which decides who will do what. You need AMMA’s permission to appear on stage, appear on televisions and even to go to the bathroom. .
Having multiple studios compete for talent will help here. Motivated by the desire to make profits, studios will be less bothered by such ego clashes. If you have the talent and the ability to attract an audience, then they will be willing to invest in you. In the case of Tom Cruise his private behavior offended the head honcho of Paramount and he was fired, but he immediately took over as the head of United Artistes film studio. Right now in Kerala, if you offended any of the AMMA members, then you can pretty much say good bye to your career.[We need the studio system]
We also welcomed the entry of Pyramid Saimira Theatre Ltd into the film industry
There are many action items in their plan. First they plan to invest Rs. 25 crore and lease theaters in Kerala. These theaters will be modernized and some of them will be converted into multiplexes for better film going experience which means that even if the movie is terrible, you will feel happy spending Rs. 100 for an uzhunnu vada. They also plan to introduce a card which will allow you to watch as many movies as possible for a fixed amount which means that some of us will permanently live in multiplexes.[A new venture]
Our point is that, “The mom and pop production setups have reached their limits and it is time to move past them.” So when we read a piece by Bijo Jo Thomas in Deepika about the revolutionary changes that are going to happen in Malayalam film industry we were excited for two reasons. One, the article agrees with lot of what we have been saying about the need for the influx of more capital. Second, it is refreshing to read a positive article about capitalism (the only successful economic model so far) in a Malayalam newspaper.
We are not under any illusion that miracles will start happening once these companies set foot in India. Pyramid’s first movie, Paradesi, though it dealt with a unique theme was terrible in implementation. Great movies need good writers who can produce refreshing scripts suitable for the Kerala audience and directors who are not stuck up in the 1980s style of film making and we hope that money and the fresh perspective will bring that.
The status quo currently is only accelerating the demise of the industry and any disruption in that is a welcome move. Anyhoo, read the entire article before it disappears into Deepika archives black hole.
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