‘Actors Are Asking For The Sun, Moon And Earth’

‘Those
movie
stars
are
asking
for
Rs
35
crore
and
are
opening
to
Rs
3.5
crore.’

‘How’s
that
math
working?’

Karan
Johar
believes
the
film
industry
is
going
through
a
creative
crisis.

In
an
interview
to
journalist
Faye
D’Souza
for
her
YouTube
channel,
the
producer
spoke
at
length
about
what’s
ailing
the
Hindi
film
industry
which
had
a


dismal
six
months
at
the
box
office.

“Right
now,
the
industry
is
in
a
creative
crisis.
We
are
going
through
a
situation
where
we
have
to…
We
are
managing
footfalls,
versus
reality
versus
star
remuneration
versus
studios
collapsing
at
our
end
and
there’s
a
lot
of
drama
happening
in
our
business,
which,
I
think,
we
have
to
take
stock
of,”
Johar
said,
dismissing
stories
of
being
an
all-powerful
producer
who
makes
or
breaks
careers.

The
director
said
he
is
not
the
don
or
‘flag
bearer’
of
nepotism
as
he
is
made
out
to
be
in
a
certain
segment
of
media.
Like
many,
he
is
just
trying
to
keep
his
company,
which
is
doing
well,
stay
sustainable
in
these
trying
times.

Asked
what
could
have
led
to
this
crisis
in
the
film
industry,
the
filmmaker
said
it
has
to
do
with
many
factors,
primarily
being
the
shift
in
the
audience’s
taste,
which
have
become
‘definitive’.

“They
want
a
certain
kind
of
cinema
and
if
you
want
to
do
a
certain
kind
of
number,
then
your
film
has
to,
I
will
say
this
technically,
perform
at
A
centres,
B
centres
and
C
centres.
Just
multiplexes
won’t
suffice,”
he
said.

There
has
been
a
lot
of
debate
around
the
money
charged
by
some
of
the
big
stars
post
the
box
office
debacle
of

Bade
Miyan
Chote
Miyan,
Maidaan and
other
big
releases.

Johar,
who
has
spoken
about
the
money
demanded
by
stars
in
the
past,
once
again
highlighted
the
issues,
which
is
currently
at
the
centre
of
the
debate
in
the
movie
business.

“The
cost
of
film-making
has
increased.
There
has
been
inflation
there
and
then
the
star
remunerations…
There
are
about
10
viable
actors
in
Hindi
cinema
and
they
all
are
all
asking
for
the
sun,
moon
and
earth
and
you
are
paying
them
and
then
you
are
paying
the
film,
the
marketing
expenditure
and
then
your
films
don’t
do
the
number.

“Those
movie
stars
are
asking
for
Rs
35
crore
(Rs
350
million)
and
are
opening
to
Rs
3.5
crore
(Rs
35
million).
How’s
that
math
working?
How
do
you
manage
all
that
and
yet
you
have
to
keep
making
movies
and
creating
content
because
you
also
have
to
feed
your
organisation?”

The
filmmaker,
known
for
box
office
hits
such
as

Kuch
Kuch
Hota
Hai,
Kabhi
Khushi
Kabhie
Gham and

Student
Of
The
Year,
said
everyone
is
running
around
like
‘headless
chickens’
as
it
is
difficult
to
gauge
what’s
working
at
the
box
office
and
what’s
not.

“There
is
a
lot
of
drama
and
the
syntax
of
our
cinema
has
not
found
its
feet.
In
the
case
of
Hindi
cinema,
there
has
been
a
certain
kind
of
syntax
in
each
decade.
Right
now,
we
are
like,
‘If

Jawan and

Pathaan worked,
should
we
do
only
action?’
Then
everybody’s
running
that
way.
Then
suddenly
a
love
story
would
work,”
he
said.

“Conviction
has
taken
a
complete
beating,
and
it’s
all
about
herd
mentality.
We
haven’t
realised
that
there
is
a
certain
audience
now
that
wants
rooted
Indian
cinema
and,
without
the
pressure
of
what
the
critics
have
to
say,
pure
joy,”
he
said.

According
to
Johar,
audiences
don’t
want
cinema
that’s
‘alienating’
where
it
is
about
urban
syntax
and
the
small
towns
feel
alienated.
Urban
cinema
can
be
made
but
at
a
certain
price
otherwise
it
will
not
do
the
numbers.

The
filmmaker
believes
the
directors
of
his
time,
who
have
grown
on
the
fodder
of
a
certain
kind
of
cinema,
don’t
understand
the
‘need
of
heartland
India’.

“They
don’t
know
it
because
they
have
never
watched
those
movies
in
cinema
halls.
They
have
grown
up
on
internet
content
where
everything
is
aspirational
or
Hollywood
cinema.
But
some
of
those
movies
just
don’t
work
in
India,”
he
said,
adding
that
films
don’t
fail,
budgets
do.

Asked
whether
a
certain
self-censorship
had
set
in
among
filmmakers,
Johar
said
everyone
now
has
a
legal
department
and
scripts
at
his
company
go
to
the
legal
censorship
internally
first
before
they
decide
to
produce
it.

“It’s
not
that
we
are
afraid.
You
don’t
want
the
stress
and
pressure
of
fighting
cases
in
courts.
You
are
putting
your
time
and
energy
into
something
that
you
can
very
well
do.
We
are
still
telling
brave
stories.
We
still
doing
what
we
want
to
do.
But
there
are
some
things
you
have
to
be
wary
about.”