It is a busy day at the shoot of a film in a city studio. Cranes, lights and vanity vans keep the place buzzing. Executive producer Subhash is busy counting the cash that’s left over for the day’s shoot, seated in a corner. Much to the unit’s shock, the production comes to a brief halt after the team learns that more budget would be needed for the day. The executive producer calls the film’s producer, who in turn calls the financier if he could roll out some cash immediately.
The financier asks the producer to make some adjustments in the hero’s salary. The buck keeps pass- ing on over phone calls but clouds loom over the resumption of the shoot. This isn’t an isolated case in Tamil cinema. Over the years, production costs have shot up with hundreds of films stalled mid-way. The percentage of films that see the light of the day is in single digits, or perhaps upto 15%, in a good year. De- spite flops, stars’ sala- ries keep soaring with each film. Left clueless, producers cry foul over production costs and actors’ salaries.
This is arguably the most-discussed topic in Kodambakkam from top-tier producers to the light-man for the shoot to progress smoothly. Will ac- tors agree to it? “It is a chicken-and-egg story,” laughs actor-producer Vishnu Vishal, who forayed into production a few years ago. “I foresaw this situation with the experiences I have had with my producers previously,” he says. What experiences? He gets more candid and replies, “I had to forgo 60% of my salary for Raatchasan (2018), in order to release it. I was asked for a 45- day call-sheet for Lal Salaam (2024) and ended up shooting for double the time for the same remuneration. This is how the industry runs. Is there a system? No. Is there transparency? No.”
However, leading distributor Tirup- pur Subramaniam, also the head of fi- nanciers association, and theatre owners association, dismisses his transparency claim, and states: Ta- mil cinema is not in the stone age any more. Everything is computerised. There is a lot of transparency in terms of ticketing and box-office collection. The situation will definitely get better. We re sure that the revenue-sharing model will come into effect soon. Though several star-studded Tamil films have been duds at the box-office, producers continued to pursue them and acquiesce their demands for high- er pay and other perks, which inevita- bly elevated them to a cult status in the market.
Now, the industry is paying the price for this. Vishnu pipes in: This is a danger- ous circle we re in. How will actors lower their market value? Producers pay them in crores and allow them every indulgence imaginable during a shoot. This increases their brand val- ue. I cannot see how any star will go back to being paid less than they were offered till date. When a film is made with a popular star, his remuner- ation accounts for almost 60 per cent of the total budget. True, that s why we re looking to streamline it. It won t be the same any more, adds Subramaniam.
But, Rio Raj, an ac- tor-cum-producer, has a dif- ferent point of view that opines that revenue-sharing will work for stars and producers. This would not be feasible for every actor but we re talking about films that are made in a budget of Rs 100-150 crore. When a star is getting paid in crores, it should be feasible for them to consider a revenue-sharing option, he avers. However, producer Kathiresan of Five Star Creations and office-bearer of Tamil Film Producers Council ex- plains that no film is completed on asaid budget. The director gives us a specific breakdown on how much the film would cost from the pre-produc- tion to print publicity.
All we get is a huge shock when we reach the sets every day with budget overshooting in each schedule. Why wouldn't there be a raise in pro- duction cost?” he adds. “We’re not forcing an ac- tor to enter a profit-shar- ing model but a reve- nue-sharing model, which is workable. In the next cou- ple of months, we hope to have a solution.” But, why should a star bear the brunt of revenue-sharing? “It is because the story is centred around them,” remarks Subramaniam. “When a director narrates a story to a hero, they tweak the sto- ry to an extent it fits within the image the star enjoys. A director doesn’t write a story and then pitches it to a star hero here. A story is being written for him, which a pro- ducer then funds.”
Vishal Krishna, actor-producer and the general secretary of Nadigar Sangam, has been analysing quite a few things lately. “I don’t see a point in the revenue-sharing model. When a producer has the funding to pay a star’s remuneration, it’s based on mu- tual consent. Why would a third-party intervene and ask them to opt for a revenue-sharing basis?” Various bodies have requested pre- vious State governments asking for a centralised ticketing server where everyone has the access to bookings and box-office collection. Theatre own- ers’ association is waiting for the cur- rent government to settle down before meeting with Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay and discuss the crisis that the industry is facing. “But there is enough transparency even with the third party sys- tem,” says Subramaniam.
Vishal Krishna laughs it off and remarks, “We have a scroller across news channels everyday on the ticketing status of each film running in Tamil Nadu with official box-office numbers. People at the helm should know what is happening on a day-to-day basis. If two different producer bodies meet our CM, it sends a very wrong signal. I don’t think trans- parency is achievable with the system we have now.” Concurring with him is actor Har- ish Kalyan who adds that the module will be sustainable when there is transparency about the film’s budget, star and his remuneration and their personal equation. “In the Telugu film industry, stars have agreed to this model. In Tamil, an exorbitantly-budg- eted film or a star who charges high will consider this, when the industry is transparent enough,” he opines.
This has been a never-ending de- bate/discussion and nobody seems to have the answer. “Star power,” says Subramaniam. “Content is what people want,” says his colleague, Sanjay Wadhwa, a lead- ing financier. “People go to theatres to watch the stars,” says Vishal. Actor Rio, however, strikes a bal- ance. “Until COVID-19, theatres were built for stars. But now, people come to theatres for content-oriented films too,” he remarks. Harish explains: “Tamil audiences are intelligent. “They have backed films with good content and celebrated their favourite stars too. Commercial entertainers, with new ideas have fetched great support. Star-studded films with good content have become blockbusters. We’ve watched good content with new directors and new faces. When the audience does not con- nect with the film, there will be an opening, but won’t become a block- buster. But star value matters, so does content. But when they combine, it will become a huge success.” Vishnu watches from a quiet corner and states, “To enter this discussion, we first need to have the infrastruc- ture. With just 1,000 screens, star val- ue or content shouldn’t even be asked. Our neighbour Andhra Pradesh has 3,000 screens, infra for box-office col- lections and revenue-sharing model.”
Producer G Dhananjayan puts the blame on both stars and producers. “The onus is not only on actors while selecting a script, but producers are also equally responsible. No star will agree to revenue-sharing until they are sure of getting their money back. This is why the previous profit-shar- ing model too didn’t work. We’re put- ting up a fight so that they come into an agreement,” he explains. Vishnu says that while Hindi cine- ma has been a front runner in the rev- enue-sharing system, Tamil cinema’s system isn’t conducive enough to adapt to it. “For this, the star must have his own team of accountants, which would again incur cost. We don’t have the revenue to even keep a track of it,” he smiles. Vishal says that cinema is not about one Thursday or a Friday. “One or two days cannot decide the fate of the film. If it did, all of us would be billionaires here. Be it stars or producers, we all have a family to feed and EMIs to pay. It’s our bread and butter. So, we need to plan for it from the day we decide to make a film. Nadigar Sangam has been called for a meeting with producers on the revenue-sharing model. We’ll hear them and decide what’s next.”