Akshay Kumar talks business

The Bollywood star urges actors to make their own films.

NEW DELHI:

Bollywood star Akshay Kumar may be seen just as an entertainer, but he has got his finger on the pulse of movie business. He says the sure-shot success mantra is to either make your own film or go for profit-sharing.

“I have a very simple solution — make your films, because when you make your film you will not include your remuneration and it takes off the burden from a film,” Kumar told IANS in an interview.

“So, for instance, when you make a film for INR 200 million and release it, the profits — be it INR50 million or INR100 million — they’re all yours. Also, your film won’t flop because your remuneration is zero,” added the actor, who makes film under his two banners, Hari Om Productions and Grazing Goat.

For writers who rue that they do not get their dues, he suggested: “I am making three to four films and I pay my writers well. Again they can also go for profit sharing. If the film works well, they can ask for their cut in the profit.”

According to a recent report, the remuneration of Bollywood’s A-listers starts from INR100 million and goes up to INR400 million.Why are actors asking for such astronomical sums? And Kumar replies, “It’s neither the producers’ fault nor the actors’ because producers do not know how much to give and actors do not know how much to ask for.  “It’s not easy to decide remuneration because sometimes a film works and sometimes it does not. So I have come to a conclusion: ‘make your own films’,” said Kumar, who feels “the biggest burden on a film is its artist.”

“If you remove that burden, it is impossible for a movie to flop. It’s simple economics,” added the star, who has been active in filmdom for more than two decades and has about 100 films to his credit.

Stuff that matters

Meanwhile, the actor also stated that over the years, marketing has become an integral part of a film. “It helps in the first three days of the collection, but after that, it is all about content. So one needs to focus on the script and screenplay as well,” he said.

Explaining the importance of script, he added: “I think script and screenplay are more important than actors in a film. If your script and screenplay are in place, it is big support for the actors. For instance, a film with a lot of action doesn’t work. But if you just slap according to the screenplay and if it is positioned rightly, it works wonders for a film.”

Kumar, who started his career with action movies like Khiladi and Mohra, now returns to the genre after seven years with Rowdy Rathore. “I personally believe that people enjoy raw action more than technology.

If you use too much of technology, it will bounce back. People are very smart and understand what is real and what is unreal.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 17^th, 2012.