Indo-Pak film ventures: A one-way exchange, says Tanuj Garg
Tanuj Garg, the CEO of Balaji Motion Pictures — India’s leading production house — was in Lahore this week for a holiday. Balaji is a sister company of Balaji Telefilms, and has been in business since 2002.
Together, the companies have played a major role in transforming Bollywood’s clichéd cinema. Films like Love Sex Aur Dhoka, Ragini MMS, Dirty Picture and Once Upon a Time in Mumbai caused a stir in the industry. The audience world-over has accepted the non-traditional and unusual themes that Balaji has produced. In a telephonic interview with The Express Tribune, Garg talked about Indo-Pak ventures and the growth of the industry India is so proud of.
“Bollywood is more diverse than it was 20 years ago in terms of production value, music, and the various technical aspects related to cinema,” explains Garg.
Garg believes that the release of Indian films in Pakistan is a benefit for its people and also encouraging for Bollywood. “Through official releases, Pakistan’s movie-going culture has revived, which has given cinema a fresh lease on life,” he says.
He then talks about what he refers to as a ‘one-way exchange of talent’ with Pakistan. “The current relationship between Bollywood and Pakistan has a lot to do with the exchange of talent,” Garg adds. “It’s a one-way exchange of talent rather than a mutual one; whether it’s a Pakistani singer or actor, he or she has realised the only way to become really big is to enroll into India’s film industry. This explains why there has been a pretty sharp influx of Pakistani talent aspiring to make their mark in Bollywood films,” he says.
In the news, it was widely circulated that the local singer associations in India had made it difficult for Pakistani talent to make music for Indian films. Garg — inspired by the friendship he developed with Mustafa Zahid of Pakistani rock band Roxen — explains that for producers, there are no barriers or restrictions when it comes to involving Pakistanis in the Indian film industry.
“We are free to do exactly what we want. We can conduct our business in whichever way we deem fit,” says Garg. “We have been far more welcoming of Pakistani talent (than the other way around).”
“The power of Bollywood is a global phenomenon, so the government has always been on our side,” he says. Boasting about the film industry’s power over the Indian government, Garg explains the role their government plays in return to support the booming industry. “For issues like artist royalties and piracy issues, the government has been supportive because it generates revenue from entertainment tax,” he adds, “And the entertainment tax varies from state to state.”
Bollywood means big money
“In terms of being a revenue driver, [Bollywood makes] a huge amount of money because Indian cinema is the staple source of entertainment for the Indian audiences,” says Garg. “Bollywood has undergone a dramatic change,” he adds. “A new breed of film-makers has emerged; new actors have entered the industry — the entire landscape of Bollywood has changed! More cutting-edge unconventional cinema is being produced.”
“The myth that ‘only star-power works in Bollywood’ has been badly busted with some of our films. You have the typical formula films and the more standard commercial entities that exist,” says Garg. “But how do you explain a film like Dirty Picture? It was a heroine-oriented movie by Bollywood standards and we all know those films have never conventionally worked.”
Meanwhile, Garg is optimistic about the trajectory of Indian cinema. Currently, he is working on several projects including a sequel to Once Upon a Time in Mumbai in which Akshay Kumar will be cast alongside Imran Khan. He is also involved in Ek Thi Dayaan, which stars Emraan Hashmi and Shootout at Wadala starring John Abraham and Anil Kapoor that will be produced by Garg’s Balaji Motion Pictures.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 19th, 2012.
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COMMENTS (10)
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@Syed: Culture.....probably to promote conversions through TV shows.
@Syed: Mr Syed we don't have any culture.
All kinds of entertainment are un-islamic. Pakistanis, as per Mohammad refrain from such things.
@BruteForce: very well put!
@ethicalman:
Thats the beauty of Indian movies isn't it. They are so varied.
Tamil movies, yes, are qualitatively better than Hindi ones. Even with less money, they end up with great motion pictures. Thats fabulous! Tamilians love their culture, the language and dances. No surprises their movies are very good.
You gotta have a culture and love it. Pakistanis ban Basant because its a Hindu festival and expect movies to flourish. Thats not going to happen, world doesn't work that way.
@Bruteforece ..wow u said everything i wanted to say.....i'll just add a little
Bollywood has money because it has more ppl watching than compare it to..Bengali, Telgu, Tamil, Kannad, Malyalam, Bhojpuri, Gujrati, Marathi and many more film industry..
anyway..I find Tamil, Telgu films better than bollywood..films both in screenplay, story special effects, dances although some films have bad looking men as Hero's..otherwise even in comedy those films a grt..and they always bring innovative idead, plots..just amazing..compare to bollywood non sense..
Its the society which is conductive to movies and art in general. Indian culture and society is colourful, full of life; the local culture varies from region to region and state to state and you get a variety of influences.
India is a very vibrant society, inherently very Hindu.
Pakistan used to be like that. Lahore used to be the movie Capital of pre-Partition India. Partition happened and turns out along with the Hindus and Sikhs all the vibrancy also left Pakistan. Pakistan became more Arabised and adopted the Islamic culture which was alien to it in a way.
That profoundly changed Pakistan. India not only has Hindi Film Industry, but a dozen other movie Industries. Some countries struggle to manage one, but India is blessed with dozens.
This is due to society and society alone. The reason given by Pakistanis is hollow - Lack of Technical expertise, lack of competition, lack of Govt support,etc. The primary reason is that Artists are expected to follow the ideology of Pakistan, which says Pakistan cannot be India. There goes all the songs and dance culture of Sub Continental movies.
Mr. Garg makes excellent points about the film industry in India and Pakistan. The fact that he is in Pakistan is itself a good omen. Right now, Pakistani actors and singers are attracted to Bollywood because the money. However it is not entirely one sided exchange as exhibition of Indian movies in Pakistan and Pakistani film producers using Mumbai for post production and music fine tuning is the quid pro quo. Also with release of Indian films in Pakistan, Bollywood benefits from and so does the Pakistani cinema and the Government through new taxes.
Pakistani film industry is in a fragile state and budgets are very small compared to Mumbai's film industry. What could really work is, some Indian films produced in Pakistan, thus giving a boost to Pakistani studios, raising their technological standards to present day requirements and ultimately leading to cross border productions.
Mr. Garg is a visionary and so are his colleagues in Bollywood and yes there are many aspiring actors, singers, directors and producers in Pakistan, who can benefit fromBollywood's transition to present day success.