Bollywood lends its brawn

Seeking generators for Thailand’s “creative economy”, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister General Tanasak Patimaprakorn was in Mumbai recently, learning how Bollywood earns its billions in box-office revenues.

The general led a delegation to the heart of the Indian movie industry, visiting Mumbai Film City, which churns out half of the Bollywood features and hundreds of TV soap operas. They got an intensive four-day crash course in cinema, taking in five studios, movie museums, a government-run TV complex and other facilities. Discussions covered everything from scriptwriting and financing to overseas marketing.

“Film here is almost ingrained in people’s lives,” Culture Ministry permanent secretary Professor Apinan Poshyananda observed on the tour. “The love of movies is passed down from generation to generation.”

Devendra Fadnavis, chief minister of Maharashtra state, where Mumbai is located, said India wants to learn from Thailand too. “We’re looking forward to good cooperation in tourism and culture,” he told the delegates at a government guesthouse.

Though this marked the first inter-government effort in the movie business, Thai private firms such as Kantana have been running joint ventures with Indian studios for years, making good use of the beautiful locations and lower production costs. 

And likay actress Ann Mitchai – who tagged along on the tour – is locally revered as a Bollywood celebrity, having starred in the 2013 film “Ishk Actually”.

Meanwhile India’s Culture Minister Valsa Nair-Singh is hoping Thailand will help promote the ancient Ajanta and Ellora cave temples, which her country has begun touting as a tourist destination.

Tanasak pointed out that the two countries’ ties are a millennium old, reaching to the birth of Buddhism, even if formal diplomatic relations date back only six decades. 

Culture, tourism and religion are all on the agenda as possible areas of cooperation, he said, but “this particular trip is focused on cooperation in the film industry”.

India’s movie industry is strong, vibrant – and technically advanced, fully backed by the government. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has a Film Division (FDI) that’s produced more than 9,000 movies since its founding in 1948, including documentaries, shorts and animations. 

The FDI maintains a hi-tech archive that’s in the process of converting 5,000 films, all government-funded, into digital format so copies can be made for sale. (Privately made commercial movies are stored at the National Film Archive.)

“With all this advanced technology, we should send staff from the Thai Film Archive to learn about turning film into digital,” Apinan suggested.

Most titles produced by the FDI are broadcast from the Doordarshan, a vast telecommunications centre that opened in 1972, whose operating budget also comes mainly from the government – 400 million rupees (Bt225 million) per year, said Mukesh Sharma of the FDI. Additional funding is secured elsewhere to give the station a measure of independence, he added. 

The Doordarshan employs 3,000 people at 10 branches around the country. 

Each January the industry’s movers and shakers gather for the Mumbai International Film Festival, hosted by the FDI. The edition just held was the 14th. Apinan recommended having Thai films shown at the festival.

Mumbai Film City – otherwise known as Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagi – is the massive, throbbing heart of Bollywood, with replicas of entire villages, huge lakes and soaring temples and palaces taking turns as movie backdrops, 40 potential locations in all. 

Opened on Mumbai’s outskirts in 1977, it incorporates the Maharashtra Film Stage and the Cultural Development Corp. “Fifty per cent of Bollywood films are produced here,” its director, Abhay Yavalkar, boasted. That adds up to around 500 titles a year.

“Some companies have been filming here for a decade. Kantana used to work here too. Each year we take in 500 million rupees.”

The Indian government pays close attention to promising young filmmakers. The National Film Development Corp (NFDC), founded in 1975, has offices in Kolkata, New Delhi and Shani as well as Mumbai.

“We have a script lab and the ‘First-film Director’ programme and host a film bazaar in parallel with the International Film Festival of India in Goa every November,” said Nina Lath Gupta, head of NFDC Mumbai.

Among the movies it has backed, Mira Nair’s “Salaam Bombay”, Richard Attenborough’s “Gandhi” and Shyam Benegal’s “The Making of the Mahatma” all won acclaim and awards.

“We’ve had co-productions in 10 countries, including France, Britain, Germany, New Zealand and South Korea,” Gupta said, and domestically the corporation has helped finance more than 300 films in 21 regional languages. While 1,000 Bollywood titles are issued every year, she noted, that number doesn’t even take account the hundreds of “Kollywood” pictures made annually in the country’s south – films with Tamil stars and dialogue.

The Thai delegates also met representatives of private studios. Tanasak said it was important to learn how India’s film industry has progressed so quickly and securely. “We can find out here how to develop our film industry the right way,” he said.

He also pointed out that Indian moviemakers have often utilised scenic Thai locations. “Last year we earned Bt300 million from Indian film-shoots,” he said. 

Sirin Surathin of the Thai consulate in Mumbai believes both countries have much to gain from cooperating in movies.

“Thai food and destinations are famous in India,” he said. “That’s a good basis for cooperation in trade and business. Our culture and Buddhism place us close to India, as well. So I see this cultural exchange trip as a pioneering effort to recognise the potential for good cooperation between the countries. It will inspire other culture-related parties to do the same.”

Apinan is ready to formulate an action plan at the Culture Ministry. “To learn from government staff, filmmakers, producers and promoters here we can start setting up bilateral exchanges immediately,” he said.

“The film industry, including animation, games and music videos, has been increasing yearly. It earned Bt56 billion in 2009, then jumped to Bt77 billion in 2011 and Bt180 billion in 2014. If we have co-operation with India, we will earn more money from this industry,” said Apinan. 

“We hope to participate in the next film bazaar in Goa in November, and we could also invite filmmakers and scriptwriters to Thailand to conduct workshops and give our people the benefit of their experience.”