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Content is King but distribution is God
Enkayaar, Bollywood Trade News Network
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TEESRI KASAM and KAAGAZ KE PHOOL are now considered epochal films and whenever they are re-released they set the cash counters of the box office jingling. When TEESRI KASAM was released in the sixties it was done without any publicity and it was released in Golcha Cinema of Delhi from where it was taken out after just three shows. Same fate had happened with KAAGAZ KE PHOOL. This is illustrative about the fact that the basic mantra for a film is that first it should have the content, which should be different, and the channels of distribution should market it in such a manner that it sets the box office on fire. This did not happen in case of both these films and it brought its producers, lyricist Shailendra and Guru Dutt to the point of financial bankruptcy. The distributors however continue to make money as during subsequent releases awareness about the film is created which brings the audience in drove to the theatre.
Another factor, which would elucidate and underline the importance of this maxim, can be illustrative from the tie-up that Sony Films Corporation has entered into with Eros International to distribute the films made by Sony in India and all other places where the Indian audiences live in great numbers.
It is the sheer economics that has guided the fact and which has sort of encouraged Sony to warm up to Eros as Eros is the God in the present scenario as far as distribution among the Indian audience is concerned. Just a month ago there was an altercation among these two companies when PARTNER was released as the point of conflict was supposed copying of the content from the original custodian of the same aka Sony Corporation. But the economics of it has now changed the perception, as the long-term interests of Sony Corporation would be better served if it ties up with Eros, as arms of Eros for distribution are quite big.
It is this fact, as a result of which most of the producers knowing the quality of content that they have become the distributors of their films as well, especially in the circles, which are remunerative. This trend has caught the fancy of the stars of the present times in such a big way, that all the big stars prefer more to be the distributor of the film as remuneration for working in the same than charge for it. When the producers armed with the content as a King also steps into the arena to become the God in the form of a distributor then no stone is left unturned as one can see in the case of Shahrukh Khan produced and Farah Khan directed OM SHANTI OM. This is also what has sort of motivated Hrithik Roshan to follow the path as well, and he has also started warming up to being a distributor to control the destiny of his own product.
Distribution can make or break a film and the tie-ups that are happening between the international players and the national biggies in the arena of distributing bodes good times for the industry in the near future. More and more stars like Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty etc., are slowly but surely entering into the arena of film distribution. It however should come with a caveat that there should not be a cartel formation as a result of which small films are not able to find a place for them. They both should exist side by side. If the God assumes this proposition of being selected about the products for consumption of the public, then it can become Bhasma Sur or the self-destructive. Entertainment after all should not be such that the content should be directed by its makers, but ought to be of such nature which enamors the viewers not once but twice all over.
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