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CINEMA: PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES
Sync Sound
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SHEETED SHOOT: Actors, technicians and props all have their
comings and goings dictated by a strict call sheet to ensure speedy
wrap-up. Here, the team for the Arjun Rampal-Diya Mirza starrer,
Deewanapan, shows its paces.
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When Ardeshir Irani
gave India its first talkie film, Alam Ara in 1931, this magical metamorphosis
from silent subtitled images was made possible by an elaborate process
called "dubbing". The entire cast sat together in a recording
studio and repeated their lines. Flash forward to the 1990s and the Indian
film industry, one of the largest in the world, was still spending an
awful lot of time in the recording rooms. But this year, Farhan Akhtar's
superfresh Dil Chahta Hai used sync-sound, a technique pioneered by Aamir
Khan's Lagaan, where actors spoke their lines on location into sensitive
microphones, saving up to three months of tedious dubbing. Producer Firoz
Nadiadwala feels it is Bollywood's mistake that "for years, we've
avoided this technology because of the cost". Nadiadwala recalls
the raucous laughter in the industry when he introduced Dolby sound for
Raamshastra a decade ago. The same people were later calling him to enquire
about it.
Slick Hardsell: It doesn't stop there. The finished
product is like a brand. "The opening gross of a film is often decided
on its look," explains trade analyst Amod Mehra. So the task of lookmeisters
like Rahul Nanda is thrown into high relief. The man who designed campaigns
for Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and Asoka sits in on script-reading sessions
well before shooting begins. Producer Bhagnani even went so far as to
offer the audience a choice of four different title-songs for his Madhavan-Diya
Mirza starrer Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein (RHTDM)-the one selected by viewers
is shown in the film. Bhagnani, who spent Rs 2 crore on promoting the
Tusshar-Kareena Kapoor hit Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai, spent an identical amount
simply on this one gimmick for RHTDM. He says, "We have to grab audiences
with extremely limited attention spans."
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PROMO PRIMER: Bollywood has taken its first
steps towards merchandising: a Mujhe Kuchh Kehna Hai umbrella to
keep the rains away; the Asoka coffee- table book; a digitised poster
for an Amitabh Bachchan starrer
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The spend on promos matches the skyrocketing
movie budgets. Though minuscule compared to Hollywood promotions (Disney's
Pearl Harbor spent over Rs 235 crore) Bollywood's ad spends are surging
with merchandising like caps, umbrellas and T-shirts for "brand recall".
Part of Santosh Sivan's Asoka strategy is to intrigue its classy target
audience into the halls with a superbly finished coffee-table book. To
extend their film's jubilee run, the Lagaan XI will play a cricket match
with a biscuit company's contest winners. Sanjay Gupta's Rs 28 crore Kaante
had a Rs 10 lakh roadshow that yielded rich dividends: within a week,
Kaante was sold in all five domestic territories for over Rs 2 crore.
"Films today are also brands. We are just applying our experience
in brand building to film marketing," explains Sanjay Bhutiani who
heads Leo Burnett India's movie promotions arm, which besides Kaante is
devising marketing strategies for Ram Gopal Varma's Company and Rohan
Sippy's Kuchch Na Kaho.
So, as the great Bollywood dream machine churns
out film after film, many within it are changing the nuts and bolts. The
machine can't be reinvented overnight, but it can start running a little
more smoothly. Smart cameras, sync-sound and digital effects are all set
to make Bollywood's fantasies a bit glossier, a little classier. But the
very vanguards of this change point out that technology and hardsell can't
substitute, only supplement, that classic hit ingredient: a good script.
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