More than 100 Malayalam films are made every year, but it is not a cash-rich industry. New producers in Kerala often take financial risks to make films, says a distributor from the southern state.
“The total investment on films last year was Rs300 crore [Rs3 billion, Dh178 million]. And most new producers either borrow money or sell their property. Most of them don’t own a house,” Mukesh Mehta said during a session on Cinemas of India-Malayalam Cinema at the ongoing Film Bazaar.
Satellite rights was one way for producers to earn money but this doesn’t happen anymore, says G. Suresh Kumar, producer and president of the Kerala Film Producers Association.
“Around 60 to 70 per cent of money spent on a film used to be recovered from satellite [rights being sold to TV channels]. Many producers even earned profits. But the trend came down from last year. Around 125 films are lying without satellite rights because the quality of those films are poor.
“Many filmmakers just take a digital camera and shoot a film so that also affects the quality of the films,” said Kumar, who also said that approximately 123 films released this year and the figure may go up to 135.
But there are various advantages of making films in Kerala.
“We don’t have a big budget like Tamil or Hindi films, but the audience appreciates our films. And we don’t have pirated CDs for Malayali films. The distribution system is also easy in Kerala. There are no restrictions on screening timings also. You can start showing from 3am and go on the entire day,” Mehta said.
Director Anil Radhakrishnan Menon of North 24 Kaatham fame says the audience of his state are “judgemental and critical”.
“They watch everything including Korean films, so they are very critical about films we make. They like what they can relate to. Movies which show reality and not fantasy fiction works for them,” he said.
Producer A.V. Anoop believes that to make Malayalam film industry prosperous, it is important to “look at outside market”.