"Red Chillies is trying to make a lot of films with good content" Says GAURAV VERMA

By Jyothi Venkatesh

How did you get in touch with Manish Mundra to offer to distribute Kaamyaab for Red Chillies?

I connected with Manish through Twitter. Manish told me that he was working on multiple projects and added that Kaamyaab was a special film on film business and on why the film business is special and people who make the industry exciting. I was happy and touched when I saw the film and hence wanted to be a part of the film. I was happy that he trusted me with his beautiful film.

Red Chillies seems to be targeting making films which are content oriented!

Red Chillies is trying to make a lot of films with good content.  Like Ittefaq, Bard of Blood. Bob Biswas, with Sujay Ghosh, Badla, Kaamyaab etc. The idea is to come up with various properties under one umbrella. It is a challenge as well as an opportunity to step in and test our capability and reinforce that we can offer the consumers various genres as producers. We were lucky we could back a unique film like Kaamyaab. The world today has changed since the 80’s. It was theatrical earlier in the 80’s. In 90’s the Home Video ruled and dictated the terms to producers. Now a lot of layers have been added in terms of monetization.

How confident are you of recovering the cost of making Kaamyaab?

In the long run, with various options at our disposal, besides theatrical release, we are sure that we would be able to recover the cost of making of Kaamyaab. You see the world has changed a lot now. After music, today we have digital, TV, theatrical outlets today but there is certain security because it has put us in the comfort zone but at the same time there is no guarantee at all at the box office. We do not like to target any film for us for only festivals because I feel that we are undermining the audiences if we say that a film is only for festivals. Today, there is no guarantee a film will get back its cost of making but if a story touches the hearts and the character touches the right nerves, people will chase good stories and will definitely lap it up. People choose good stories and accept content without even known stars. Like Newton did for Manish and changed the way for him. He took a film which was in the fringes and brought it to centerfold. Manish deserves the credit for taking up films which were lying in the cans in the fringes and set out to exploit them.

Which are your five best films till date?

It is very difficult to pick and choose one’s five best films as a producer. Your first love is always your best love. For me, Aankhan Dekhi will always be my first love. Then follows films like Newton, Dhanak, Masaan, Waiting and Kadvi Hawa, which was the least successful at the box office.

How tough is it to market digitally today?

It is for the first time that we had marketed to the consumers across digitally. Today the internet has more consumers than even TV to reach the consumers. We have learnt this from our past experience with Newton and reaching out to the audiences in 150 odd locations which will cover 30 odd cities. It is kind of unique in multiple ways.

Are you planning to tap the OTT market to recover the costs of making Kaamyaab?

We have not yet decided on the OTT channels to market our film, because we feel that OTT is kind of home entertainment and hence it should be secondary to theatre.  Across the globe, distributors are in a tug of war discussing about what the window should be between the theatrical release and the digital or the TV release of the films. It is about how good a film is at the turnstiles.Though in a piracy prone world you cannot hold on to a film for too long, it is set very unlikely that OTT and Theatrical release is likely to be on the same day. OTT has a very personalized space of its own whereas a film is a social experience, like dining out though we can get the best possible food at home.

You were an exhibitor initially, if I am not mistaken. How did you start your career in the first place?
I had started my career with PVR Cinemas way back in 1997 with PVR Anupam in Delhi in various capacities when the multiplex system had started. I worked with them for five years in various capacities. Then I came to Mumbai to film distributor Shravan Shroff of Shringar Films initially and Fame Cinemas multiplex later and helped him initially in programming and then expand his footprints all over India. Then I joined PVR in production activities when they started Taare Zameen Par with Aamir Khan and Jaane Tu Ya Naa Jaane Na .

What are the various films that Red Chillies is making right now?

We are making a film called Bob Biswas, which is based on a derivative of a character who had acted in Kahaani. We are also making a web series called Betaal, Class of 83 for Netflix and a few more films. We believe in backing films with good story tellers and let the consumers decide whether they want to see that. Today the power is in the finger tips of the consumer. It brings the product easily within your reach. You have got to decide on what you have to see as Home Entertainment and what you want to see in theatre because as many as 200 films are being released in Hindi every year.

Is Red Chillies also planning to get into regional film production?

Red Chillies wants to get into the regional Cinema sooner or later. The reason we have not yet made our foray into regional markets at Red Chillies is that unfortunately we do not understand Tamil, Malayalam or Telugu and we cannot just enter for the sake of entering. Today there is no language barrier for those making content and what matters is that you should make or back good content, whatever be the language, whether it is Hindi, Tamil or for that matter Telugu. Narcos is a popular series from abroad. It is not even in English but in Spanish. If you can consume it across four seasons, it means that people can easily relate to emotions with sub titles, like they have proved amply with the Oscar award winning Korean film Parasite. Language barrier has moved and today there is absolutely no language barrier at all.