Have Public Money, Will Promote Clan

By Meena Iyer

If Karan Johar were to produce a megaflick on the subject, the tagline could possibly be ‘It’s all about promoting your parivar’. Nepotism, the scourge of Indian politics and Hindi movies, which has been alive and kicking for decades now, has gotten a new twist with the entry of the corporates: a lot more (public) money to play around with, ergo, greater opportunities for wannabe parivar members.

Of course, even before the corporates made their loaded entry, examples abounded. Govinda got his brother Kirti Kumar a direct entry into film-making. Aishwarya Rai’s mother, Brinda Rai, turned scriptwriter after her daughter made it big. Priyanka Chopra’s father, Dr Ashok Chopra, fancies himself as a playback singer, and has now become one. Salman Khan’s brothers, Arbaaz and Sohail, are appendages producers have had to suffer. And when he was in a magnanimous mood, Aamir Khan thrust bro Faisal down viewers’ throats in Mela.

In a nutshell: if you are to the Bollywood manor born, you will force yourself on the audience without bothering to check if you have the talent or the fortitude. And why not? If Amitabh Bachchan’s son can be given 12 chances to hit the box-office jackpot or Rishi Kapoor’s son can be declared a superstar even before his first success, then Bollywood should afford equal opportunities to every son, daughter, wife, stepmother and sister to improve their lot. And corporate funding, as a trade source points out, is doing exactly this.

Flush with money from public issues, Bollywood families have tasted blood. When the Reliance ADAG group reportedly gave Rs 230 crore to Farhan Akhtar and his partner Ritesh Sidhwani to make six films, Farhan launched himself as a hero in Rock On, and his sister Zoya Akhtar and mother Honey Irani, and even his stepmother’s brother Baba Azmi, as directors. When Eros International sanctioned Rs 200 crore to Kumar Mangat, Ajay Devgan’s faithful secretary of 20 years, he brought his daughter Amita Pathak out of the closet and made her a heroine in Haal-e-Dil, a film that ran for three shows. Vipul Shah and his wife Shefali are likely to appear together in a Vipul production and Abbas Tyrewala, post-Jaane Tu… wants to cast wife Pakhi in his next film.

When questioned on the trend, film corporation honchos have their strong defence statements ready. Says Rajesh Sawhney, the big daddy from Reliance ADAG’s film production sector, “If we had our way, we would make 30 films with Farhan and Ritesh. They are young and have vision. Look at their impeccable track record. They made Dil Chahta Hai, Don, Lakshya and Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd, all of which are hits. And we are therefore keen to partner them for as many films as possible.”

A correction here. Lakshya was a dud; Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd an average grosser. But Sawhney has a point in that Farhan Akhtar definitely thinks young; definitely shows signs of occasionally thinking out of the box.

“When a corporate funds a production house like that of Sohail Khan or Farhan Akhtar, they do so because these guys have proved themselves with their productions,” says Siddharth Roy Kapur of UTV. “They have the required clout within the industry to put a project forward; and they’ve also given hits. Every film corporation wants a long-term alliance with these makers.” Roy Kapur feels there is nothing wrong with a film corporation forging an alliance with a film family and says the decision is weighed purely by professional capability. “The family tie is just coincidental.”

Of course, sceptics argue that the easy money is allowing Bollywood unlimited self-indulgence. A producer points out, “Farhan Akhtar or Shirish Kunder are game to experimenting as leading men in movies because they have money at hand for such endeavours. When they had to pick up traditional funding, then Farhan chased only superstars who were safe box-office bets for his projects.”

A marketing man believes that Farhan’s attempt at acting in Rock On is a “feasible experiment”. “If things go awry, he still won’t lose much,” he says. “And if things go right, then Bollywood has one more hero. Corporate coffers have their uses.” Adds a trade source who subscribes to the same logic, “Of the 125-odd films, barely six have passed muster. Most of the duds this year have had reputed heroes at the helm. If a reputed hero can sink a few crores down the drain, why not a new hero?”

Mahesh Bhatt also believes there is nothing wrong with corporations putting all their eggs in one film family’s basket, but he warns that if the money is used to consolidate only their kin, without nurturing talent from outside or providing opportunities to the deserving, the edifice will come tumbling down like a pack of cards. “After all,” he concludes, “only talent and vision can infuse life into a crumbling system.”

meena.iyer@timesgroup.com

(c) 2008 The Times of India. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.