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Cinema will die, or will it ?

Our planet is going through one of the first such event where the entire world has come to a stand still. No one in his or her wildest of dreams would have ever imagined something like this. Nobody could have wondered that their entire life would be turned upside down within a span of days and they would have to surrender to their home premises or where ever they are for months to come.

Our planet has got an opportunity to breathe , to heal. We have witnessed some powerful changes that just a few months of interruption in consumption pattern has brought. Rivers have come back to life, mountains are visible again, some of the extinct wildlife has resurfaced and many more. Moreover Humans as a species have got a rare chance to stop, slow down, spend time with themselves, introspect, and connect with their family and loved ones. The race has halted for a brief interval. That is one of the biggest blessing’s of Covid I can count.

Covid-19 has not left any aspect of life and its bearings untouched. Everything is affected. And everything will change, for good. Life will not be same again. Nor will the industries. The whole function and dynamics of all the industries will change. Human functioning will change. There will be entire washouts of some industries; where as some new forms of workability will take their place.

Being an independent Film Producer and a hardcore fan of real, meaningful Cinema, it pains my heart to see and predict that Cinema as a medium and Cinema Theatres as a business model will also see a major change because of this pandemic. Although like anything, there will be also be some good that will come out of it, and chisel the industry for better. I would like to throw some light on how Cinema will change due to the Pandemic.

Cinema will die, or will it? This is one of the questions that I can see lingering in the air since people really came to terms with Corona and its implications. Well, Cinema is a old age improved form of performed arts which originated when we were foraging as cavemen. It gradually evolved into Theatre and then with the advent of visual and audio technology, evolved into the Cinema that we see today. Now, I don’t think anybody can deny the fact, that nothing is permanent. Everything is changing, each moment, even while you are reading this, you are changing, you are different person that you were a second ago, your nails and hair have grown a bit long in the last one second, the earth we are positioned on, is changing its place, orbiting around the sun, which is orbiting around Milky way, which in turn is orbiting around Virgo Cluster and so on. So Yes, Cinema will also change, it will grow into something new and maybe more exciting.

With the advent of superfast Internet speeds, giving birth to streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon prime, the change was at the doorstep. We have already been a witness to their growing prowess in the last few Oscar Nominations where a streaming production took away most of the awards.

The rate and the conventional dynamics of people going to a Cinema Screen has changed considerably in the last few years because of the option to see the best of the best content sitting in the comfort of your couch. And Covid is going to be a final inevitable undeniable nail in the coffin of traditional Cinema. But there’s more to it.

A major event that we have seen during Covid is that of big studios releasing their films on Digital Platforms, because of the uncertainty over the functioning of Cinema Halls in the near future. Being locked at home and only having access to digital mobile medium as the only Content Provider had anyway made an average person more used to using it and watching content in his palms in the last two months, but release of such big budget films on digital platforms and people having no option but to watch it there, will make them further get used to this new arrangement and break the psychological glass ceiling in their head. It will set the norm and culture of such consumption pattern for future.

The kind of films that are made for Cinema Screen viewing has also changed significantly. These days, and more so in future, big budget, larger than life films are being and will be made especially for Cinema screen viewing that can immerse the audience in an experience that home viewing cannot thankfully replicate or replace currently. The small budget films and content will cater to digital mediums and it makes sense also because it takes a lot of money and resources to release any film in a theatre and the producer has to earn at least 2.5 times the investment to recover his money, after promotion expenses, distribution costs, theatre fees, taxes etc. Then there is another issue of fighting for a slot to be released and to not to be crushed by big players and finally there is no guarantee of film being a success. So it makes it quite a gamble. Big studios have deep pockets and work on an assembly line model and hence can sustain this model. Earlier small films did not have an option to release their films elsewhere and be a slave to such a difficult model but now because of digital foray, an entire new viable option has taken birth and is here to stay. And it is a welcome change. Film distribution model in India was severely screwed and desperately needed some major revamp. Covid will be play the part of balancing act for Cinema’s and its distribution model and will definitely improve its economics and structure for future.

So Cinema will open, and will open in style, as we are all waiting anxiously to go to a Cinema hall just to see a film without any interruption, on a large screen with world class audio and visual standards, that smell of popcorn and comfort of that recliner, immersing ourselves in that grand experience, being lost in the story and the lives of characters on the screen, laughing and crying with them. But how it is done might change. Like anywhere else, one will have to take precaution and there will better and more controlled hygiene and sanitation standards. Even the shoot standards will change how films are made. How intimate scenes are shot will change. These will change the energies of the story and it could be quite noticeable when you see a film.

Finally, one major change that we have seen in this industry is film festivals being cancelled across the globe. All the major film festivals across the world like Cannes, Venice, Toronto, Tribeca, Berlin Film Festival and others have got cancelled and they have joined forces to start a new online Film Festival called “We are One Global Film Festival” which currently happening entirely on Youtube. This in itself is a huge change in how we have always experienced film festivals in the past. Covid has forced the pattern to be changed. Earlier the best of world cinema was screened at these festivals and you had to be there physically to experience it. But now because of Covid, it has been forced to come into your lap. This festival started on May 28th and I feel privileged to have already seen some of the best global films this year sitting at my house.

To conclude, human beings as a species have always been an invincible and unflinching force that has defeated any adversity that has come its way, and has risen better and stronger from the ashes. I have absolutely no doubt that it will be the same for my favorite art form i.e. Cinema and I am excited about the prospects of how it will evolve and continue to engulf us, sensitize us and fascinate us in a much better way and form than ever before.

Remember Cinema is Magic, and Magic never dies.

To Cinema and its power.

Flair Contrubutor: Harsh Agarwal Co-Founder, Uncombed Buddha Pvt Ltd. www.uncombedbuddha.com

Producers of “Nasir” (2020) , “Nirvana Inn” (2019) & “Ghode Ko Jalebi Khilane Le Jaa Riya Hoon” ( 2019)

“Nasir” competed for hugely coveted Tiger Awards at IFFR, Rotterdam and was winner of NETPAC award there. It is one of the only two feature films from India selected for We Are One Global Film Festival ( 2020) which has been curated by Cannes, Venice, Toronto, Tribeca, Berlin Film Festival and others. It has received highly prestigious reviews from Critics around the world and is being called the most relevant film to come out of India in 2020.

“Nirvana Inn” starring Adil Hussain, whose three films have been nominated for Oscar premiered at Busan Film Festival and will be on a Major OTT soon.

“Ghode Ko Jalebi Khilane Le Jaa Riya Hoon” also got the rare privilege to visit Sundance Film Festival.

One of our other projects has been directed by a National Award Winner Director and is yet to release and the other one is competing for a BFI GRANT, London.

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