At 74 years and with more than five decades in the film industry, M. Saravanan has seen it all as a film producer. That too in one of the best known banners in the country. But, he does not fit your image of a typical film industry person.

Storyline disappears Saravanan is soft-spoken, courteous to a fault, conservative in this modern glitzy world of movies and yet, respected by all those associated with the world of make-believe.

As partner of AVM Productions, Saravanan has been a witness to the changes that the industry has gone through. From the era of family entertainers, where a storyline is important, films are now predominantly made with the younger audience in mind. In this transition, Saravanan says the story has taken a backseat.

Ask him how the film industry has changed in the last two decades, Saravanan says the cost of making a movie has increased phenomenally. No one talks of lakhs of rupees any more. It is all in crores, he says. A hero after one successful film asks for stratospheric sums.

He recalls a film that AVM had produced long back, when the total cost of production was about Rs 30 lakh and the hero, a star much bigger than most modern-day ones, got just 10 per cent of the cost as salary. The film was sold at a conservative 10 per cent profit margin. “And everyone was happy,” he says.

Cost of production Now, the same movie may cost several times more to make. He would not even hazard a guess. Everyone’s salary has jumped several times. The actors’ salary alone works out to about 60 per cent of the total cost of production. Commensurate with this, all others associated with the making of a film — directors, cameramen, technicians — demand higher salaries.

Saravanan says there is nothing wrong in actors asking for a huge jump in salary after a successful movie. It is just that AVM is not sure if it can afford to pay that much and still make a profit. He recalls the lesson that his father, the late A.V. Meiyappan, taught him: Profit is secondary. Will you be able to bear the loss? If you can, then go ahead and produce the movie.

“That is what we have been following. We always look at whether we can afford the loss. We must safeguard our interests. We have been able to bear the losses so far. Now we are not so sure and are scared,” says Saravanan. That is why AVM has taken a break from producing films. It does only TV serials and lets out the studio for recording television shows.

According to him, only a little over a tenth of the movies produced now, especially in the South, make a profit. Another tenth, may break-even. The rest, make a loss. The last two decades have seen a number of new producers — those with other business interests — entering the field.

An exaggeration What about movies that are made with a Rs 100-crore or more budget, you ask him. He says films themselves are an exaggeration, transporting people into a world of make-believe. When you are sad, you sing a song. When you are happy, you prance around trees and sing a song. Likewise, with the budget. Saravanan feels the advent of television channels sounded the death knell of family entertainers.

The middle-class audience stopped watching movies in cinemas. Earlier, if the women came out of the cinemas happy after watching a film, the producers knew they had a success.

Now, the middle-class women prefer watching serials on television. And, they know that one of the TV channels will telecast the movie within a few months of its release. Now, films are made for the youth and the working class, which explains the fight scenes and the romance. The story somehow finds a place between all these.

A shorter run Films also do not run for long now, because there are a lot more films being produced. Beyond four to eight weeks, if the films are still being screened in cinemas, it is only “prestige run,” according to him.

Success is not guaranteed like in the old days. Now, movies are just one form of entertainment, unlike earlier when it was the only source of entertainment for the entire family. Even two decades back, about 40-50 films would get released every year. Now the number is close to 200. This means that films have a shorter run in the cinemas now than before. Till the 1980s, it was difficult for an actor to get a break. Once in, the actor would sustain for a long run. Now, the entry is easy and the exit is also fast.

Technology Technology has changed dramatically. Most films are now shot on digital. The technicians in the South Indian film industry are second to none. There is a lot more transparency in the way films are funded. Cinemas, too, have become modern and have the latest in projection and audio systems.

Why is it that not many of the film production houses in the south have gone for a listing on the stock exchanges? Saravanan says the South Indian film industry is still conservative in its outlook. There is nothing great about getting listed. You will then be answerable to your shareholders too.

He explains AVM’s philosophy as: you should be able to eat your meal in peace, so that it gets digested without any problem and you should be able to sleep peacefully.

What is the future of films in the light of so many other forms of entertainment available now? “As long as there is life (on earth), films will survive. It may be in different form. Technology may change. Films cannot be destroyed. Movies will survive the test of time,” says Saravanan.

As if to prove this point, Saravanan’s twin 25-year-old grand-daughters, the fourth generation, have joined the family business.

And, they have just finished producing a 55-minute film that will be released on television and the Internet. A first for AVM.

> ramakrishnan.n@thehindu.co.in

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