Surya Vasishta made his debut directorial with the drama Saramsha, which follows an aspiring writer who has to battle his own insecurities, lack of support, and the world to make his dreams come true. The film stars Vasishta himself, along with Sruthi Hariharan and Deepak Subramanya.
Saramsha was released on February 15 along with many other films such as KTM, Abbabba, Shakahari, and more. Close to fifty Kannada films have been released in theatres so far in 2024 and the third month of the year has just begun. Each week sees at least five releases at a time. Though not many star-led films have been out in the recent past, the industry still sees many releases from low to mid-budget films, giving the audiences too many choices for a single weekend.
“Half of the films that have been released in the past three months have been released the past week,” jokes Surya Vasishta, “But seriously, when thirteen films are released in one week at a time, it is a very difficult task for exhibitors to program the screenings. Everyone wants a primetime show and I heard that there are regulatory systems in place in Chennai limiting the number of films that can be released. I was told that I had to fight for such a system.”
With a city like Bangalore competing with not just films from one industry but from several others such as Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali, and more, Surya Vasishta opines that a regulatory system is needed wherein only a limited number of films hit screens in a week. He also pitched the idea of promoting each other’s films to eliminate the concept of competition.
“We are in a transition phase where we are still attached to the terms ‘100 days’ and ‘50 days,’” says Vasishta, “Today’s reality is completely different. It’s a miracle if a film lasts for a weekend. There are so many avenues to watch films. A family needs to properly plan for going to the theater. How do we be empathetic to that and still make economically viable films.”
Building on the topic of bringing audiences to the cinema and the chaotic release schedules, Sruthi Hariharan adds, “Another dilemma that we face is the affordability of the audience. If thirteen films are releasing in a week, middle-class audiences cannot afford to buy tickets for all of them. Nor can they afford to spend on the experience of going out as well, such as spending on popcorn and travel. It takes at least ₹1,000 for one person to go for a film. How can a person spend that much frequently?”
Is there a solution to this? Surya Vasishta and Sruthi Hariharan opine that a properly structured system that regulates releases and makes the process easier is a possible solution to the problems faced by the industry. “I am learning a lot by exploring this side of filmmaking,” says Vasishta, “It is a process that deserves a lot of criticism but I don’t know how to because I am learning so much from a marketing perspective or from a psychological perspective.”
“I don’t know if this is a problem faced by foreign films as well, but there really is no structure here,” says Sruthi, “It is driven by everything else but art. Why do we make films? For who do we make films? Beyond all these basic questions, we are talking business.”