So, you all agree with Aamir Khan?

Technically everyonersquos a moviemaker mdash for real or potentially That is since smartphones became nearuniversal And you could shoot edit and release online shorts videos reels with yourself as lead character of your own movies that all of us are in life anywayThis is true for all artistic pursuits mdash photography yoga makeup fashionhellip But if you introduced yourself to me as say a poet mdash Irsquod disagree until you told me what you made from itIn my unsolicited opinion itrsquos only when you derive income from a pursuit that it switches from a hobby into an identifiable profession How much you make ainrsquot important A buck will doJust that you canrsquot make a living from a buck And so amateur filmmakers aspire to be part of film industries that promise them more showcasing works on YouTube collectives network TV OTThellip Theatrical release remains the holy grailThis is where the biggest investments take place still in lieu of widest audiences The longer a film takes to make the more you load it with the cost of livinglifestyle of those involved in itWhich is why I find it strange when people balk at the idea of perhaps a screenwriter demanding R1 crore for a job Itrsquos annualbiennialtriennial income sometimes If not moreover the price to monetarily protect a fine talentExcept the bigger the finances involved the lesser the creative risk producers are willing to take Look at Hollywood All thatrsquos left of it are onesizefitsall lsquotentpolesrsquoIt wasnrsquot so in the rsquo90s the last great decade of American mainstream with widest range of cinema competing at the boxofficeAs actorproducer Matt Damon Good Will Hunting The Talented Mr Ripley put it in a videointerview that once went viral itrsquos got everything to do with the decline of DVDs ldquothat was a main part of the producerrsquos revenue stream which would reopen six months after theatrical releaseldquoOnce that went away it changed the movies we could make For a 25 million movie you put in 25 million for PampA print and advertising splitting revenue with exhibitorsldquoSo yoursquod have to make 100 million to make any profit The idea of 100 million on the kinda movies I loved and made bread and butter from became a massive game In a way that it wasnrsquot in the rsquo90srdquoDecline in DVD sales coincides with rise of OTTs that are what if not fullfledged DVD libraries OTTs pay lumpsum licensing fees for films This promise hugely helps with filmmaking budgets even while DVDs technically offered lifetime boxofficetype earningslsquoSatellitersquo TV did the same as OTT Except you had to be homefree to watch a particular film on TV at the appointed hour Primacy of theatres remained unchallengedThe MumbaiIndian OTT party got over once they linked licensing fees to theatrical footfalls bamboozling risktakersproducers both ways simultaneously Audiences donrsquot go into theatres for certain kinda films knowing itrsquoll get on OTT That film makes less from OTT because nobody came into theatres Whatrsquos the solutionActorproducer Aamir Khan says the problem is with the ldquobusiness modelrdquo where you demand ticket prices for a film that audiences have already paid subscription fee for once it gets on their OTT platform eight weeks laterAamirrsquos Laapataa Ladies barely made anything in theatres If Irsquom not mistaken it was watched by more people on Netflix than Ranbir Kapoorrsquos blockbuster Animal What did the producer gain LittleAamir also argues for more cinemas in India Which sounds ironic given fewer are anyway entering theatres But itrsquos not considering so many North Indian districtstowns have no cinemas at all Where do they watch theatrical releasesSinglescreens were usually too huge as audis to sustain four shows 365 days Several shut down People got smartphones in their handsNews reports suggest Aamir has decided to release his next film Sitaare Zameen Par online for payperview PPV bypassing OTTs altogetherPPVs are closest to DVDs that of course you canrsquot touchfeel But therersquos the same intentionality in the transaction You pay for exactly what you wanna watch As against with OTTs where algorithms usually throw up what to catch nextFlip side itrsquos on YouTuberegular Internet that in popular imagination is still perceived as free As per a new EY report over 50 per cent of Internet consumes pirated content As it is this issue applies to OTTtheatrical releasesHas PPV been a success in the past globally A couple of times yes Disneyrsquos Black Widow Universalrsquos Trolls World Tour Outside of films mdash with live sports for the longestHave I done a PPV Last time with Anora because itrsquod won Best Picture Oscar the same day First time with Salman Khanrsquos Radhe for work during pandemic I couldnrsquot even pay attentionAt least between Salman and Aamir let alone others you know the latter stands the greatest chance with a captive audience given credibility earned over a couple of decades of memorable movies and hersquos out with a film only once a coupla yearsThe last question to ask is if this will work We know somethingrsquos desperately not working with Bollywood anyway I can feel the gloom in Andheri At least someonersquos looking at the problem differently Mayank Shekhar attempts to make sense of mass cultureHe tweets mayankw14 Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paperatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params