Development of Uttarakhand Film Industry - Comments and Suggestions by Ravi Dabral :
I appreciate views expressed by Dr. R.K. Verma and agree with him that now time has come to get united for the development of Uttarakhand Film Industry.
When films from other states / regions - Bhojpuri, Punjabi, South Indian (Tamil, Telugu, Malayam), Bengali, etc. are earning well, I think there should not be doubt in any Uttarakhandi's mind that our Film Industry can't perform well - are we Uttarakhandis lacking in anything than other regions / states people ? Ofcourse not.
In my opinion, SWOT (Strenghts, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis should be done for Uttarakhand Film Industry covering few of following areas :
1) Entrepreneurship (support of financers / young entrepreneurs), as most of the investors / businessmen in Uttarakhand still think that to invest in movie production is a risky proposition - return is very uncertain. People who had made movies in the past, mostly made with their own hard earned money having passion / craze for this line and 90% of them had burned their fingers / lost their money.
Suggestion: Entrepreneurs with professional approach (NRIs can help a lot) with keen interest and knowledge of quality work are required. Initially, a private limited company with 7 - 10 directors like Dr. R.K. Verma and Mr. Prashar Gaur having keen interest, can be formed for this purpose (company can start music albums, Uttarakhandi TV Serials for 30 minutes daily for other channels aired in Uttarakhand, reality shows, etc. etc.) and later on public issue can be floated with money from local investors and NRIs. Min. 3 years profitability by private company is preferable to float public issue (public limited company can have own TV channel, music shows, movie production, studios in Dehradun or Haldwani which can be rented out to Mumbai film people, film production equipments - lighting, camera, etc. for own and renting purposes). Thus, by this way risk can be spread over among many investors having keen interest in this line. Govt. support can be taken later on once we prove ourselves.
2) Quality (script, songs, techniques - camera, lighting, background music, choreography, acting, 70 mm screen, etc.) is not upto the mark as Uttarakhandi audience already aware of Hindi movie and songs taste. So irony is that they just compare the Uttarakhand movie quality with Hindi movie quality. Which is not good at this stage but when it comes to value for your money then i think they are right - they must get maximum return / enjoyment for their hard earned money which regret to say none of Uttarakhand movies (except for one or two movies) and music cassettes / elbums till now have done. Let us honestly admit this hard fact to improve our quality.
Suggestion: Talent hunt search for quality people / script writer / actors / song writers can be done under the guidance and patronage of experienced people to improve the quality of movies / songs.
3) Infrastructure (very few cinema halls in Uttarakhand to release movies or i don't think there is any studio in Uttarakhand for indoor shootings), exploitation of multiplex owners in Cities (Delhi, Dehradun, Mumbai, etc.). Nowadays, in Hindi films trend is to come up with many prints to recover money in one or two weeks ofcourse after heavy expenditure on movie promotion. This way most of the producers are breaking even.
Suggestion: A detailed survey of cinema halls other infrastructure facilities / studios in all 13 districts of Uttarakhand can be done in order to help producers to make budget and revenues estimate for their movies. Thumb rule is that atleast they should get break even / recovery of their movie cost.
4) Marketing / media publicity / promotion of films (in Hindi movie around 20 - 30% of movie budget is kept for film promotion) but Uttarakhand movie when it got released and when it goes off - most of the time nobody is aware.
Suggestion: Wide coverage by print and electronic media - for this purpose hiring of media professionals who are expert in this field.
As a professional having keen interest in this line, I am very hopeful and positive that if we all get united and produce good quality movies under one umbrella / fedretion then there is a very good scope and bright future for Uttarakhand Film Industry (movies, music elbums, TV serials, etc.) but need people like Dr. R.K.Verma and Mr. Prashar Gaur to lead & guide us.
Suggestions from all, specially NRIs who belongs to Uttarakhand and can come forward as investors, are welcomed for the development of Uttarakhand film industry under the leadership of Dr. R.K. Verma and Mr. Prashar Gaur. We need Gurus, Seniors and leaders like them who can inspire us all the time and guide us to proceed in this line and i am sure we can do wonders to prove that Uttarakhand Film Industry is not behind of any film industry (Bhojpuri, South Indian, Punjabi, Bengali, etc.) - we can show more quality work than these film industries as we have more natural beauty, pahads / hills, snow, trees, rivers, springs and over & above honest and hard working people - which none of these states / regions have !!!.
Best wishes and best of luck for the bright future of "Uttarakhand", "Uttarakhand Film Industry" and "Uttarakhand people".
Ravi Dabral (NRI based in Singapore): Email: ravidabral@gmail.com; Mobile: +65-81362306
- Working as Director in Associated Energy Synergies Pte. Ltd. (energy sector company), Singapore
- Company Secretary from Institute of Companies Secretaries of India (ICSI), New Delhi
- Cost & Management Accountant from Institute of Cost & Management Accountant of India (ICWAI)
- Commerce Graduate from University of Delhi.
- Diploma in Computer Application from Board of Technical Education, New Delhi
- Diploma in Film & TV Production from Film & TV Technology Institute (FTTI), Delhi
- Script and Dialogue Writer of Uttarakhandi movie - "Phyoli jawan hawegi"