Writer and director Dibakar Banerjee, known for critically acclaimed films like LSD and Shanghai, voiced his concerns about the shifting landscape of Bollywood. In a recent interview, Banerjee highlighted the detrimental effects of multiplex culture, and the commercialisation of cinema.
According to Banerjee, the demise of single-screen theaters, and the rise of expensive multiplexes, have created an unsustainable business model. Speaking to the Social Ketchup Binge, he said, “If you kill single screens, if you make extremely expensive multiplexes in the malls… and you are setting yourself up for somebody to walk in into a vacuum because you have made the multiplexes but now the multiplexes are now very expensive to maintain so it has to run to a very different business standard.”
Dibakar Banerjee’s #KhoslaKaGhosla! (2006) gets a re-release – in cinemas Oct 18th. @AnupamPKher @bomanirani @pathakvinay @PraveenDabas @RanvirShorey @tarasharmasaluj @KiranJuneja #NavinNischal #NiteshPandey pic.twitter.com/d5HgyBbZI1
— CinemaRare (@CinemaRareIN) September 27, 2024
Banerjee further stated that the shift has led to a monopolization of the industry, where big studios and distributors dictate the terms. “All kinds of relationships with the multiplexes, with the big studios, the distributors and decide how much time, in the multiplexes, a film would be, based on its star power, and its perceived value.” This, Banerjee said, affects marketing strategies and the overall viability of smaller, independent films.
Banerjee also spoke about his personal struggles with the system. He added, “These are the kind of problems that I have always faced. What has happened is, after the killing of the single screens, and (building) the multiplex and the (Rs) 100 crore budgets and extremely inflated star fees which weigh down a film in such a way that for it to make money, it has to really go for an all or nothing approach.”
1/3
Not much is spoken about Dibakar Banerjee’s humour, unless he puts it front and centre like in Khosla ka Ghosla or Oye Lucky Lucky Oye. For me #LSD2 was his funniest, weirdest film in years. The entire film felt like a meme within a parody within a meme.
Wry, cruel & absurd. pic.twitter.com/n8NiiKsCBG
— PrayRona (@PrayRona_) June 15, 2024
The filmmaker believes that the current landscape stifles diversity and creativity in mainstream cinema. “It is not really a place where variety can exist. It is a place where you have to throw in a lot of capital and hog everything else and not let anything else survive because the money you give that leeway, you will sort of disappear.”
In conclusion, Banerjee said, “So, if you are doing something absolutely new with no known faces… then you have to, something we’ll have to give. So you know you are going to be edged out.”
See Also: Dibakar Banerjee On Sensationalism Around Sushant Singh Rajput’s Death: ‘A Gate to Misery Porn’