Fodder for your brain, people: this week's column on Open magazine by Rajeev Masand.
With no stars in his film, the studio bankrolling the project felt Rs 12 crore was a reasonable enough budget for this director’s Gujarat-set drama on friendship. No wonder they balked when he delivered the film at a price tag of Rs 16 crore. A close look at account books revealed lavish indulgences where there shouldn’t have been any. A studio insider claims the director’s personal ‘meals expenses’ came to a whopping Rs 65 lakh! That aside, there were major production snafus, which resulted in technicians quitting the film midway, and general chaos during outdoor schedules.
According to some, the studio head was so upset with the way things were going, he’d more or less made up his mind to curb all further expenditure on the film.
But when the director apparently assembled a first cut, you could see attitudes change. Suddenly, the studio didn’t care that the film had gone “slightly over- budget” and now began making plans to launch an expensive promotional campaign for it. Suffice to say the director felt vindicated, and the studio very relieved.
Now they’re only hoping that the film’s box- office performance gives them no reason to break yet into another sweat.