Guest Blogger Kay Kay Menon : Sankat Cinema
Pankaj Advani, director of Sankat City, invited Kay Kay Menon, to guest blog on PFC. Kay Kay’s graciously accepted the invite and here’s his first PFC Guest Blog
Sankat Cinema
A question has been pestering me for quite some years now –
“Who is to blame when good cinema does not do good business?”
I’ve come to a conclusion of late. The answer is – the audience.
The fate of cinema, good or bad, lies fair and square on the audience. Hence I find it amusing/sad/frustrating when I hear comments like ‘it was a good film, but it didn’t do well’. I’m writing this piece with the hope that the people reading it would atleast start a change.
To further my point, a few more questions. Why did ‘Gulaal’ not do well? Why did ‘Black Friday’ not do well? Why did ‘Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisi” not do well? So on and so forth…
Now a request. Please don’t make me ask this question, “why did ‘Sankat City’ not do well?!”
Sankat City is a film that is not only thoroughly entertaining but also an intelligent piece of work – a rare combination. This film might, against all odds, prove the fact that a non-stop mad/nonsensical/funny/entertaining film can also be intelligent.
For me it is the first time that I have attempted working in this kind of a genre. Now what genre it is, is for the pundits and the analysts to decide. But one thing I can guarantee you, that you would be entertained to the edge of your seat. The film has a motley of extremely talented actors, including veterans like Anupam Kher. If there is any person who comes out of the theatre after seeing the film and does not have a smile or a giggle on his or her face, needs to seriously consult a psychiatrist.
For me personally it was a roller-coaster ride. I have attempted many aspects of performance for the first time in this film. Never before have I attempted so many long scenes in one shot. Never before have I felt the seamless energy running through the performance, namely because of the long one-shot scenes, akin to what I used to experience on stage. Never before have the high points of a scene revealed themselves to me while performing, rather than having some idea of it before attempting the scene. Never before have I attempted a Woody Allenish sense of comedy. Never before have I seen in Hindi films so many long one- shot scenes, so effectively done by the director and the cinematographer. Never before have I shot for a whole day in a garbage dump-yard. Never before have I shot in more than 50 locations for a film. Never before have I done an out-and-out physical comedy.
The director’s technique of shooting the film allowed each one of us as actors to improvise whole-heartedly within the parameters of the narrative, so much so, that we often surprised ourselves. And this didn’t pertain itself just to shooting, it extended even into the dubbing process.
This film has helped me discover more facets of acting, which I didn’t know, existed within me. Very few films which are funny and mad at the script level, render themselves to be equally mad and funny on celluloid. Sankat City is one of them. In fact, it is madder!
So, coming back to my first point, it is upto the audience to elevate the standard of cinema in our country. Trust me, there are fantastic filmmakers that exist here. Give them a chance to make superior cinema. All you have got to do is to promote and patronize good cinema, the same way you promote and patronize bad films.
We can do only as much as making an excellent film. To nurture it is your prerogative. Please don’t let us ask that question again, “who is to blame when good cinema does not do good business”.
We promise to keep making good cinema, provided you promise to be a a good audience. I hope you wouldn’t let us down this time.
“Kabhi dhobi ke ooper gadha baitha dekha hai? Yahaan dikhega. Aur bhagwaan ke peechche shaitan? Woh bhi dikhega. Welcome to Sankat City.” – Kay Kay Menon as Guru in Sankat city.
- blogged by Kay Kay Menon on PFC
Tags: Guest Blogger, Sankat City
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Nice! Welcome aboard Kay Kay… of the brat pack, u were missing here!
A very warm welcome Kay kay. it is a previlege to have you blog on PFC. Would love to see you blog more here, share your immense experience working with different set ups and different teams, attempting something new everytime you are in front of the camera.
Coming to the point you raised..how is audience to blame when majority of them havent even got an itsy bitsy glimpse of a good movie releasing near them? Why do good movies have the least publicity?
Whoa! Powerful! You may not be right, but whatever it is, it’s powerful for one!
If you could make a similar 1-min ad govt makes for various campaigns like Polio/AIDS/Bird-Flu/Malaria, and air it on all popular channels, it’ll really give janta a jhatka.
You should blog once in a while. But not so much that you stop acting ! :D
Big fan, btw. Keep rocking!
Kay Kay Menon: Thanks for the post…I think what you are saying actually worked with 99 the film…I myself saw the movie in US…then sent emails to all my friends in india n US [they did not even knew a film called 99 even existed..they thought it was an english movie)…updated my status message saying “99 is a must watch”…Used all my accounts…gmail, orkut, facebook etc…like me other people spread the word which resulted in 99 as one of the few hits of this year..
omg! Kay Kay Menon on PFC?! AWESOME!!! very happy to see you blogging here and i really hope you continue to blog on PFC regularly.
regarding your conclusion that it is the audience that is to be blamed if “good cinema does not do good business” that is not entirely true. many times people don’t even know of these films belonging to the “good cinema” category. there is seldom sufficient promotion for such films even though it is such films which desperately need to be promoted more. tahaan, amal, via darjeeling, barah aanaa, etc. these films had such little promotion. i fail to understand why someone would spend so much time and energy on making a film and then neglect the marketing/pr component. if these “good cinema” films are promoted intensely and still audiences don’t view the films at theaters, then, yes, the audiences are to be blamed.
film distribution is also an issue sometimes…many times jo films sach mei dekhne laayak hote hain woh sab countries/states mei screen hi nahin hote :-(
With all due respect Kay Kay, I wonder if you asked another question – did the filmmakers (the ones with the most interest at stake) do everything they could to promote the film they just made? For low budget films, I am not sure if they possess the means to do this either…
I know PFC and similar sites are great avenues for marketing good cinema, but you may get a couple thousand folks tops. The average Joe (or Hari) next door needs to be told loud and clear and in precise terms on the release of a new film and how his life would benefit from viewing it… The intelligent movie going population don’t usually hear of a “99″ or “Little Zizou” until its out on some pirated DVD… till then its fate is reduced to pseudo-intellectual discussion on these boards
Welcome to the cyber world…
Lets add Never before did a movie marketed so weakly succeed like this one.. :-)
Yes, it’s sad and unfortunate that great movies often do not succeed.
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I think movies like Gulal and Black Friday did find their audience, but this group is quite small and niche. I don’t think it’s fair to attribute *full* blame to the audience though. I don’t think that the artists/movie-makers are *entitled* to get a good response from the audience. The entertainment industry is a market, and like any other market, it’s driven by *demand*. I think it’s up to the movie-makers to push the envelop as much as they can so that fewer compromises are made with *art* while catering to public-demand. (On the other hand, if the artist is making a piece of art for art’s sake, then she shouldn’t be complaining about how the aam aadmi responds to that.) You can not expect every mom-and-pop to flock to the theatre to watch all “good” movies – at least in our country, at least for now… ‘good’ movies and ‘hit’ movies are not synonymous.
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Having said that, I think the audience is growing matured and getting out of that age-old “movies must be entertaining/feel-good” mentality.
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I wish success to Sankat City. I am a big fan of your acting skills, and I am sure this is going to be yet another movie to cherish.
Great to see you blog here, Kay Kay.
Good films need to find their audiences beyond the opening weekend. With three weeks to go for Sankat City’s release, I hope it gets adequate and sustained publicity.
As you’ve written it’s a non-stop mad/nonsensical/entertaining film made intelligently. This is perhaps what the audiences are waiting for.
Hey Kay Kay…Kaisey ho, kuch din pehley Sudhir se tumhari baatcheet ho rahi thi..many Chanda guys from the late seventies and early eighties have reunited…
Nice to see you here. Best of luck with Sankat City…needless to say, I see all of your movies..
If you want the audience to be appreciating good movies even though a film is not well marketed, you should be making tamil movies.
Tamil audience have resurrected movies after a dull opening weekend and made them hits.
I think all low budget good movies, should target Home Video,DTH route to recover cost(and make profit)..
These movies have great repeat value, and people want to see it again and again to grasp every minute detail the director wanted to convey…
anyways, nice to see Kay kay on PFC, if you are reading this, your were simply superb in “Chhal”..
Keep rocking…
great post. valid questions raised! warm welcome to PFC. hope u blog more here. its a proud privilege for all of us to hear from you. but yes, a good film will do good business only if you INFORM the people through all channels possible.
Welcome aboard PFC Kay Kay! I agree the audience is to blame to an extent but as most people have indicated, the distributors need to back the movie as well with more promoional investment. You cannot apply a percentage of production budget formula for promotion of low budget movies.
I d o not think audience is to blame, it is producers and directors to blame, audience can not choose what to see or not,they are rejecting bad movies left and right, this can been known by our hit and flop ratio in recent times, then to if producers are to blame if they keep on churning old stuff.
Other case is some good movies have so weak promotional plan that even before audience knows the movie is taken of from cinemas.Odd timings of the movie is also a factor.
Agree fully Kay Kay…Without people movement cinema cannot change….
The Indian audience, particulary conniosseurs of Follywood, not only enjoy the nonsense served in the name of cinema but are also proud of it….This idiotic viscious cycle has to end…
Welcome to PFC… Anger and anguish is there in many sections audience as well at the large chunk of trash repeatedly fed into theatres…Most of us vent it out in PFC blogs…good cinema, especially, good regional cinema being completely ignored alongwith the distinctive material like ‘Hazaron…’, ‘Black Friday’ and all…’Black Friday’ , if commercially unsuccessful, is definitely an unpardonable crime committed by the Indian audience on cinema….
Its nice to see you improve leaps and bounds with every film as a real intense performer whom Om Puri would be proud of naming as a worthy successor….Hope future has better things in store for you and us….Please do blog more…
Hey Kay Kay…you made valid points in the blog.I hope good cinema prevails and also gets the audience it deserves.Welcome to PFC Kay Kay!!
Wow! Kay Kay Menon is here! Welcome! Firstup, Keep up the good work going and we are waiting to see you in challenging roles like the one you’ve mentioned and ‘Thank you’ Pankaj Sir for making this happen.
Waiting to watch the ‘never-before’ category that you’ve mentioned coming alive on screen. I can really see the team-work and the dedication in the last pic to the right, all glued to the screen. We at PFC always crave for sensible and contemporary cinema, and ‘Sankat City’ does fall in that category. The Indian audience is also becoming mature and open. I can see the pain, because some of your hard-work has not been recognized and some of these movies did fail. But, your are a great actor and your future will be great and the movies you’ve chosen will work well. All the best Kay Kay!!!
Hi Kay Kay,
Nice to hear from you. But you see — there are constraints for people like me staying in the US who don’t have access to the so-called “offbeat” films. Until recently before it closed down, there was this theatre close-by which used to screen Hindi movies. But, somehow, this idea seems to be doing the rounds that NRI-s ought to be fed only the blockbusters (well, how do you know a film’s a blockbuster even before it’s released : first, it has all the right names, and second, it uses all the right formulas). Anyway, so this theater screened only those formula-based khichri-s (the movies I sat through in that theater are “Rab ne Bana di Jodi” and “Bachna Ae Haseeno” –hope you get the idea)And hence a Hindi film fanatic like me was left with no options other than to watch these “offbeat” movies on websites. Of course, I understand that doesn’t contribute in any way to the film’s doing good business — but there you are. I am not sure if you’ll read this, but since you are laying the blame fair and square on the audience, I thought I’d let you know that the audience at times could be helpless, too.
P.S. Is there any theater close to Washington D.C. which would screen “Sankat City” ? And is it releasing in the US at all ?
Many reasons why good cinema is not appreciated and patronized.
We are not cinema conscious. We need value for money entertainment for the money we spend. We get that with movies like Ghajini, Hera Pheri, mission Impossible series, Matrix series, Terminator series, etc. So, for smaller movies, we wait for it to come out on DVD or TV. If these movies need to be patronized, the multiplex ticket prices have to come down drastically. If a Sankat City and a SRK movie release at the same time, even if I want to see Sankat city, my family will force me to be with them for the SRK movie. I will catch Sankat city on a DVD. If both movies are not releasing simultaneously, there is still no way, my wife and kid will let me go alone and watch Sankat City on the prevailing multiplex prices. If they are priced at below Rs. 90 per ticket, my whole family will watch the movie.
I still follow cinema somewhat. I have friends who dont and need star casts and KAran Johar to make them come to a theatre.
If you want a change initiated, you could persuade multiplexes to have a variable pricing model.
If its a cinema experience, I want a Terminator or a Matrix kind of a movie. Even a Hera Pheri will do. If its a gulaal or a black friday experience, I will read a Michael Crichton or a Jhumpa Lahiri or a Jeffrey Archer or a Fredrick Forsythe book.
Hey Hey Hey!! KK man, one of your biggest fans around. We love the cinema you guys make, but is it right on your part to blame the audience for not coming and watching your movies??…
Sell it man, make u producers sell it. Low budget should get approval from national institutes for lesser tax, subsidies etc. But not all low budgets, If u r cinema has made it in the national and international circuits then ask for the afore mentioned luxuries.
The customer is the last person you can blame, unless ofcourse u are blaming the piracy!
Kay Kay- welcome aboard, I for one have always admired your work and also the kind of subjects you choose.While audience is certainly also to be blamed partly for the failure of some of the good movies, its not they alone who are to be blamed.Case in point is your own- The Stoneman Murders.How many people knew ( even within the industry ) till a week before the release, that the movie was all set to release next week? I’m using just this movie as an example ( btw I’ve seen the movie and did like it too ).So in such cases lack of awareness itself can kill a movie prematurely.Inspite of a good star cast even a movie like 99 did not find favour from the majority right away.Like Anand who has commented earlier even I went all out to inform people by diff online sources like FB,Orkut etc to make people go see it & most of them were still asking- ” yaar whats so special about 99″.
All said & done PFC certainly is an excellent forum where we do try our best to discuss about and promote such deserving films in our own way.Looking forward to seeing Sankat City and reading more blogs from you.
I do agree when KK says the reason is the audience.
It is simple question of supply and demand.
welcome aboard Kay Kay. one of your biggest fans, can claim to have watched all your movies, including bhopal express and naseem.
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hopefully sankat city will find favour with the audiences thru word-of-mouth. amen to that…
the population of the country is increasing at a rapid speed. on the other hand the charms and “Maya” is also putting a dark curtain on the perception of the audience. for this reason the attitude is really changing. they know about the good films and bad films but are not on the right path…for the same reason i think a wednesday worked..there was no “Creative Tadka” involved but the time was demanding some alternate… the film showed what people wanted to see…same thing happened with Dev D. it showed what people do and made them happy. but movies like Gulal, Sankat City, welcome to sajjanpur and many more are like the pages of good art. but people like pop art now. they are blind and numb. the problem of a superior feeling that they want has taken them away from themselves. its not the time when we can make films like Angoor or Hazaro Khwahishey Aisi…
i think movie making is not just pure art now a days. its just about the proper demand and supply as it happens in the market.
KK sir, i really liked ur work. from last train to mahakali to Darr to Gulal….everything…but don’t u think that the people are responsible for all what is hapening around. movie makers gave them movies like candies in the summer and people forgot the taste of something like “Thandai”.
but i still hope that when we like Pyaasa which was a flop then, people will come back to the real art…
till then all we can do is to walk the lane of thorns so that the path is clean and clear. with no thorns for the people who can come and enjoy the the real work…
to the people involved in real art, for the people in real art and by the people in real art!!!
Hi Kay kay I am a huge fan of yours.I loved your performance in Black Friday,Hazaron..,Gulaal,Honeymoon…,Life in a metro….Really looking forward to Sankat City.But let me tell you the films that you have mentioned which are not “hits”..have great dvd sales.5-10 years down the line these are the films which will count in the best films of the decade 2000-2010.No one will remember the so called “big hits”..So no need to worry.Keep doing the good work.
a very very warm welcome Kay Kay Sir.
this itself is a big change that we hear you out on blogs and not just the ABs and the Khans of the world.
Would be great if you can share your experiences on Haazaron and Black Friday and also films like Drona/Maan gaye Mughl-E-Azam.
The good the bad and the ugly all of it….all three need to co-exist…but then there can be only a FEW GOOD MEN…most will be bad and even more crap.
For these few good one to be big ones….well thats been a constant struggle….
“Ek aur….jung chedni hai humein”
Looking at the trailers, I think that the film will do well…. gut feeling
wow…nice to see kaykay on pfc
its nice to see how easily you have left the ‘classification of genres’ to the critics/watchers etc and have not attempted to put it in any particular genre. thats the mark of a fine actor, just do your bit and leave the rest for people to speak about…really appreciate that
by the way, loved your performance in gulaal and mumbai meri jaan and a whole lot of other movies like sarkar etc …plz continue the good work
all the best for this movie…hope it does well
“Who is to blame when good cinema does not do good business?”
The audience is to blame, of course. But our filmmakers who have ‘corrupted’ the taste of the mass must take the moral responsibility of the same. The audiences were fed bad films for a really long time in the name of puraa entertainment. Similarly, the media culture in this country also supported this mindless masala culture. Without serious film criticism in the media, we can’t promote good cinema. Without good cinema, we can’t produce good film criticism.
I think the absence of film clubs or cinema movement can also provide some clues to today’s problem. I was surprised to know that Godard and Bergman are common names in villages of Kerala, thanks to the popular cinema movement in the area led by people like Adoor Gopalakrishan in their youth. We, as a nation, chose to ignore and sideline serious issues; many actually believed ‘India Shining.’ Those responsible for promoting good cinema have lost their prominence and have become elusive.
Nice to hear you talking Sir.
A long time ago, (Actually in June 2006), I met you one Friday night in front of Cardiff Castle in Wales when you were shooting for a movie ( which , unfortunately, I never got a chance to see).
Fresh from the memory of Vishnu Nagre, I told you sheepishly, “ Someday, I will make a movie with you”.
With a strange calmness and cold, unwavering eyes you replied back , “ I would be very old then”.
This incident must have not registered anywhere in your life which, I presume, is so full of many more significant happenings.
But, I still cherish the dream, Sir, And if one of us does not fade away/burn out ( for which I have the maximum odds ), someday we will meet again.
Anyway, congrats for the performance in “Gulal”.
Dying to watch Sankat City. Hope Guru will match up with Dukey Bana.
Regards,
Of all the exciting actors in Indian cinema today, Kay Kay Menon is my favorite. Why? Because of a magical blend of truth, make-believe and strong character. Also because of your courage in taking on roles that might not be seen as ‘positive’… Not afraid to play the meany, the cheater, the corrupt, the overly idealistic guy. It’s a special gift.
I have my own idea as to why some good films fail and other bad ones do well: the media. It won’t be a popular opinion mine, it might even make some people uncomfortable but too often newspapers, magazines and critics get behind a silly film simply because of the personal contacts and favors they have with the filmmakers/PR company. While great films – like all above mentioned in the beginning of your piece – get placed aside by bad media and an audience that prefers gossip to quality.
If Sankat City’s indeed a good movie, then if it flops the ad will have to blame, for it makes out the movie to be a no brainer.
P.S. I wasnt going to watch this movie, but I have faith in you and your post so am going to watch it.
Kay Kay, I really enjoyed this film. It was wonderful to see you in a character such as this. I must admit I found the Drona character interesting but it eventually fell flat because of the film.
Yashpal, Anupam Kher and you were my favorites in the film. Virendra Saxena particularly in the bath-tub scene was a riot. Pankaj Advani has pulled off a real feat with this film. Nobody makes a great farce anymore! I sincerely hope this one works.
hi kay kay good 2 c u im pfc..about ur post i wld like to add an observation that i hv made. i hv seen lots of people going to movie theatre for rab ne banadi jodi but watchin gulal in a pirated dvd.i think the mindswet behind it is that they goto a movie hall to hv mindless fun…n watch serious stuff in te seclusion of their home..i dont knw.i think marketing and mounting has got a lot 2 do with it.case in point tare zamen par
Well, I somehow strongly disagree with you when you say that the audience is responsible for great films not doing well at the B.O.
Look at films like Cinema Paradiso, Children of Heaven, Colors of Paradise, Two Women, Cache, A Boy’s Room, Dev D etc., the list is almost endless. These are not the run of the mill, market savvy films, but they have done extremely well in terms of collections.
I dont know who is responsible for great films not doing well but I am certain that it cannot be the audience. They are not part of the medium at all, just an outside POV. Maybe the engagement with the audience is not quiet there or the editing is not in-synch with the plot and character definitions. Who knows.
Keep creating good cinema and let the rest be up for debates and discussions.
Here’s hoping that Sankat City does good business and is a good film.
Hi,
I agree wholeheartedly.The audience’s poor taste must take a majority of the blame.
Regards,
Santino
Indian Audience is ready to pay for an entertainer …… and this is gonna work as an advantage for sankat city ….. Its supposedly an intelligent entertainer !!! ….. It will surely do good, no need to worry. I dont think publicity is “that” important ….. people are too busy working their asses off to earn and earn and they come to know about such movies only through WOM publicity and reviews ….. Lets wait and watch(the movie) and watch (how the movie does).
Just one question….
It might turn out to be a great original movie, but why did the poster have to take the inspiration form “Sin City” covers?
Shakes your belief a little.
Do you think Bhelpuri is a competition to Mcdonald Rs 20 burger ?
There are more bhelpuri joints in India than Mac Donalds. But the number people eats bhelpuri at a given time would be manyfold compared to McAloo Tikki. Still Mc Donald makes money.
Both need to co-exist and have their customer base.
Same goes for films. Where is your big ‘M’ sign ?
Think.
Bhelpuri any day wins
Nice to read ur post Kay Kay.. Hope you can write more on this space. Looking forward to Sankat city. Good luck!
@ KK/Pankaj
how do you manage to blog when your film’s releasing in a months time?
Anyways, as you are blogging, you can also try and take time out to reply to a few comments.
Thanks in anticipation.
Reg:good films not doing good business..
it would not be correct to blame it on the audience. what cinema means for u is different from what it means for the general audience. we dont take it so seriously, its just a form of entertainment to us. missing a ‘good’ film is not like skipping contribution to the flood relief fund. there is nothing for us to feel guilty about.
if u want the film to do good business, bring the film to us in ways that we will not want to miss it.
i follow this blog, im hooked to this film and i wont miss it. but u cant blame my friends who r not interested in this film.
if there is anybody really to blame, its the ‘Actors with Markets’ . if they choose to work on good projects putting money secondary, good films will have a wider audience and hence do good business. every star, for every 3 films he/she acts, should dedicate 1 film to good/innovative/pathbreaking/experimental cinema, howzz that?
@Kalki
So true. its not just the actors, other creative population must pitch in as well.
Nice to see Kay Kay my favorite actor blogging at the same time was disappointed knowing such a brilliant actor can also be dumb at understanding the audience.
I would like to contradict on blaming the audience. Its the conditioning that makes one decide whether a movie is good or bad. Everybody who reads PFC doesn’t make the percentage more than 0.1%.
The remaining are the real audience and nobody can change them. You need to change so that they accept what you really want to tell say
Cheers,
Chakri
It’s good to hear that you will be different in this film.. hope to see a change, otherwise we were getting used to seeing nothing but an angry,repressed and agressive Kay Kay again and agian….though I must confess that ur still a favourite!!
Gulaal was as special a movie as Sarkar.
Thank you for good performances.
welcome..to…PFC