Anees Bazmee, Vikas Bahl and Other Filmmakers Discuss Corporate Culture in the Film Industry

All coins have two sides. The emergence of corporate culture into the Indian film industry has both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, it sorted out the financial crises the industry had faced before, guaranteed agreed payouts to cast and crew, whatever the business outcome, and reduced reliance on individual producers.

On the other hand, corporate-produced films lack the passion of a single filmmaker and undermine creativity. So, ideally, ‘creativity’ and ‘business’ should coexist and maintain a sensible balance to achieve cinematic excellence.

That’s what director and producer Anees Bazmee said at a recent IFFI ‘conversation’ session on ‘Corporate Culture in the Film Industry’. Talking about the interactive session, Anees said business is very important to filmmakers, but creativity should never be compromised.

“Films should always be based on creativity, passion and belief. There are many successful films made by companies, but to ensure that creativity is not dictated by business, more creative people must be “You should be part of the team,” he insisted.

Director Vikas Barr said, “Filmmaking is a business of the heart, and the corporate culture must match the creative filmmaking process. It’s one of the pieces of software called ‘Guts’ that you insert into a company’s Excel sheet.” Flagging rights infringement issues, Vikas urged both governments and businesses to work together to solve difficult problems.

Director Abhishek Sharma said the corporatization has ensured “money cleansing” from the industry. The Indian film industry needs to be more organized and formalized to be truly called an ‘industry’. “Are we really an organic industry?

Producer Mahaveer Jain said companies are putting more money into making quality films. “More players means more films are made and more people are hired,” he added.

The session was moderated by a film industry analyst.