This strategy helps filmmakers recover investments they have pumped into their projects at the earliest, says Prof Kandaswamy

 Q You designed India's first management course on movies for IIM-A. What is more important, the star cast or a good script, for a film's success?

A Any film needs a script before the star cast is selected. A script has to be evaluated for the uniqueness of story, the narrative techniques employed, the screenplay, scope for demonstrating a wide range of emotions and the potential of the script to awe the audience with a very strong emotional engagement. Without a strong script, having big stars alone will not help. Together they have the ability to produce a blockbuster.

Q What have been the changes in the way films are promoted?

A Promotion has changed principally in three ways. First, the main actors take an active part in pre-release promotions. In the past, promotional efforts were entirely the responsibility of producers and directors.Second, 70% of Bollywood's marketing budgets is spent on TV promotions. The studios also spend a lot on television trailers. Third, social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, have become partners of film studios in promotions. It is important that the movie's promotion create “a sense of urgency“ in the audience to book tickets as early as possible.Earlier, producers thought only poorly made films required marketing.

Q How do you observe portrayal of caste and community in Indian cinema?

A Indian movies, particularly those with rural settings, have a strong underbelly of caste and community. As long as they are used to tell a story in a convincing manner, there can be no judgment on the use of caste or community. But sometimes a controversy is created. This sometimes helps in a movie's marketability.

Q How do you rate the success of Bahubali?

A There is no doubt that Bahubali (both part 1 and 2) constitutes the most successful movie franchise that Indian cinema has seen in its 100 years. The movie scored very high on all parameters ­ script and screenplay, excellent production values, sophisticated cinematography supported by a very high quality of visual effects and sound engineering. India's technical and visual effects specialists have matched Hollywood standards. Some would argue whether technology dominates the story. The story always comes first and film technology is only an enabler for telling the story effectively.

Q How has assessment of a film's success evolved?

A About 10-15 years ago, a film's success was based on whether it completed 100 days in the theatres, irrespective of its collections. Now with piracy being the single biggest threat to a movie's earnings, producers and distributors no longer care about 100-day runs. The key is to maximise revenues and recover the investment at the earliest. So now, most Bollywood films release on 2,000 to 3,000 screens. Media buzzes about Rs 100+ crore collection in the first week. But total revenue divided by number of screens is the correct way of evaluating box-office performance.