India is the highest producer of feature films in the world and will continue to be so because of its linguistic diversity which is unique to the country. Though many people refer to Hindi film industry as the Indian film industry, it may be misleading as films made in other languages in India (mainly in Tamil and Telugu) are not just as good in content but also very different in cinematic style and grammar. They have almost equal viewership and are made in similar budget. However, being the national language Hindi is the highest spoken or understood tongue which gives the industry an edge over the rest which are referred to regional film industries.
The paper focuses on the Hindi film industry whose primary market is among the Hindi speaking audience in Northern India. But the market is also extended to non Hindi speaking areas specially the metro cities of South India which adds substantial revenue. The box office for Hindi films is split into many sectors which the trade calls circuits or territories.
The main territories are:
Mumbai territory is formed by Mumbai City, Gujarat and parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Delhi/UP territory is formed by Delhi City and the states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
East Punjab territory is formed by the states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir.
West Bengal territory is formed by the state of West Bengal including Kolkata City.
Bihar territory is formed by the states of Bihar and Jharkhand and parts of Chhattisgarh.
CP Berar territory is formed by parts of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
CI Territory is formed by parts of Madhya Pradesh.
Rajasthan territory is formed by the state of Rajasthan.
Nizam territory is formed by Hyderabad and parts of Andhra Pradesh
Mysore territory is formed by most of Karnataka including Bangalore.
There are also some other very small territories like Assam, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra.
Hindi film industry, for the largest period of time remained an unorganized sector. Though during initial years, the studio system prevailed. Under the system, actors were employees of the studio in its payroll. However, as the industry grew in size the actors started to charge more hence became impossible for studios to keep them exclusively. The actors became freelancers who worked with a producer for a film. He was free to do films with any producer at any time. This ultimately led to the death of the studio system which was replaced by independent producers. The finances were completely bore by the producers and were often a shoddy area as it was undisclosed. Black money was pumped into the system which led to high rates of interest. The underworld was infamously associated with the film industry as it became evident with many incidents over the years.
However, there was wind of change when the government accorded “industry” status to the film industry in 2000. This opened the path for producers to get bank credits on lower interest rates rather than relying on black money. A lot of things which were informally done (like signing an actor which was a verbal commitment is now changed to legal documents) were formalized. The production, distribution and exhibition were integrated giving greater control to the corporate over the functioning and accountability.
The advent of multiplex cinemas brought a new phase in Indian film viewing experience. Initially multiplexes were brought to cater to the elite class who prefer a different kind of cinema than what is popular among mass. But the phenomenal growth of multiplexes among metros has changed the situation. More than 50% of total theatrical revenue comes from multiplexes and with its ever increasing presence; it would be much more in near future. Hence with its different customer base, Hindi films were started to be made differently deviating from the popular formula films. Though the phenomenon led to quality cinema, it meant death knell for the single screen theatres which were infamous for lousy amenities, poor sound quality. Audience shifted from single screens to multiplexes producing a great divide which in popular terms referred to “multiplex audience” and “Mass”. Though multiplex audience is lesser in number, they have more monetary power and add more revenue and hence their demand is given priority. Films are made either for multiplex or mass. Quite obviously, multiplex takes the cake. There are hardly any films which can successfully cater to both the categories. But with diminishing number of single screens, it can be safely said that future is for multiplexes with ever increasing buying power of Indian middle class.
The majority of the cinema-going audience in India consists of young men from a variety of regional, linguistic, religious, and class backgrounds. Today there are around 500 million Indians under 25 out of a total population of more than 1 billion and films are made primarily to appease this age group. But of course for a film to be popular it must also entertain the whole family, from grandmother to grandson, who are also avid cinema-goers.
Before Corporatization
After the collapse of studio system in 40-50s, the task of Hindi cinema production fell upon independent producers and remained so for next half century. The complicated process involved in making a film is not known to many people. It would be surprising for most people if they know that filming is less than 40% work in making a feature film. Major work in making a film is when there is no filming.
The Stages in making a film:
1.Development:
In this stage, a story is conceptualized and a proper script is developed in collaboration with writers. The feasibility of making a film is analyzed at this stage and if everything falls in place it is taken to the next stage.
2.Pre-Production: From the time a film is green-lighted till it goes to the shooting floors, the time period is called pre-production. During this time, the cast, crew, story, music is finalized and locked for the film. The planning of shooting like location hunting called ‘recce’ and constructing sets are done during this period. In this stage, the film is designed with shot break-up and proper illustration.
3.Production: The moment a film starts shooting floors till the time the main photography is completed, the film is categorized as ‘under-production’. Before corporatization, when one actor did multiple films simultaneously, shooting was a major hurdle as the producer had to run from pillar to post to attain the actor’s dates. An actor did two/three shifts everyday for different films. Due to this, usually a film would remain under production for 2 years and sometimes more. To cite an example, Govinda had 12 films on floor in 99/00. In fact a close look at Govinda’s filmography tells that during 80s, after his debut into Hindi cinema, he had average 9 releases every year. In 1988, he had 10 releases and the following year he had 14 releases. Also actors were infamous for coming late to sets. Hence it can be inferred that shooting a film was less complicated than getting all the actors together for a film at one time. Since no formal contracts were signed and in an industry where stars determine everything, it was almost impossible for a producer to control such phenomena.
4.Post-Production: The work that goes after completion of cinematography till the film is ready for release is called Post-production. Post production is dominated by editing, mixing, and dubbing since during that time most films were not shot in sync sound implying the actors had to dub their lines in the studio.
5.Sales and Distribution:
The film is screened for potential buyers (distributors), is picked up by the distributor and is released in theatres. The Music right is also sold at this stage. The Home Video and Satellite rights are sometimes sold at this stage if the producer gets required price or waited upon the release of the film. If the film becomes a hit, the price of Home Video and Satellite rights usually go up exponentially.
The Business Model
The major revenue was generated from theatrical release. The music of the film which was sold prior to the release also brought significant revenue, though miniscule in comparison to the whole revenue of a film. The advent of home video came with the introduction of VHS in the 80s and TV started generating more revenue as Cable TV made its presence felt in 90s in India. Still, theatrical revenue brought almost 80-90% of the total revenue.
The Producer:
He is the helm during all the stages of filmmaking mentioned above. However, the biggest challenge for a producer is to get required finance to make a film. If the producer is an established person in the business like Yash Chopra or Nasir Hussain then he need not take external finance to make a film. But if a producer does not have enough money, he has to take external finance to complete a film. Since the Hindi cinema didn’t have industry status, it was deprived of government subsidies and banks didn’t give credit. Hence a producer had to borrow money from private lenders usually at a high rate. A lot of black money was pumped into the system and there was often a nexus with the underworld, which will be subsequently discussed. The other model was to pre-sell the film to the distributors. In such a scenario, during the making of the film itself the rights were sold to the distributors. Such a phenomenon happened only when the film was a hot property meaning it had top directors and actors working on it and whose success was almost guaranteed.
The Distributor
The distributors are the people who look after the distribution of the film in different parts of the country. As mentioned in the ‘introduction’ of this report, the domestic market is divided into different ‘territories’. A distributor may buy the all India right and sell again to sub-distributors in each territory. Or the distributor himself may release the film in each territory. Before corporatization, since resources were limited only major territory like Mumbai was retained by the main distributor and the rest were sold to sub-distributors. The buying of the film from the producer happened on two models. First is when the distributor bought the film before the film by a certain amount making table profits for the producer. Hence all risk was transferred to the distributor. If the film flopped, the distributors lost all the money. Only those films whose success was almost guaranteed were sold on this basis. The second one is films are bought on commission basis. The distributor doesn’t pay any money to the producer but releases the film with his resources. The risk mainly lies with the producer. On success of a film, the distributor gets a certain commission. On failure of a film, the producer lost most of the money.
The Exhibitors
They are the cinema owners. Since advent of multiplex cinema is very recent, the cinema viewing was restricted to single screen cinemas. A lot of distributors owned a lot of cinemas. So when they had to release a film, those cinemas got a priority. Other cinemas had to be booked on rent basis. A particular amount of money was paid as rent to the cinema hall owner. The amount was almost equal to 15-20% of total capacity of the cinema. If the film became a success, the distributors took maximum share. If the film didn’t become a success, the cinema owner was still safe as the rent was fixed. The distributors lost money whatever amount it was.
Method of Working
Before corporatization, Hindi Film production worked on informal basis. There was no documentation of contracts. Mostly it was done by verbal agreement and mutual relationship. Actors after establishing themselves worked only in their comfort zone. There was no prominence given to bound script. In fact most films were signed even without a script. A star’s dates were acquired and then the producer searched for a subject that would suit him and hence a film was conceptualized. Not much importance was given to continuity of a film. There are many films made in the past where the lead actor sported variant looks often out of sync with the script.
Since there is no bound script, the lines were often written on the sets. Sometimes it led to insecurity among lead actors which adversely affects the film. Many times, the actors would say that whatever was narrated to them the film has turned out completely different. This often led to creative dissatisfaction.
The Underworld Nexus
The Mumbai underworld have been known to be involved in the production of several films, and are notorious for their patronization of several prominent film personalities; On occasion, they have been known to use money and muscle power to get their way in cinematic deals. This was result of failure to attain legitimate source of finance. In 90s, many such links came to fore. In 1993, actor Sanjay Dutt’s link with the underworld became known after police found illegal arms in his house, apparently gifted to him by underworld don. Soon after, Divya Bharti died in mysterious circumstances, which many observers felt was doing of the underworld.
The underworld acquired money by illegal means such as extortion, smuggling. Many Bollywood personalities were terrorized by the underworld to give money or face terrible consequences. In 1997, Music Baron Gulshan Kumar who owned the company T-series was assassinated by the underworld because he didn’t give in to the demands. In January 2000, director Rakesh Roshan was attacked but he survived the bullets. Many times, the mafia pressurized actors to do particular film because they had invested money in it. On other occasions, they promoted many actresses who were their mistresses. The proved example was Monica Bedi who was arrested with underworld don Abu Salem. She is out on bail now.
The nexus in film production came to the fore with the film Chori Chori Chupke Chupke. The film was financed by Bharat Shah, but apparently underworld boss Chhota Shakeel had behind the finances. Bharat Shah was arrested and remained in lock for a year. Later, it was proved in the court that he didn’t take money from Chhota Shakeel but was aware of the deal with the producer of the film Nazim Rizvi, who was in jail for longer period. The film was scheduled to be released in 2000, but CBI confiscated the prints. The film was released a year later and the revenue generated was kept by the court. One of the lead actresses of the film Preity Zinta testified in the court that she received call from the underworld. She was the only Film personality who stuck to her statement. The rest turned hostile. Due to this Preity Zinta was awared with Red & White Bravery award. This case showed the murkier shadow that gripped Hindi film industry.
Corporatization in India
The causes which led to the rise of corporatization are complex and happened over a period of time. Here are the major events which led to the corporatization of Hindi film industry.
1.Opening of Indian economy:
Opening the economy had immediate as well as far reaching effects. While far reaching effect was high growth and coming of affluent Indian middle class. The immediate effects were de-regularization of television giving rise to private pay channels to be aired through cable and satellite. It not only played a medium to open Indian eye to global entertainment, it also enhanced the revenue potential for Indian films. The Hollywood films came to Indian homes and hence the culture of filmmaking was also transferred to Indian audience. Opening the economy also meant release of Hollywood films in Indian theatres almost at the same time. Though in 90s there was not much success of Hollywood films except Jurassic Park and Titanic, the new millennium brought more audience for Hollywood films. For instance Spiderman 2 earned Rs 10 Crore in its opening weekend despite the release of Hindi super hit film Mujhse Shaadi Karogi on the same week in 2004. Now, major Hollywood films are simultaneously released in India and are major hits. The recent examples are 2012 and Avatar which overtook the box office performance of many Hindi films. When Hollywood was knocking at its door, Hindi film industry had to inevitably adapt a model which reduces risk, brings more professionalism and synergies all resources. Hence, corporatization of the industry.
2.Digital Revolution:
The 90s decade saw a revolution in information technology that no other times in the past can equal. Internet, Mobiles phones, Computers, Compact Discs all came into existence and it redefined the way we lived life. It also had great impact on the film industry. Compact discs replaced VCRs and since VCD players were much moderately priced, everyone could own it. It led to the rise in Home Entertainment revenue. Internet enabled content like music and movies to be sold through the web which meant more revenues. The subsequent invention of DVD and Blue ray discs gave more platforms to home entertainment. Satellite TVs reach grew in leaps and bounds. The direct to home services made sure suburban and rural areas where cable TV is not available, get premium channels. As the volume of viewership increased, the revenue also increased. With time, the prospect of revenue generation grew more and more, the corporate decided to enter the industry.
3.Advent of Multiplex Cinema Halls:
Multiplex cinema halls are the complex which has multiple screens with seat capacity of almost 1/3rd of a Single Screen Cinema hall. A multiplex has screens ranging from 3 to 11. The ticket rates are triple or 4 times more than single screens. The first multiplex was set up by PVR in Saket, Delhi in 1997. The first decade of the new millennium has seen a boom in multiplexes in tier I, II, III cities. They not only generated more revenues, they also brought new trend with itself. More screens means more films to keep all of them occupied implying more demand of films. Hence more films were needed to be produced. It was not practically possible for independent producers to meet the demand which paved way for the formation of corporation.
4.Reaching the hinterland:
The advent of cheap pirated CDs which would show the most recent films killed the cinema halls in B and C centres. The main reason behind this was that films would release in these theatres almost after a month of its release. Meanwhile, the pirated CDs would reach them with couple of days. Most of the cinema halls were shut down. But the advent of digital films gave rise to new digital cinema halls. The digital cinema halls don’t use actual reel to show the film. Rather they download the film through satellite and show through digital projectors. Hence films could be released simultaneously released in hinterland, as there was no need of more physical prints of a film was required, which brought the audience back to theatre. This also meant more revenues.
5.Granting ‘Industry’ status:
Hindi cinema production was given industry status by the government in 2000, which became the immediate cause for corporatization. The industry status meant bank credit was easily available and finances could be raised through other instruments. There was no limit to Foreign Direct Investment which meant foreign studios could produce films in India without any local partnership. As more money was pumped into the industry, the prices of the top stars went sky high, which became unaffordable to most independent producers. It was kind of history repeating itself. The time of independent producers was over.
6.Growing Overseas Market:
Since late ‘90s, Indian movies started to make its presence felt in overseas specially in the UK, USA and the Gulf countries where there is considerable population from Indian subcontinent. With time, the revenue base has grown and adds significant amount of revenue. Film makers like Karan Johar is perceived to be making films keeping overseas audience in mind. His film Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna did better business in the overseas than in India.
Effects of Corporatization
0 The major and the biggest effect of corporatization was that finance was procured with legitimate means which put an end to underworld era. In fact, after the Chori Chori Chupke Chupke case, there was no news of underworld hand in film production. Earlier, very now and then actors sought special protection. However, it has changed after corporatization.
0 The resources have been streamlined. More control on the supply chain made the process of making films faster. Now films are made within 6 months time. This definitely generates more revenues.
0 There is more professionalism shown by the actors as well as the rest of the crew. Now, actors shoot for only one film at a time and sign a film only after getting a bound script, even when they are just beginners in the industry. Imran Khan, nephew of Super Star Aamir Khan and a promising actor, is just 3 films old and he signs on every page of a script while signing any film. This makes binding on the director to consult the actor even if he has to change one sentence in the script.
0 Independent producers formed a group and made corporations. A new business model came into play. Corporations who had no filmmaking experience would collaborate with independent producers to make films. The producers helped in effective execution of the shooting, while the corporate would finance as well as look after into other aspect of the film. At this time, when costs have gone high, there are hardly any independent producers. Most have formed their companies or work with other corporate.
0 The actors’ fees have gone sky high. During the beginning of the decade top actors like the Khans were paid Rs 1 Crore per film but by the end of the decade, they received as high as Rs 20 Crore per film. The growth is phenomenal.
0 This has reduced risk by practicing the best methods. The ROI is calculated by more capable people to make rightly priced films.
0 Aamir Khan does not charge for his films. He takes 33% if the total profit. In this way, he takes risk for his work which most other actors don’t do. It has always paid off for the maverick Khan as he earns more than Rs 35 Crore per film. Recently he signed an endorsement deal with a company for approximately Rs 35 Crore with a company. The valuation of actors has gone with corporatization and super talented actors like Aamir seem to benefit the most from it.
Yash Raj Films: Evolution of India’s first Studio
Yash Raj Films was established in 1972 when Yash Chopra and Rajesh Khanna collaborated to make the film Daag. The name Yash Raj is actually the first names of the two phenomenal men who made tremendous contribution to Hindi Cinema. But the production house was soon dismantled as Chopra moved on to make films with Rajesh Khanna’s archrival Amitabh Bachchan. Chopra went on to produce many films independently but with different names and banners. Many years later, Chopra’s maverick son and successor Aditya, who debuted by making the longest running film in the history of Indian cinema Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (the film is still running in Maratha Mandir in Mumbai since its release in 1995) thought of reviving the name Yash Raj. Perhaps few could know what the man had visualized.
The name Yash Raj Films was first re-used, this time with new sign and logo, in the film Mohabbatein (2000) which was Aditya’s second film as a director. Till now for most of the films produced by Chopras were also directed by them. Aditya knew that if he had to build a studio, he needs outside directors. Hence three films were planned with outside directors and subsequently released in 2002. The first film was Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai directed by Sanjay Gadhvi which was a moderate success followed by Hrithik Roshan starrer Mujhse Dosti Karoge directed by Kunal Kohli which flopped at the box office. The last film of the year was Saathiya a Tamil remake directed by Shaad Ali which went on to become a hit. The three directors, despite the fate of their films had to make more films for Yash Raj as three films contract was signed with each. The success of Yash Raj in its first year was not very encouraging but it didn’t deter Aditya to plan for films for he knew what he was doing. There was no release the next year, but Yash Raj came with a bang in 2004 with expansion clearly in mind. The first one was Hum Tum directed by Kunal Kohli which went to become a huge hit. With this film, Yash Raj launched it Home Entertainment division. The next film was Dhoom directed by Sanjay Gadhvi which was another super hit. Yash Raj Music level for overseas was launched with this film. The last film of the year was Yash Chopra directed Veer Zaara starring Chopra favourite Shahrukh Khan, which went to become the highest grosser that year. Yash Raj Music was launched in India with this film. Hence Yash Raj control over all aspect of filmmaking was almost complete. The distribution arm existed long before and a studio (which was under construction then) was needed to make it a complete Studio in Hollywood style. In 2006, it unveiled its state-of-the-art studio making the process complete. Meanwhile it kept on churning out one hit after another.
Distribution:
Apart from the offices in different parts of India, Yash Raj Films has its own offices in UK, USA and UAE through which it releases its films in overseas market. It also distributes films produced outside its own banner. Apart from distributing mainstream films like Koi Mil Gaya, Kal Ho Na Ho, Krrish etc. it also distributed off beat films like Maine Gandhi Ko Nahi Maara, My Brother Nikhil, Meenaxi, Maqbool etc. In 2004, Hollywood Reporter placed Yash Raj Films at number 27 in a survey of world’s biggest film distribution houses. The latest film distributed by Yash Raj was the comedy film All The Best released in Diwali ’09 which went to become a box office success.
Home Entertainment:
The Home Entertainment division was launched with the film Hum Tum. At the moment, Yash Raj Films has 47 titles actively selling in the market. Moreover it has bought the rights of classics created by Raj Kapoor and B R Chopra which will make the library close to 100 titles. For an eight year old studio, the figures are very good.
Music:
Piracy has hit the music industry the maximum. The kind of revenue music generated 10 years ago is no longer their despite the growth of the market. In fact it has taken a sharp decline. Hence Yash Raj sells its own music through its label. Yash Raj is known for creating great music, hence with much less investment, they get huge returns. They have tried to buy music of outside production like Jurm (2005), but it has been limited.
Television:
It recently made its way to create content for TV. It has five shows on air currently on Sony TV.
YRF Studio:
The first film to be shot in the studio was Aamir Khan Starrer Fanaa. The studio is used for shooting in-house as well as outside films.
YRF is India’s first full-fledged studio production house. Though lately it has not attained the kind of success it had when it had begun, still the company is at able hands and would continue to be the leading studio of the country. Very secretive about its projects, it has announced to produce 3 films this year, apart from distributing outside films.
The Challenges
There are many challenges that the corporations have to face to withstand in the industry to survive in the long run.
1.Uncertainty in filmmaking business:
The biggest challenge for a corporate that enters Hindi film industry is uncertainty in film making business. Apparently providing finances does not ensure making a hit film. Hence a lot of corporations have shut offices and have gone back to their main business.
During mid 90s, Amitabh Bachchan was the first person to think about corporatizing Hindi cinema when he established ABCL (Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited) in 1995. After the initial success, the company went bankrupt and had huge debts which forced Bachchan to enter Hindi cinema again (He had officially retired from acting in 1992 with the film Khuda Gawah). It was lesson to be learnt that the industry was yet not ready for corporatization. As of now, ABCL is out of debts and is rechristened as AB Corp Ltd and makes films once in a while. Had the initial venture been successful, Amitabh Bachchan would have been a pioneer in corporatizing Hindi film industry. Perhaps the time was not right then or the risk associated with making a film was not well managed.
2.Piracy:
Piracy is a burning issue at this moment. Due to piracy, Bollywood loses hundreds of Crores every year. Piracy happens on two levels – Music and Movies. The worst hit of the two is the music industry. At one time, Music added significant revenue. In some odd cases, the entire cost of the film was sometimes recovered from music of the film. Ashiqui(1990) produced by music label T-Series was a huge success and it earned sold millions of copies. Even 20 years later, the music of the film is still very popular.
The music industry took all time high in 2001 before hitting rock bottom. The price the films brought was the highest till date.
Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham – Rs. 11 Crore (Sony Music)
Lagaan – Rs. 7 Crore (Sony Music)
Yaadein – Rs. 7 Crore (Tips)
During that period, the whole film cost was between Rs. 20-25 Crore which means music added huge revenue for the film.
But it didn’t last long and in fact it touched rock bottom that very year. Nowadays, with proliferation of internet where songs can be downloaded at by pressing few buttons, music industry has hit an all time low. Compare the price of Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham with My Name is Khan which was sold at Rs 4 Crore to Sony Music. Both the films are made by the same director and have Shahrukh Khan and Kajol in the lead role. The music industry has shrunk after piracy has hit it hard.
Despite hitting by piracy, movie business is growing at tremendous rate. However, had there been no piracy, the growth would have been much more. This is one challenge that the industry has to seriously tackle.
3.Revenue Sharing:
During the first half of last year, there was dispute between distributors and multiplex owners who generate around 60-70% of theatrical revenue in India. The revenue sharing model was not uniform for all films. While the bigger films got better deal, the smaller ones had to be content with lesser share. Multiplexes were begun to be referred as ‘mafia’. There was 6 months long stand-off, when there was no release of any film. Finally, a consensus has been reached. But it remains to be seen how long the new revenue sharing model survives.
The Road Ahead
The road looks very bright for Hindi film industry as it is making its making its presence felt globally. My Name Is Khan (sold at Rs 100 Crore, highest price for any Indian film) was released worldwide by 20th Century Fox and its sister companies and the revenue generated by the film in the international market clearly shows the power of well established distribution system. My Name is Khan’s entire domestic theatrical revenue was less than first week collection of 3 Idiots. Yet, the overseas collection of Khan is more than 3 Idiots, and is the highest grossing Indian film till date.
Another example of Hindi cinema’s global footsteps is forthcoming bilingual film Kites starring Hrithik Roshan. The film will be released in English and Hindi simultaneously. The English version is re-worked by Hollywood director Brett Ratner to suit the international audience. It will surely open gates for super talented Hrithik Roshan to work internationally. There are unconfirmed reports of possible tie ups between top Bollywood and Hollywood personalities. If it happens, then Bollywood’s brand value will increase by manifold.
The process of corporatization is still evolving in India and is in the process of getting there. But one thing is sure that all the Corporations in Mumbai have consistently brought into the industry, is well-sourced money. These companies don’t rely on private financiers and have raised money for operations from legitimate sources such as banks and financial markets. With these huge monies already in their banks, they’re not forced to pre-sell their movie’s rights to distributors unlike an individual producer. Also they have brought in science into the obscure function of movie marketing and have taken promotion to a new scale all together. For instance, the first promo of My Name Is Khan was unveiled in 70 countries across all star networks at the same time. No wonder, the film did the maximum business in the overseas market.
Corporatization has its share of flaws but the number of advantages it has brought to the unorganized Hindi film making business is much more. It is here to stay and evolve with time.
The paper focuses on the Hindi film industry whose primary market is among the Hindi speaking audience in Northern India. But the market is also extended to non Hindi speaking areas specially the metro cities of South India which adds substantial revenue. The box office for Hindi films is split into many sectors which the trade calls circuits or territories.
The main territories are:
Mumbai territory is formed by Mumbai City, Gujarat and parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Delhi/UP territory is formed by Delhi City and the states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
East Punjab territory is formed by the states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir.
West Bengal territory is formed by the state of West Bengal including Kolkata City.
Bihar territory is formed by the states of Bihar and Jharkhand and parts of Chhattisgarh.
CP Berar territory is formed by parts of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
CI Territory is formed by parts of Madhya Pradesh.
Rajasthan territory is formed by the state of Rajasthan.
Nizam territory is formed by Hyderabad and parts of Andhra Pradesh
Mysore territory is formed by most of Karnataka including Bangalore.
There are also some other very small territories like Assam, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra.
Hindi film industry, for the largest period of time remained an unorganized sector. Though during initial years, the studio system prevailed. Under the system, actors were employees of the studio in its payroll. However, as the industry grew in size the actors started to charge more hence became impossible for studios to keep them exclusively. The actors became freelancers who worked with a producer for a film. He was free to do films with any producer at any time. This ultimately led to the death of the studio system which was replaced by independent producers. The finances were completely bore by the producers and were often a shoddy area as it was undisclosed. Black money was pumped into the system which led to high rates of interest. The underworld was infamously associated with the film industry as it became evident with many incidents over the years.
However, there was wind of change when the government accorded “industry” status to the film industry in 2000. This opened the path for producers to get bank credits on lower interest rates rather than relying on black money. A lot of things which were informally done (like signing an actor which was a verbal commitment is now changed to legal documents) were formalized. The production, distribution and exhibition were integrated giving greater control to the corporate over the functioning and accountability.
The advent of multiplex cinemas brought a new phase in Indian film viewing experience. Initially multiplexes were brought to cater to the elite class who prefer a different kind of cinema than what is popular among mass. But the phenomenal growth of multiplexes among metros has changed the situation. More than 50% of total theatrical revenue comes from multiplexes and with its ever increasing presence; it would be much more in near future. Hence with its different customer base, Hindi films were started to be made differently deviating from the popular formula films. Though the phenomenon led to quality cinema, it meant death knell for the single screen theatres which were infamous for lousy amenities, poor sound quality. Audience shifted from single screens to multiplexes producing a great divide which in popular terms referred to “multiplex audience” and “Mass”. Though multiplex audience is lesser in number, they have more monetary power and add more revenue and hence their demand is given priority. Films are made either for multiplex or mass. Quite obviously, multiplex takes the cake. There are hardly any films which can successfully cater to both the categories. But with diminishing number of single screens, it can be safely said that future is for multiplexes with ever increasing buying power of Indian middle class.
The majority of the cinema-going audience in India consists of young men from a variety of regional, linguistic, religious, and class backgrounds. Today there are around 500 million Indians under 25 out of a total population of more than 1 billion and films are made primarily to appease this age group. But of course for a film to be popular it must also entertain the whole family, from grandmother to grandson, who are also avid cinema-goers.
Before Corporatization
After the collapse of studio system in 40-50s, the task of Hindi cinema production fell upon independent producers and remained so for next half century. The complicated process involved in making a film is not known to many people. It would be surprising for most people if they know that filming is less than 40% work in making a feature film. Major work in making a film is when there is no filming.
The Stages in making a film:
1.Development:
In this stage, a story is conceptualized and a proper script is developed in collaboration with writers. The feasibility of making a film is analyzed at this stage and if everything falls in place it is taken to the next stage.
2.Pre-Production: From the time a film is green-lighted till it goes to the shooting floors, the time period is called pre-production. During this time, the cast, crew, story, music is finalized and locked for the film. The planning of shooting like location hunting called ‘recce’ and constructing sets are done during this period. In this stage, the film is designed with shot break-up and proper illustration.
3.Production: The moment a film starts shooting floors till the time the main photography is completed, the film is categorized as ‘under-production’. Before corporatization, when one actor did multiple films simultaneously, shooting was a major hurdle as the producer had to run from pillar to post to attain the actor’s dates. An actor did two/three shifts everyday for different films. Due to this, usually a film would remain under production for 2 years and sometimes more. To cite an example, Govinda had 12 films on floor in 99/00. In fact a close look at Govinda’s filmography tells that during 80s, after his debut into Hindi cinema, he had average 9 releases every year. In 1988, he had 10 releases and the following year he had 14 releases. Also actors were infamous for coming late to sets. Hence it can be inferred that shooting a film was less complicated than getting all the actors together for a film at one time. Since no formal contracts were signed and in an industry where stars determine everything, it was almost impossible for a producer to control such phenomena.
4.Post-Production: The work that goes after completion of cinematography till the film is ready for release is called Post-production. Post production is dominated by editing, mixing, and dubbing since during that time most films were not shot in sync sound implying the actors had to dub their lines in the studio.
5.Sales and Distribution:
The film is screened for potential buyers (distributors), is picked up by the distributor and is released in theatres. The Music right is also sold at this stage. The Home Video and Satellite rights are sometimes sold at this stage if the producer gets required price or waited upon the release of the film. If the film becomes a hit, the price of Home Video and Satellite rights usually go up exponentially.
The Business Model
The major revenue was generated from theatrical release. The music of the film which was sold prior to the release also brought significant revenue, though miniscule in comparison to the whole revenue of a film. The advent of home video came with the introduction of VHS in the 80s and TV started generating more revenue as Cable TV made its presence felt in 90s in India. Still, theatrical revenue brought almost 80-90% of the total revenue.
The Producer:
He is the helm during all the stages of filmmaking mentioned above. However, the biggest challenge for a producer is to get required finance to make a film. If the producer is an established person in the business like Yash Chopra or Nasir Hussain then he need not take external finance to make a film. But if a producer does not have enough money, he has to take external finance to complete a film. Since the Hindi cinema didn’t have industry status, it was deprived of government subsidies and banks didn’t give credit. Hence a producer had to borrow money from private lenders usually at a high rate. A lot of black money was pumped into the system and there was often a nexus with the underworld, which will be subsequently discussed. The other model was to pre-sell the film to the distributors. In such a scenario, during the making of the film itself the rights were sold to the distributors. Such a phenomenon happened only when the film was a hot property meaning it had top directors and actors working on it and whose success was almost guaranteed.
The Distributor
The distributors are the people who look after the distribution of the film in different parts of the country. As mentioned in the ‘introduction’ of this report, the domestic market is divided into different ‘territories’. A distributor may buy the all India right and sell again to sub-distributors in each territory. Or the distributor himself may release the film in each territory. Before corporatization, since resources were limited only major territory like Mumbai was retained by the main distributor and the rest were sold to sub-distributors. The buying of the film from the producer happened on two models. First is when the distributor bought the film before the film by a certain amount making table profits for the producer. Hence all risk was transferred to the distributor. If the film flopped, the distributors lost all the money. Only those films whose success was almost guaranteed were sold on this basis. The second one is films are bought on commission basis. The distributor doesn’t pay any money to the producer but releases the film with his resources. The risk mainly lies with the producer. On success of a film, the distributor gets a certain commission. On failure of a film, the producer lost most of the money.
The Exhibitors
They are the cinema owners. Since advent of multiplex cinema is very recent, the cinema viewing was restricted to single screen cinemas. A lot of distributors owned a lot of cinemas. So when they had to release a film, those cinemas got a priority. Other cinemas had to be booked on rent basis. A particular amount of money was paid as rent to the cinema hall owner. The amount was almost equal to 15-20% of total capacity of the cinema. If the film became a success, the distributors took maximum share. If the film didn’t become a success, the cinema owner was still safe as the rent was fixed. The distributors lost money whatever amount it was.
Method of Working
Before corporatization, Hindi Film production worked on informal basis. There was no documentation of contracts. Mostly it was done by verbal agreement and mutual relationship. Actors after establishing themselves worked only in their comfort zone. There was no prominence given to bound script. In fact most films were signed even without a script. A star’s dates were acquired and then the producer searched for a subject that would suit him and hence a film was conceptualized. Not much importance was given to continuity of a film. There are many films made in the past where the lead actor sported variant looks often out of sync with the script.
Since there is no bound script, the lines were often written on the sets. Sometimes it led to insecurity among lead actors which adversely affects the film. Many times, the actors would say that whatever was narrated to them the film has turned out completely different. This often led to creative dissatisfaction.
The Underworld Nexus
The Mumbai underworld have been known to be involved in the production of several films, and are notorious for their patronization of several prominent film personalities; On occasion, they have been known to use money and muscle power to get their way in cinematic deals. This was result of failure to attain legitimate source of finance. In 90s, many such links came to fore. In 1993, actor Sanjay Dutt’s link with the underworld became known after police found illegal arms in his house, apparently gifted to him by underworld don. Soon after, Divya Bharti died in mysterious circumstances, which many observers felt was doing of the underworld.
The underworld acquired money by illegal means such as extortion, smuggling. Many Bollywood personalities were terrorized by the underworld to give money or face terrible consequences. In 1997, Music Baron Gulshan Kumar who owned the company T-series was assassinated by the underworld because he didn’t give in to the demands. In January 2000, director Rakesh Roshan was attacked but he survived the bullets. Many times, the mafia pressurized actors to do particular film because they had invested money in it. On other occasions, they promoted many actresses who were their mistresses. The proved example was Monica Bedi who was arrested with underworld don Abu Salem. She is out on bail now.
The nexus in film production came to the fore with the film Chori Chori Chupke Chupke. The film was financed by Bharat Shah, but apparently underworld boss Chhota Shakeel had behind the finances. Bharat Shah was arrested and remained in lock for a year. Later, it was proved in the court that he didn’t take money from Chhota Shakeel but was aware of the deal with the producer of the film Nazim Rizvi, who was in jail for longer period. The film was scheduled to be released in 2000, but CBI confiscated the prints. The film was released a year later and the revenue generated was kept by the court. One of the lead actresses of the film Preity Zinta testified in the court that she received call from the underworld. She was the only Film personality who stuck to her statement. The rest turned hostile. Due to this Preity Zinta was awared with Red & White Bravery award. This case showed the murkier shadow that gripped Hindi film industry.
Corporatization in India
The causes which led to the rise of corporatization are complex and happened over a period of time. Here are the major events which led to the corporatization of Hindi film industry.
1.Opening of Indian economy:
Opening the economy had immediate as well as far reaching effects. While far reaching effect was high growth and coming of affluent Indian middle class. The immediate effects were de-regularization of television giving rise to private pay channels to be aired through cable and satellite. It not only played a medium to open Indian eye to global entertainment, it also enhanced the revenue potential for Indian films. The Hollywood films came to Indian homes and hence the culture of filmmaking was also transferred to Indian audience. Opening the economy also meant release of Hollywood films in Indian theatres almost at the same time. Though in 90s there was not much success of Hollywood films except Jurassic Park and Titanic, the new millennium brought more audience for Hollywood films. For instance Spiderman 2 earned Rs 10 Crore in its opening weekend despite the release of Hindi super hit film Mujhse Shaadi Karogi on the same week in 2004. Now, major Hollywood films are simultaneously released in India and are major hits. The recent examples are 2012 and Avatar which overtook the box office performance of many Hindi films. When Hollywood was knocking at its door, Hindi film industry had to inevitably adapt a model which reduces risk, brings more professionalism and synergies all resources. Hence, corporatization of the industry.
2.Digital Revolution:
The 90s decade saw a revolution in information technology that no other times in the past can equal. Internet, Mobiles phones, Computers, Compact Discs all came into existence and it redefined the way we lived life. It also had great impact on the film industry. Compact discs replaced VCRs and since VCD players were much moderately priced, everyone could own it. It led to the rise in Home Entertainment revenue. Internet enabled content like music and movies to be sold through the web which meant more revenues. The subsequent invention of DVD and Blue ray discs gave more platforms to home entertainment. Satellite TVs reach grew in leaps and bounds. The direct to home services made sure suburban and rural areas where cable TV is not available, get premium channels. As the volume of viewership increased, the revenue also increased. With time, the prospect of revenue generation grew more and more, the corporate decided to enter the industry.
3.Advent of Multiplex Cinema Halls:
Multiplex cinema halls are the complex which has multiple screens with seat capacity of almost 1/3rd of a Single Screen Cinema hall. A multiplex has screens ranging from 3 to 11. The ticket rates are triple or 4 times more than single screens. The first multiplex was set up by PVR in Saket, Delhi in 1997. The first decade of the new millennium has seen a boom in multiplexes in tier I, II, III cities. They not only generated more revenues, they also brought new trend with itself. More screens means more films to keep all of them occupied implying more demand of films. Hence more films were needed to be produced. It was not practically possible for independent producers to meet the demand which paved way for the formation of corporation.
4.Reaching the hinterland:
The advent of cheap pirated CDs which would show the most recent films killed the cinema halls in B and C centres. The main reason behind this was that films would release in these theatres almost after a month of its release. Meanwhile, the pirated CDs would reach them with couple of days. Most of the cinema halls were shut down. But the advent of digital films gave rise to new digital cinema halls. The digital cinema halls don’t use actual reel to show the film. Rather they download the film through satellite and show through digital projectors. Hence films could be released simultaneously released in hinterland, as there was no need of more physical prints of a film was required, which brought the audience back to theatre. This also meant more revenues.
5.Granting ‘Industry’ status:
Hindi cinema production was given industry status by the government in 2000, which became the immediate cause for corporatization. The industry status meant bank credit was easily available and finances could be raised through other instruments. There was no limit to Foreign Direct Investment which meant foreign studios could produce films in India without any local partnership. As more money was pumped into the industry, the prices of the top stars went sky high, which became unaffordable to most independent producers. It was kind of history repeating itself. The time of independent producers was over.
6.Growing Overseas Market:
Since late ‘90s, Indian movies started to make its presence felt in overseas specially in the UK, USA and the Gulf countries where there is considerable population from Indian subcontinent. With time, the revenue base has grown and adds significant amount of revenue. Film makers like Karan Johar is perceived to be making films keeping overseas audience in mind. His film Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna did better business in the overseas than in India.
Effects of Corporatization
0 The major and the biggest effect of corporatization was that finance was procured with legitimate means which put an end to underworld era. In fact, after the Chori Chori Chupke Chupke case, there was no news of underworld hand in film production. Earlier, very now and then actors sought special protection. However, it has changed after corporatization.
0 The resources have been streamlined. More control on the supply chain made the process of making films faster. Now films are made within 6 months time. This definitely generates more revenues.
0 There is more professionalism shown by the actors as well as the rest of the crew. Now, actors shoot for only one film at a time and sign a film only after getting a bound script, even when they are just beginners in the industry. Imran Khan, nephew of Super Star Aamir Khan and a promising actor, is just 3 films old and he signs on every page of a script while signing any film. This makes binding on the director to consult the actor even if he has to change one sentence in the script.
0 Independent producers formed a group and made corporations. A new business model came into play. Corporations who had no filmmaking experience would collaborate with independent producers to make films. The producers helped in effective execution of the shooting, while the corporate would finance as well as look after into other aspect of the film. At this time, when costs have gone high, there are hardly any independent producers. Most have formed their companies or work with other corporate.
0 The actors’ fees have gone sky high. During the beginning of the decade top actors like the Khans were paid Rs 1 Crore per film but by the end of the decade, they received as high as Rs 20 Crore per film. The growth is phenomenal.
0 This has reduced risk by practicing the best methods. The ROI is calculated by more capable people to make rightly priced films.
0 Aamir Khan does not charge for his films. He takes 33% if the total profit. In this way, he takes risk for his work which most other actors don’t do. It has always paid off for the maverick Khan as he earns more than Rs 35 Crore per film. Recently he signed an endorsement deal with a company for approximately Rs 35 Crore with a company. The valuation of actors has gone with corporatization and super talented actors like Aamir seem to benefit the most from it.
Yash Raj Films: Evolution of India’s first Studio
Yash Raj Films was established in 1972 when Yash Chopra and Rajesh Khanna collaborated to make the film Daag. The name Yash Raj is actually the first names of the two phenomenal men who made tremendous contribution to Hindi Cinema. But the production house was soon dismantled as Chopra moved on to make films with Rajesh Khanna’s archrival Amitabh Bachchan. Chopra went on to produce many films independently but with different names and banners. Many years later, Chopra’s maverick son and successor Aditya, who debuted by making the longest running film in the history of Indian cinema Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (the film is still running in Maratha Mandir in Mumbai since its release in 1995) thought of reviving the name Yash Raj. Perhaps few could know what the man had visualized.
The name Yash Raj Films was first re-used, this time with new sign and logo, in the film Mohabbatein (2000) which was Aditya’s second film as a director. Till now for most of the films produced by Chopras were also directed by them. Aditya knew that if he had to build a studio, he needs outside directors. Hence three films were planned with outside directors and subsequently released in 2002. The first film was Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai directed by Sanjay Gadhvi which was a moderate success followed by Hrithik Roshan starrer Mujhse Dosti Karoge directed by Kunal Kohli which flopped at the box office. The last film of the year was Saathiya a Tamil remake directed by Shaad Ali which went on to become a hit. The three directors, despite the fate of their films had to make more films for Yash Raj as three films contract was signed with each. The success of Yash Raj in its first year was not very encouraging but it didn’t deter Aditya to plan for films for he knew what he was doing. There was no release the next year, but Yash Raj came with a bang in 2004 with expansion clearly in mind. The first one was Hum Tum directed by Kunal Kohli which went to become a huge hit. With this film, Yash Raj launched it Home Entertainment division. The next film was Dhoom directed by Sanjay Gadhvi which was another super hit. Yash Raj Music level for overseas was launched with this film. The last film of the year was Yash Chopra directed Veer Zaara starring Chopra favourite Shahrukh Khan, which went to become the highest grosser that year. Yash Raj Music was launched in India with this film. Hence Yash Raj control over all aspect of filmmaking was almost complete. The distribution arm existed long before and a studio (which was under construction then) was needed to make it a complete Studio in Hollywood style. In 2006, it unveiled its state-of-the-art studio making the process complete. Meanwhile it kept on churning out one hit after another.
Distribution:
Apart from the offices in different parts of India, Yash Raj Films has its own offices in UK, USA and UAE through which it releases its films in overseas market. It also distributes films produced outside its own banner. Apart from distributing mainstream films like Koi Mil Gaya, Kal Ho Na Ho, Krrish etc. it also distributed off beat films like Maine Gandhi Ko Nahi Maara, My Brother Nikhil, Meenaxi, Maqbool etc. In 2004, Hollywood Reporter placed Yash Raj Films at number 27 in a survey of world’s biggest film distribution houses. The latest film distributed by Yash Raj was the comedy film All The Best released in Diwali ’09 which went to become a box office success.
Home Entertainment:
The Home Entertainment division was launched with the film Hum Tum. At the moment, Yash Raj Films has 47 titles actively selling in the market. Moreover it has bought the rights of classics created by Raj Kapoor and B R Chopra which will make the library close to 100 titles. For an eight year old studio, the figures are very good.
Music:
Piracy has hit the music industry the maximum. The kind of revenue music generated 10 years ago is no longer their despite the growth of the market. In fact it has taken a sharp decline. Hence Yash Raj sells its own music through its label. Yash Raj is known for creating great music, hence with much less investment, they get huge returns. They have tried to buy music of outside production like Jurm (2005), but it has been limited.
Television:
It recently made its way to create content for TV. It has five shows on air currently on Sony TV.
YRF Studio:
The first film to be shot in the studio was Aamir Khan Starrer Fanaa. The studio is used for shooting in-house as well as outside films.
YRF is India’s first full-fledged studio production house. Though lately it has not attained the kind of success it had when it had begun, still the company is at able hands and would continue to be the leading studio of the country. Very secretive about its projects, it has announced to produce 3 films this year, apart from distributing outside films.
The Challenges
There are many challenges that the corporations have to face to withstand in the industry to survive in the long run.
1.Uncertainty in filmmaking business:
The biggest challenge for a corporate that enters Hindi film industry is uncertainty in film making business. Apparently providing finances does not ensure making a hit film. Hence a lot of corporations have shut offices and have gone back to their main business.
During mid 90s, Amitabh Bachchan was the first person to think about corporatizing Hindi cinema when he established ABCL (Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited) in 1995. After the initial success, the company went bankrupt and had huge debts which forced Bachchan to enter Hindi cinema again (He had officially retired from acting in 1992 with the film Khuda Gawah). It was lesson to be learnt that the industry was yet not ready for corporatization. As of now, ABCL is out of debts and is rechristened as AB Corp Ltd and makes films once in a while. Had the initial venture been successful, Amitabh Bachchan would have been a pioneer in corporatizing Hindi film industry. Perhaps the time was not right then or the risk associated with making a film was not well managed.
2.Piracy:
Piracy is a burning issue at this moment. Due to piracy, Bollywood loses hundreds of Crores every year. Piracy happens on two levels – Music and Movies. The worst hit of the two is the music industry. At one time, Music added significant revenue. In some odd cases, the entire cost of the film was sometimes recovered from music of the film. Ashiqui(1990) produced by music label T-Series was a huge success and it earned sold millions of copies. Even 20 years later, the music of the film is still very popular.
The music industry took all time high in 2001 before hitting rock bottom. The price the films brought was the highest till date.
Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham – Rs. 11 Crore (Sony Music)
Lagaan – Rs. 7 Crore (Sony Music)
Yaadein – Rs. 7 Crore (Tips)
During that period, the whole film cost was between Rs. 20-25 Crore which means music added huge revenue for the film.
But it didn’t last long and in fact it touched rock bottom that very year. Nowadays, with proliferation of internet where songs can be downloaded at by pressing few buttons, music industry has hit an all time low. Compare the price of Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham with My Name is Khan which was sold at Rs 4 Crore to Sony Music. Both the films are made by the same director and have Shahrukh Khan and Kajol in the lead role. The music industry has shrunk after piracy has hit it hard.
Despite hitting by piracy, movie business is growing at tremendous rate. However, had there been no piracy, the growth would have been much more. This is one challenge that the industry has to seriously tackle.
3.Revenue Sharing:
During the first half of last year, there was dispute between distributors and multiplex owners who generate around 60-70% of theatrical revenue in India. The revenue sharing model was not uniform for all films. While the bigger films got better deal, the smaller ones had to be content with lesser share. Multiplexes were begun to be referred as ‘mafia’. There was 6 months long stand-off, when there was no release of any film. Finally, a consensus has been reached. But it remains to be seen how long the new revenue sharing model survives.
The Road Ahead
The road looks very bright for Hindi film industry as it is making its making its presence felt globally. My Name Is Khan (sold at Rs 100 Crore, highest price for any Indian film) was released worldwide by 20th Century Fox and its sister companies and the revenue generated by the film in the international market clearly shows the power of well established distribution system. My Name is Khan’s entire domestic theatrical revenue was less than first week collection of 3 Idiots. Yet, the overseas collection of Khan is more than 3 Idiots, and is the highest grossing Indian film till date.
Another example of Hindi cinema’s global footsteps is forthcoming bilingual film Kites starring Hrithik Roshan. The film will be released in English and Hindi simultaneously. The English version is re-worked by Hollywood director Brett Ratner to suit the international audience. It will surely open gates for super talented Hrithik Roshan to work internationally. There are unconfirmed reports of possible tie ups between top Bollywood and Hollywood personalities. If it happens, then Bollywood’s brand value will increase by manifold.
The process of corporatization is still evolving in India and is in the process of getting there. But one thing is sure that all the Corporations in Mumbai have consistently brought into the industry, is well-sourced money. These companies don’t rely on private financiers and have raised money for operations from legitimate sources such as banks and financial markets. With these huge monies already in their banks, they’re not forced to pre-sell their movie’s rights to distributors unlike an individual producer. Also they have brought in science into the obscure function of movie marketing and have taken promotion to a new scale all together. For instance, the first promo of My Name Is Khan was unveiled in 70 countries across all star networks at the same time. No wonder, the film did the maximum business in the overseas market.
Corporatization has its share of flaws but the number of advantages it has brought to the unorganized Hindi film making business is much more. It is here to stay and evolve with time.
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