Komal Nahta, Bollywood’s respected trade analyst and film critic, visited Whistling Woods International recently to share his knowledge and experiences with the enthusiastic bunch of students. Komal Nahta is also the editor and publisher of Film Information, the largest circulated film trade journal in India and is also the founder-editor of Koimoi.com, an authentic website on the business of Bollywood.
Chairman Subhash Ghai introduced Komal Nahta as an intelligent film reviewer. On being asked about the reason for change of his profession from chartered accountancy to film trade analysis, Komal revealed, “I always wanted to be in this profession and I did my CA just because I wanted to be more perfect in figure work. I live, eat, breathe films.”
According to Komal, the 5 most important factors that should be considered while making a good film are; Choice of subject and belief in it, Choice of casting, Budgeting of film, Making of film and Marketing. He further added, “The essential commercial ingredients of a good story are drama, music, emotion, comedy and action. All of them need not be under one plate and can vary with the demand of the subject.”
Speaking on the difference between ‘Commercial Cinema’ and ‘Art cinema’ he said, “Commercial cinema is cinema for which you and I love paying money for. I am impatient with art films that do not make money. Film-making is a commercial enterprise and money is the only single objective way of measuring the success of a film.”
Throwing light on commercial success of films in Indian film industry, Komal remarked, “Barely 15-18 % of the films made every year break-even to make money and the balance lose money. Sheer lack of hard work is the reason for failure for most of them. Chalta hai attitude does not work in this industry.” He further explained his way of measuring success of a film. He categorized films into disaster, flop, average, commission earner, overflow, hit, superhit and blockbuster depending on the returns that a film gets back on its investment.
At the end of the invigorating session, Komal advised students, “Temptations will be many but never give up on honesty. My father taught me that honesty can never go waste. Even one instance of dishonesty can tarnish your reputation for life.”
Expressing his enthusiasm to be at Whistling Woods International, Komal said, “Whistling Woods is acting like the foundation of Indian cinema. This is a phenomenal training ground for the students where they not just learn about the craft and art of film-making but also about the business aspect of film-making. I think all the students are very lucky to be studying here at WWI. Industry should be very proud of Subhashji because under his guidance are taking birth a lot of talents of tomorrow.”
The elated students thanked him for his expert advice on business of film-making.
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