Recently there has been a trend of many small stories made with no-name actors or stars with extensive budgets being released theatrically with huge distribution costs and then dying a quick death with huge losses for the newbie producer like was the case with the recent release Pind America, which supposedly had a budget of over $700,000 US, which if true should have starred Jimmy Sheirgill or another star actor as that is usually the budget of medium or high level star Punjabi films. 

By R. Paul Dhillon – DESIBUZZCanada Editor

Recently there has been a trend of many small stories made with no-name actors or stars with extensive budgets being released theatrically with huge distribution costs and then dying a quick death with huge losses for the newbie producer like was the case with the recent release Pind America, which supposedly had a budget of over $700,000 US, which if true should have starred Jimmy Sheirgill or another star actor as that is usually the budget of medium or high level star Punjabi films. 

Pind America is not the only culprit, there have been numerous small films as examples of high cost and no-name stars and there are numerous one awaiting post-production and some on the verge of release that shouldn’t waste their money releasing in theatres and instead should seek other venues of release.

In a recent conversation with my friend and well known actor B.K. Singh Rakhra, I pointed out that he made some good observations regarding this and producers, directors and writers need to pay attention to these basic fundamentals of film production and film business.

 First new producers should consult with experienced producers in the industry instead of just handing money to new directors to make a film. Every producer, especially new ones, needs understanding of the film business. Films being made with no stars or no names cannot be successful in cinemas unless they are made by established directors who know what they are doing and making small but good artistic films in budget (less than 2 crore rupees – I would say in the 1 crore rupee budget) that can have small release in theatres in Punjab and select overseas territories. 

Budget is key to all small, medium and large scale productions with stars. So new producers working with new talent should know that if they are spending more than $250,000 CAD with no name actors or stars like they had in Pind America – it’s money down the drain and the finished film will not even return distribution costs. 

This kind of film (Pind America and others) must be made in $150,000 CAD max and best hope is to release it on streaming (OTT) platforms or YouTube. Don’t waste spending big distribution money in cinemas. 

Producers need stars (minimum B level stars), bigger budget and bigger marketing budget to release in theatres. But still there is no guarantee of profit or even break even as 80-90 percent Punjabi films do not make profit theatrically and only recover maybe 50-70 percent of budget after selling music, satellite and digital rights. So 80 percent lose money – anywhere from 25 percent to 75 percent loses from whatever their final costs were after releasing in theatres. 

If many of the producers, especially new producers, read this – they will be well served before getting into film business or realizing their passion. We need money coming into Punjabi film industry to tell new and innovative stories and to give new and established talent like in front of the camera as well as behind the camera a chance to showcase their talent. 

But we all bear responsibility not to waste good money making I’ll-advised stories and first getting experience in all aspects of filmmaking before we start making feature films for theatrical release. 

Expensive lessons are learned by new and established producers every Friday when their films hit the cinema but some stories are too small and too old with no stars to attract an audience to be released with big costs in cinemas. 

So my request is for filmmakers and producers to know your story and star cast and aim at appropriate level of budget and release otherwise you are wasting someone’s money and passion which is an artistic crime!

As a writer-director-producer who has made over 40 productions and two feature films starring Bollywood legend Gulshan Grover, I believe it’s worth my time in educating those producers-filmmakers who might be in this predicament right now.

Keep being creative and keep your passions but think practically when spending other people’s money making films!

R. Paul Dhillon is the founder-editor of DESIBUZZCanada news magazine, an award winning-journalist and filmmaker who has made over 40 productions.