As you’re reading this, yet another Goan family will fall in love with a film called Nachom-ia Kumpasar. The film is being screened across Goa and in other parts of the world as well, winning awards at film festivals and getting critical acclaim. On December 4, it will be a year since the movie’s release and it has certainly taken the world by storm.
Not many have in the past. Goan cinema has been a fledgling industry for decades now, with potential showing in little bursts, until the mid-2000s when it started to get regularised. But there are perceivable problems, many of them fundamental, many of them a matter of basic logic. But, none so serious that it cannot be overhauled and set straight.
The numbers game
In 2004, Goa hosted its first ever International Film Festival of India (IFFI) and ever since then, it has not only become the permanent venue for the festival but also gained a few advantages from it too. In 2004, a film called Alisha made such waves at IFFI that it went on to win a national award, the first ever for a Goan film. Rajendra Talak was the director of that film, and he has been putting out a film every two years or so since then. His last was in 2013. But, even he finds a bit of futility in the financial aspects of producing a Goan film. “We have around, say six to eight lakh Konkani speakers here in the state, out of which, only about a maximum of 10 percent turn up to watch a film. To make a decent film, you would need atleast Rs one crore, if not more,” says Talak, hinting that the numbers just don’t add up.
“It is a small state, with 15 lakh people,” says film critic Sachin Chatte, going on to add, “That’s probably the amount of people you will find in a large suburb in Mumbai.” You are lacking in numbers when you consider that this is the size of your target audience, from which only a percentage is actually going to watch your film, based on which language it is in and what it’s about. This is miniscule compared to what you could do in a bigger city that already has an established film culture.
Can you make a film for less? “Not really,” says Rajendra Talak. “The government can help with part of the finance, but even then they will give you Rs 25 to 30 lakhs, if you’re lucky. There are those who have made films for Rs 50 lakhs, but the point is that you then tailor-make the film to the budget. It should be the other way around. If you want quality, you will need to spend on good tech support, art direction, sets, costumes, artistes and more. That costs good money,” he says, adding that he did make Alisha for less than Rs 1 crore but that was way back in 2003-2004.
Filling the void
There were a few films that came out in the fifties and sixties, the biggest among them Nirmon and Amchem Noxib. In fact, a remake of Nirmon is now out on the big screen and gaining popularity amongst the film fraternity and aficionados as well. In the seventies, there was a massive void. The dearth of films continued for a while, barring a few telefilms in the nineties. It was in the 2000s and with IFFI landing on Goan shores, that things began to change.
Now, with infrastructure created for IFFI, Goan filmmakers can use those facilities to enhance their films success, a model that Bardroy Baretto, the director who is all smiles after the success of Nachom-ia Kumpasar, used very well. The team decided against screening the now sleeper hit in the bigger multiplexes, instead going the community way. They screened films at Marquinez Palace in Panaji and in Ravindra Bhavan in Margao. “There’s a Ravindra Bhavan in Sanguem too, but sadly no projector,” says Baretto. For Rajendra Talak, if you want to have massive recognition, you have to consider screening your films in multiplexes, but the Nachom-ia Kumpasar team did just the opposite. Now, Baretto thinks that this unusual formula can be replicated.
“You create a film based on the assumption that the audience will like it. That’s the destiny of the film. We did get a few studios that approached us but we decided not to go down that route. You then have to pay to release the film in theatres, pay for publicity. We thought of doing it in a different way, letting the film work for itself,” he explains. Nachom-ia Kumpasar had it all, music, dance, romance, a nostalgic peg that mimicked the storyline of two popular characters in Goan history, and most of all, it came out at a time when people needed to celebrate that Goan-ness that they always talk about but lament its slow demise. These factors helped it in a community setting. But will other movies be able to follow in this path is the one crore question?
Building on a foundation
Film culture is gaining legitimacy in the state. There are film screenings held at various locations, largely concentrated in North Goa. New multiplexes join the once solitary multiplex and the vast assortment of single screen theatres across the state. Social media and direct-to-home television with its multitude of channels is beaming more movies and creating awareness among the residents in Goa. It has a long way to go to even be compared to what exists in the bigger cities, but there is a slow burgeoning culture.
What can be done to fuel this fire? Where is the money going to come from? And is there a blueprint or a roadmap that can boost the film industry here? “It may have taken us two years to create Nachom-ia Kumpasar and then screen it, but we did that after more than two decades in the industry. You have to know and understand films to create a successful one,” says Bardroy Baretto. Rajendra Talak concurs. “There are film schools in other parts of the country. One has to understand cinema. People are making stage dramas on film right now,” he says. Actor Damodar Dicholkar, who starred in both Nachom-ia Kumpasar and the remake of Nirmon, also stresses on the fact that a good producer is non-existent in Goa. “We also need better technical quality, that of photography and sound,” Dicholkar states.
Goa lacks good technicians and other skill sets required to make a good film. An area that Sachin Chatte and Bardroy Baretto both stress on, an area that the government requires for state support. Baretto says, “It’s a foolish rider to ask that 70 to 80 percent Goans have to be employed. You have to depend on outside support for now. A few years later, when people here have understood films and the technical quotient in Goa is high, then put these stipulations in place.”
Perhaps these riders are being stressed on by people who do not yet understand the industry? “Yes, the person running the film scheme has to have some amount of knowledge. You can have the lower rung from Goa but the men and women in senior positions have to be experienced people. Have riders, but have sensible ones,” Chatte says, also asking for some sensibility in platforms to showcase talent. The recent state film festival held five editions in one, making up for lack of a festival for the past few years. “Create one every year, have competitions… I know of atleast 8 to 10 young filmmakers who are doing great work and who want to come back here to Goa and make films. But, they need support. If the government can give 6-10 films Rs 30 lakhs or more each per year, that comes up to a few crore rupees. Surely the government can spare that?” he asks.
Rajendra Talak sums it up, saying “What Laxmikant Shetgaonkar did, what I did, what Nachom-ia Kumpasar has managed to do, someone has to do better than that now. We set a benchmark.”
