Moving Picture World (Jan-Feb 1922)

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January 7, 1922 MOVING PICTURE WORLD 57 Chief Bar to Production in India Is Wanton Waste; Films Lack Broad Appeal ( From Our Correspondent) Calcutta, Nov. 17. IN my previous article I attempted to make out a strong case in favor of film production in India under expert American direction and with local acting talent, and I feel more convinced than ever to-day that there is a large field for production in this country under these conditions. One feels so sorry that the Famous PlayersLasky Corporation’s enterprise in India could not be engineered to a successful issue owing to causes over which that company had no control, and this is another plea for utilizing the services of local actors and actresses. The climate of India does not agree with every foreigner, and it is a notorious fact that none of the centres of production possess ideal climate. Personally, I think Calcutta has the best climate of all the cities where film production is possible, and possesses advantages and facilities which few cities in the East enjoy. The place where the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation had its studio in Bombay is a notoriously malarious spot, and I, for one, would not care to spend even the week-end over there. If any producing company from abroad would open a studio in India, I would strongly advise them to have their headquarters in Calcutta. The suburbs of the ex-capital of India offer scenery that any artist would delight to immortalize on canvas, and what little production has already taken place in this city has been done in these suburbs. Unfortunately, owing to lack of organization, all the companies that have so far tried their hands at the game have met with practically no success whatever. There are about four companies at work in Calcutta at the moment, of which only one is worth any consideration, because it has the necessary capital behind it. Wanton waste has, however, characterised the efforts of this company in every direction. If it has produced an 8,000-foot picture, which, in itself, is much too ambitious a venture for a start, it has wasted 80,000 feet of film. Actors and actresses who do not even have a rudimentary knowledge of acting, are being paid salaries out of all proportion to their capabilities. So-called “expert” cameramen, whose work is mostly “out of focus” and who have no idea as to the value of light, artificial or natural, and who cannot give definition or depth to a scene, are drawing princely incomes by playing a game of bluff with their employers, who, although aware of the worthless nature of their productions are still bent on wasting some more millions until evidently they arrive at the stage when they will have no more money to waste. I am certain if I proffered any advice to these people, asked them to be more mindful of their money, they would at once jump to the conclusion that I was a foreign spy! So let experience, in their case, be their teacher, however severe that teacher might be, and I only hope that others will profit by their example and not repeat the very same mistakes. Do you know very few go about with their eyes open in this country, and I need not tell you what it is to go about with one’s eyes closed in any business and in the producing line, in particular. Economy should be the watchword, even if one has billions behind one’s back. When I mention economy, I mean the opposite of waste, for there is such a thing as false economy, which we call by the more popular expression “penny wise and pound foolish” policy. If it is necessary that under a particular head you must spend a hundred dollars, because you know that ninety dollars would not give you the desired result, by all means spend the hundred, but where ten would be enough, it would be suicidal to think of spending a hundred. Organization Lacking This is what is actually happening in this country. Organization, as I stated in my previous article, is the one great thing lacking, and from what I can see. production in India cannot be a success, cannot possibly compete with the crudest foreign output until the organizer has appeared. So far, he has not. The organizer, the man with brains, who comprehends every aspect of the industry, the man who will not tolerate waste in any direction, the man who will save so much money by preventing waste, has yet to make a welcome appearance in the Indian film production field. In the Bombay Presidency, also, quite a number of companies are engaged on production and I feel sorry that so much of their energy should be misapplied. There are more companies at work on that side of India than in Bengal, where production is confined to Calcutta alone. Dotted all along the Bombay Presidency sea-coast are companies which are daily turning out what you would call nothing but “junk.” They delight in trying to adapt mythological stories for the screen, unaware of the great fact that representations of such stories are far more difficult and far more costly than stories that concern ordinary mortals. India has a rich mythological lore, but it requires more than the “skill” of the Bombay producers to transfer it to the screen. No Sense of Proportion An organization like the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation might, with the help of a few highly educated Indians thoroughly conversant with Indian my thology, succeed in producing films of this class. But producers in Bombay are determined to run before they have learned to walk! If I am not mistaken, the Indian enterprise of the Famous PlayersLasky Corporation did begin the difficult task of producing the great Hindu epics, “The Ramayana” and “The Mahabharata,” with two-reel episodes, which any exhibitor could have found room for in his program. That was a sensible move, for the non-Hindu section of the audience at any cinema would get bored in no time were they given nine and ten-reelers at a time ! It is a great pity the production activities of that sound concern have had to cease, as otherwise India would have seen something worth looking at in the Indian mythological line. Cannot these self-conceited Indian producers be brought to their senses and made to understand that there is such a thing as ’’sense of proportion” in every human undertaking ? They have certainly no business head to lead them, as they are evidently quite content to produce for the benefit of only a section of the teeming millions of this country. For film production in India to be a paying proposition, every company bent on “producing” must bear the all-important fact in mind that they must aim at producing pictures that will interest, firstly, the various races and creeds and communities in India itself, and secondly, those living outside India. Nothing Universal This is only another way of saying that there cannot be any film industry in India unless the pictures produced are fit for universal consumption — which means that the subjects selected must be understood by the civilized section of the human race, that the manner of presentation must be acceptable to everybody, that direction, acting, photography, settings and mounting must come up to a certain recognized standard, and that production, as a whole, must be such as to create a a demand in markets outside India. None of these essentials of film production has yet been grasped by any company in this country and from what I have seen, no attempts are being made either to grasp these. The man with the business brains in film production has not risen yet, or the only company that deserves any consideration in Calcutta would not keep on wasting its capital on pictures that it is ashamed to exhibit anywhere but what might rightly be called the backyards of the Indian quarter. Why this should be so with the best American pictures shown daily at the principal cities in India passes comprehension. Perhaps you are not aware that in this countrv. the pick of American pictures