I am a master in India

Chapter 179: We've Made Our Money

Indian films are distributed in five different regions based on geographical location. To ensure a film's successful release and maximize profits, it's necessary to negotiate with distributors in each region individually.

The target audience for "Praise to Difficult Mother" was already clear before filming began: central and northern India.

Rajasthan, Central India, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Haryana…

These are all populous states in India. As long as a film is popular here, it won't affect the film's profitability even if it can't be shown in South India.

To find a suitable distributor for the film, director Schiff personally traveled to Uttar Pradesh.

According to Bollywood's normal operating procedure, he should have been in Mumbai, and then the distributor would have come to him.

Mumbai is the entertainment hub of India, with all sorts of distributors shuttling between Bandra and the directors' residences in the Juhu district every day.

But since "Praise to Dimakum" is a religious film, the entire crew was waiting for their share of the box office revenue from North India before settling their wages.

Schiff was the soul of the team; he had to ensure the film had a wide theatrical release in North India.

Getting approval from the film censorship committee only means you are qualified to have your film released.

The distributors are the ones who actually get films into theaters; they have access to theaters in the corresponding regions.

Not long after Schiff arrived in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, publishers approached him.

Without saying a word, the publisher, Balam, handed over a blank check.

"Sir, name your price. I will never forget your direction of 'Shameless'! The story in it was so tragic! Such things should never have happened. It was a masterpiece, I will never forget it!"

Shameless is Schiff's previous film, which tells the story of the adult industry, where men are willing to buy and women are sold, and contains many explicit scenes.

However, he hesitated to speak, only hinting at the point and stopping short. Whether it was tragic or not is unknown, but this did not affect Balam's praise.

In the Indian film industry, business deals are always made emotionally, and shameless flattery is a necessity.

Schiff glanced helplessly at Ron beside him, as if to say: Look, Bollywood is full of greedy people!

"Sorry, Balam, 'Praise of Difficult Mother' is not a one-time distribution right; we're selling it through theaters."

“Theaters!” Balam screamed. “Sir, please listen to me. The situation in Uttar Pradesh is complicated. Many theaters are hidden in villages, and you can’t keep track of how many people have bought tickets. Some scoundrels even try to renege on their debts!”
"The reason I wanted to release this film was not for money, nor for faith, but out of respect for you."

Balam spoke with heartfelt sincerity, and he went to great lengths to please Schiff.

He was implying that even if he knew the film wouldn't be a box office hit, he would accept it even if it resulted in a loss if Schiff directed it.

“Baram,” Ron almost laughed at the publisher, “Uttar Pradesh isn’t that dangerous, I can assure you.”

“Sir, you are…” His shrewd eyes flickered uncertainly.

“I’m from Uttar Pradesh, you know Varanasi, right?”

"Oh! The crazy East."

"Yes, that's right. My family has a machine gun squad, a total of thirty people, each with an AK."

If you're worried the thugs won't pay, I can have them come with you to collect the debt, how about that?

"Sir, you must be joking." Balam kept wiping his sweat.

"You've seen the sample of 'Praise to the Mother of God,' haven't you?" Ron asked.

"Of course, there is no doubt about Schiff's directorial work."

“We’ll follow the rules, a 10% issuance fee. Also, what I just said still stands: if there are any problems in Uttar Pradesh, go directly to the Sur family.”

In Bollywood films, distributors typically take 10% of the total revenue from theatrical releases.

In his own territory, Ron had no reason not to take a cut.

He even plans to follow this model in several populous states, including Rajasthan, Central Asia, and Bihar.

While other regions may be too far away to intervene, the right to issue the rights is not necessarily off-limits.

“Some scenes in the movie are quite explicit, and I’m worried about censorship. But it’s okay, I know an official,” Balam said persuasively.

“This is the license from the Uttar Pradesh Film Censorship Board.” Ron waved the stamped page at him.

Balam was discouraged; he had no more bargaining chips left.

“Listen, man, this isn’t just a simple mythological movie. It’s a mix of romance, action, religion, and more. It’s a blockbuster, and audiences will feel it’s great value for money, trust me.”

This time, Ron took the lead and guided her. The script for "Praise to the Mother" is actually excellent; it has all the characteristics of a low-budget film.

It combines elements of horror, eroticism, and Tantric Buddhism into one!

“You know better than we do the power of religious films in Uttar Pradesh, where there are nearly 100 million Hindus.”

Balam was tickled; he knew, of course, the audience in Uttar Pradesh. Especially the men, who would surely go crazy for certain scenes.

“Going through cinemas is no problem. Not only Uttar Pradesh, but also Bihar and Jharkhand are all in my distribution area. I know the owner of every cinema in North India, but you have to agree to one condition,” he said.

"What are the conditions?" Ron and Schiff asked in unison.

“Sell me the distribution rights for several northeastern states as a package.” Balam said confidently.

His network spans North India, giving him access to information about which regions and which films are popular.

The Northeast region has never received much attention in Bollywood due to its limited land and population.

But these are the places that publishers are eyeing most closely.

The producers are unwilling to waste energy on theatrical releases; they can afford to.

For a small package deal, they could buy the distribution rights and then dominate the film markets in those regions. Ron agreed to Balram's request; they genuinely lacked the resources and channels to monitor revenue sharing with theaters in those areas.

After a final round of bargaining, Balam bought out the rights to issue the product in several northeastern states for 80 rupees.

"When will the movie copy be delivered?" Balam was already quite impatient.

“We’ve also prepared some promotional materials for the next week, which may require your cooperation,” Schiff replied.

“No problem, I have good relationships with many newspapers.” This is exactly what Balam is responsible for as a publisher.

Once the details of the collaboration were finalized, both parties immediately got to work.

Balram was responsible for contacting theaters and newspapers for promotion, while Ron and his team were responsible for ensuring that the copies were delivered on time.

The cost of making a 35mm film print is about 2 rupees. There are thousands of cinemas and tens of thousands of screens throughout India.

Of course, it's impossible for each family to receive one; the production cost would be astronomically high.

The usual practice is for a region to share a few copies. Only luxury cinemas in large cities like Mumbai and New Delhi have their own independent copies.

"Praise to Difficult Mother" was a low-budget film and was not expected to be shown on a large scale in South India, so all copies were shared by several cinemas.

Based on the market size in North India, thirty-odd copies would be sufficient.

Indian films don't release all at once on a single day. Instead, each state has its own schedule, and a single film can often be shown on the subcontinent for two or three years.

First it was Uttar Pradesh, then Bihar, and so on, with a few dozen copies enough to meet the screening needs.

To be honest, the entire crew, including the director and the male and female leads, are still owed wages for making these copies.

This isn't Ron being stingy; it's just that's how it's done in Bollywood.

If the movie is a box office hit, everyone's happy. If the movie loses money, then don't even mention the actors' salaries.

Ultimately, Ron has been getting things for free for the past few months.

However, Schiff remained calm, as he had already heard good news before arriving.

"We've already recouped the cost of our film."

"What do you mean?" Ron had been in Uttar Pradesh recently and was unaware of what was happening in Mumbai.

"Tips Records bought the rights to the movie soundtrack cassette for 200 million rupees."

"Wow, Mary and her team are really resourceful."

“The two ladies are indeed formidable. That Taurani is a ruthless character; very few people have gotten the better of him.”

"Now I believe this movie is a sure thing."

This was an unexpected surprise, but it's also one of the characteristics of Bollywood.

The earliest financial backer of an Indian film was actually a record company that purchased the music copyrights.

Indians love singing and dancing, and of course, they love music. Bollywood tunes can be heard everywhere from the loudspeakers in the streets and alleys.

Even children from the slums could sing the theme song fluently shortly after the movie's release.

Generally, as long as the recorded songs aren't too bad, record companies will be interested in Bollywood movie music cassettes.

"Praise to the Difficult Mother" consists of five songs, and the singers are quite well-known.

Ron had already heard it once before, and he had to admit that the Indian was indeed quite talented in music.

Those songs are really good; the melodies are catchy and memorable.

The only drawback is that there are too few songs.

Ideally, record companies would like a movie to have eight songs so that both sides of the music cassette can be recorded.

Mary's original plan was to fill one side of the cassette tape with music, and simply use background music on the other side.

But when she returned to Bollywood for post-production, she decided to add a few more songs on the fly.

So Lanka and Urmila were conscripted again, each singing a song, plus a duet.

By the time filming wrapped, both cassettes were full.

This is another creative invention born out of budget constraints.

The male and female leads don't need to be paid extra for singing; it's all included in their salaries, which is much cheaper than hiring a singer.

Now, these money-saving tips have come in handy, and 200 million rupees have been easily obtained.

Ron called Mary and she said she would bring a copy to Uttar Pradesh in two days.

As a first-time producer, she naturally wanted to be present at the film's release.

However, Sri Lanka and Urmira don't need to come; India doesn't have the concept of roadshows anymore.

Given Third Brother's character, who knows what might happen if he met a female celebrity, especially in a rural area.

Therefore, publicity relied entirely on newspapers and tricycles traveling to the countryside, using shouting and hawking techniques.

Ron has already booked seats at the best cinema in Varanasi.

For your first movie, it definitely needs to be a special occasion.

(End of this chapter)