‘It’s not easy to green-light a film these days’

Recently you said that Bollywood is going through a crisis. If one of the biggest producers is saying that, we seriously have an issue here…
I don’t think we understand what is happening. There is a definite crisis and as we speak we are combating it. It is not easy to green-light a film these days. Studios are also holding back funds and being prudent about what they are sanctioning. The ground reality is that footfalls are reducing in cinemas. It is following the Hollywood model; people come out in large numbers for the big film. But the problem is here we have a limited screen count. Mid level films would have done well if we had more screens because when a big budget film comes, it takes away all the screens. Why is that certain films in the US run for 20 weeks and build an audience?

Go on…
We don’t have the luxury of doing it here. We need more screens, improved content and we need to empower writers. We have great writers, but we don’t pay them enough. I would rather pay a writer than an actor who is not getting the audience. I’d give any money for a brilliant script and then sign the actor. All writers want to become directors. Maybe that’s what they feel is their way up. An actor has to realise that he or she can’t charge the earth, sun and moon. If the film is making that money, please take your money. If it is not saving the people involved in it, then nobody has the right to make the money individually. It’s a blend of combined commerce.

Have there been instances of actors returning a part of their fees when the film flopped?
Very rarely. In my career, there has only been one actor, but I won’t take the name. That person came back to me and said please take this money back.

Dharma Productions presenting S.S. Rajamouli’s Baahubali in Hindi came as a big surprise. How did that happen?
I am in awe of this man and when I was approached to present this film in Hindi, I was most excited. I don’t think there has been any feature film with such visuals. It is truly the biggest Indian film ever made. I believe every Indian should see Baahubali to just know how a man can put his life at standstill for nearly four years just to make a film.

Are you not interested to remake a South film?
I am not averse to it. I really feel that the template needs to change a little bit.

Coming to Bombay Velvet, no one was expecting your act to become more talked about than Ranbir’s.
Well, thank you. I worked hard to create a different me because I have a certain kind of image. I was like what’s the worst that can happen? If I am terrible, I won’t get another offer to act. But that doesn’t pay my bills. The good news could be that I may not be so bad.

Yash Chopra and your father Yash Johar felt that the young generation is not concerned about the welfare of the industry. But during the censor board issue, it was good to see all important voices come together. Your take?
I think you can’t be just selfish and think that you are isolated from everything that is happening in the business. Because we grow together. We are back to slowly becoming a fraternity. I have a lot of regard for someone like a Mukesh Bhatt, who takes up industry causes so seriously, and drives us all to be there. I have great respect for Aamir Khan; he is one actor who takes time out to be everywhere.

There was a letter a gentleman gave you a few days after your father passed away. Can you tell us about that?
On the fourth day after my father passed away, it was a Sunday. I still remember I was sitting alone in my office. For a brief moment I even thought that I would never be able to do anything without him. I was wondering if I should just direct films for others, should I shut the office. I just didn’t know what to do. When I read that letter which came to me the next day, everything changed for me. How stupid was I to even briefly think of shutting down what my father created! The letter was a guide to what I should do. It told me about who to trust, it became like a template for me to build my company. I was so sheltered by my father; I didn’t even sign a cheque without him knowing. I didn’t know any accounts of my company and I had never even met the CA. We were a unit of three — my mother, my father and I. Wherever my father is in the universe, he is the world to me.