Chitti’s Bar
The year I had the idea of making “RAAT” a cousin of mine called Chitti had an idea of opening a bar & restaurant on Mehdi Patnam Road in Hyderabad. He reasoned that there was a huge colony on that road and not a single bar was there 5kms either way of the location he has chosen for the bar. With just an investment of 20lakhs on paper he showed that he can make a Crore the very 1st year. It sounded fantastic and I wished him all the best. By the end of the year he lost even his investment and closed down the bar for lack of business. Then with a sad voice he reasoned that since it is a residential colony none of the residents wanted to drink in a bar nearer to their homes and they preferred to do it far off and that’s why nobody ever put a bar there in that locality.
Whether his reasoning was correct or not, the truth was that both “RAAT” and “Chitti’s Bar” flopped with the difference that me being a part of the spoilt film industry everyone knows about my failure but no one except me knew about Chitti’s failure.
In the run up to the Iraq war so many countries and people including Americans were against America attacking Iraq. They all questioned on the validity of the information of Saddam Hussain stock-piling weapons of mass destruction and they said that innocent women and children will die in the war. But nobody ever had a doubt that America might not be able to conquer Iraq.
After the attack happened, the war got over in a week, Saddam and sons ran and the US President gave a speech with the backdrop of a banner screaming “Mission accomplished” and now 6 years later the war is still continuing with no end in sight and US is not knowing how to get out of Iraq without making it worse than before. If less than 200 Americans died in the war before they over-threw Saddam’s regime, more than 12,000 Americans died since then and are continuing to die.
The interesting point here is that let alone a super power think tank like America, not even a single so-called super opponents of the war including statesmen and common people I remember hearing or reading who envisioned this post-war scenario. But now after the fact even a street corner paanshop guy sniggers at America’s flop. I call it “America ki Aag”.
Coming to films, over the years I meet so many people who ask me in surprise how I could have made a such and such flop. What these questioners don’t realize is that a film is made on a series of decisions taken over a long period of time and each and every one of those decisions will be taken on different days and different periods of time and also influenced by a set of certain very specific factors relevant to a particular context at that time.
Otherwise why would any filmmaker however good or bad he is, work for more than a year and some times for years together on a film which every tom, dick and harry viewer realizes in 2 hours is crap.
The reason for that is, there are a hell of a number of things which can go wrong between the intent of why one wanted to make the film to the execution of the said film to how the film is realized eventually to how the film is perceived by others namely the audience who again are coming from a different time period and a mindset and influenced by factors markedly different from the mindset of what the filmmaker thought in years ago.
I have always maintained that all my flops are by intent and all my hits are by accident. That is because any of us will only act upon anything in life if and only we are convinced on our intent but what comes out of it and what works in, what comes out of it and what does not is rarely in control.
I know of a friend who was dating this girl for 7 years and when they finally got married it was a big flop. When I asked him why, he said that they both discovered some things about ach other which they never knew on those 7 years of dating.
So the point I am trying to make is that apart from films lots of things in our lives flop continuously because a flop is nothing but a decision going wrong.
We are all experts on criticizing and commenting on others failures but very rarely can we be experts on our own failures but that does not stop us from jumping on to others flops.
Sunil Gavaskar once told someone that if he failed in a match and when he comes back to the pavilion even the attendant removing his knee pads will comment that he should not have hit a so and so ball. It is another matter that the attendant might not even know how to hold a bat but he will feel free to advise and give gyan to Gavaskar since he flopped.
Coming back to Chitti, believing in his reasons his family backed him financially. If the bar was a hit he would have been called a visionary and since it flopped now he is remembered as being blindly stupid by his family who could not afford the loss he got them into, whereas in my video library case my family thought I was being blindly stupid and hence they did not support me financially and I became a visionary since the video library became a hit. But with what reason I intended the library to be successful was not the reason why it worked and with what reason Chitti intended was not the reason why his bar failed. So Chitti failed on his intent and I succeeded by accident.
We all think that we live by intent and die by accident but whether any of us have the courage to accept it or not, whether to others or even to ourselves, the truth is that we all live by accident and die by intent.
Categorized as My Life
September 5th, 2010 at 10:44 PM
RE : who is the better director James cameron, Steven spielberg or Christopher nolan ?
Mory
FOR ME-
.i dont know abt nolan..dint see any movie of his…
Steven spielberg is best than cameroon… coz of his
1)thought provoking direction…
2)more range and variety..
3)more imaginative
4)more intellectual
5)more fast and more independant
6)More unique
7) Trend setter and revolution whose style is imitated by many
8) Less repetitive
9) Also delivers humor and last but not least
10) MORE CREATIVE
Cameroon i feel is good in making “BIG” movies
September 5th, 2010 at 10:20 PM
hello sir, as a mad movie buff and an amateur maker..i never know the meaning of flop in case with the movies…because as rightly you said the movie is a huge amalgamation of umpteen decisions of many people and situations only a few might be so impressive and perfect and really in every of your movie to be frank never i felt the whole movie is really good not only yours ofcourse many of the movies…but a bunch of scenes in movies stand forever that grabs the crazy audience to the theatres…and am really mad of many scenes you ever painted over silver screen with your camera….so finally wat i wanna say is that there is no flop or hit just there would be only good scenes are parts of the movies..i don’t even agree with the damn comments movies are bumper hits…..to be an example BHARATIYUDU music made by rahman is outstanding was the comment i heard but such a big composer also copied a couple of songs in that movie from his ROJA.so that was very stupid to say to be completely outstanding..n i really liked your perspective of explanation about the flops of movies………..
December 15th, 2009 at 8:09 PM
I dont know about your visionary in your video shop but you are so visionary about this issue. Whatever you said is correct each and every sentence. Because I am experiencing also failures right now. But I am not going to loose my confidence I will definitely answer what I am to all my problems one day. Thanks for your the best analisation of the Failure…. It gave me the more boost…. THANK YOU
November 23rd, 2009 at 5:07 PM
There is, I believe something lacking in your recent films that was there in “anaganaga oka roju”. Is it the soul or the charm you are a better judge.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:52 AM
on his hair style)
RAVAN pushes away the makeup-man’s hand. Cell phone starts ringing.
RAVAN
(with anger — at makeup-man)
Papayta chakkaga teeya rada?
November 22nd, 2009 at 8:49 AM
This is an interesting post Ramu. Like the pop video doing the rounds now says – if you never failed, you never lived.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cSvvxrprdU [ when you find time, watch this]
The way I see it, my work is my signature. I would like it to as unique, distinct and visionary as I can make it to be. I am not worried about how it is judged as much as how it is remembered.
I personally loved some of your flops better than your hits. Hits are popular appeal – a result of putting the right product in front of the right people at the right time. So, a film maker who delivers a ton of hits in his life is probably a good product manager. But, a GOOD film maker, as a movie distributor and music producer myself, is someone who continues to push the envelope of social acceptance, questions the norm of everyday sanity and challenges some of the deeply held, closely guarded hypocrisies of his time. While doing so, if he wins the majority nod, great. But, he would be twice as successful if he triggered the right discussion or the right call to action. I used to hold you in that elite group of film makers when I was growing up.
I thought ‘Antham’, followed by ‘Ratri’ was your best work in your first few years. There was this friend of mine in high school called moorty, who was so inspired by Antham that he used to draw leafless trees and starless nights when we were asked to draw something pretty. Our Arts teacher made fun of him once in front of a whole school gathering. He went up the stage and without defending his work against the judgement, sought to explain how a starless night or a leafless tree was just as symbolic of promise as was a bright sun or a lush meadow. To him , ‘life was about looking at things that did not happen and asking, why not?’ . I know that is not your spin but it was interesting how something so dark as ‘Antham’, where a criminal dies a sad death at the end, inspired a little boy in high school to not only understand the gravity of our choices given the strength of worldly prejudices but also to question them by putting his fist up against them and say – can it be different ?.
I was actually mildly disappointed with how Rangeela ended on an anticipatory note, even though ‘Hai rama’ as a song stays with me to this day.
Every time you make a flop that people want to grill you about, I see you defend yourselves against the media, the audience and their sentiments. I would really be impressed if you offered no defense at all, considering you have not much more to prove as one of India’s best and most successful film makers ever, just listened to the critique and said – ‘interesting’ ;) .
You have given so much to Indian cinema in your life – be it flops or hits or controversies.
Now it is time for you to take that to the next level. I personally think you have a Martin Scorsese streak in you that was never completely explored, thanks to the hypocrisies of Indian film making. I would love to see you work on a powerful story like ‘Gangs of New York’ or ‘Aviator’. Looks like Raktha Charithra is going to be something of that kind.
November 21st, 2009 at 2:27 PM
I am not Only ur Fan .
I am ur Follower .
I want to be a Director like U .
I want ur Status and Positon in INDIAN Cinema .
Don’t Lough !
Definately, I will Meet in 2 r 3 Year .
—- M V Ravi Teja
B Tech
November 20th, 2009 at 5:04 PM
Namaste Sir,
When a comment is bad that says something is Lack , when a comment is good that says it is perfect, and that two hour film stays in mind forever . This is a Lack & Perfect and should not counted in Flop or Hit.
Simplicity,Emotions,Purity are Timeless and i feel these are common Indians only mindset.
Manisha Samal (odissa)
November 14th, 2009 at 7:06 PM
Dear sir,
I have just register to your blog, i know you may read my view so…..
i just want to say, your first movie “RAAT” was master peace, we like “BHOOT” too,
but we like to get thrill by “BHOOT 2″ The story in same house continues….with next tenant…
I am your fan…….
Thank you very much
Hitesh Gangani
November 14th, 2009 at 3:51 PM
ramu sir,
entidi? meru emi cheyali?emi chestunaru? i think you knoe better than me?
ramu=film
but not ramu=flop.
make a film with some dark stuff again .
santosh