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Mirroring The Industry: Dinesh Vijan moves away from Excel Sheet filmmaking with Munjya and Chhaava; Decoding his bold business decisions
Dinesh Vijan moves away from Excel Sheet filmmaking with Munjya and Chhaava. Let's try and decode his bold business decisions.
The last few years has seen the rise of Dinesh Vijan as the producer has broken the post pandemic norms and tasted success with mid-budget films. Right from Zara Hatke Zara Bachke to Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya, Munjhya, Stree 2 or more recently, Chhaava - the success is for everyone to see. What makes all of these feature films special is the fact that none of them are “star heavy vehicles” and succeeded solely on the basis on content aided with right teaser, trailer and most importantly music.
It won’t be wrong to say that Maddock is showing the way forward to the Hindi Film Industry by undoing every wrong that existing across the production houses. Today, the banner is undoubtedly at the top spot, by cracking a sweet spot of curating right theatrical content which also rakes in big money at the box office. But what is Maddock’s recipe to success? Here’s decoding it.
As we have mentioned in the past (you can read it here) - it is important for the Hindi Film Industry to move away from the “Excel Sheet” format of filmmaking, where films are been greenlit based on non theatrical revenue. Producers are not willing to task risks and the budgets are being compromised basis revenue. We go a step ahead to mention another harsh reality - casting calls are taken basis the viability of an actor or actress among the digital players, rather than the suitability of the leads in the story. Dreams of directors are reduced to excel sheets - no recovery, no dreams / less recovery, think small. Good or Bad is decided basis the non theatrical recovery as no one is willing to take a risk. Cut to Maddock, and we see a whole new industry in the making. Dinesh Vijan is fighting out with digital players and studio partners to bring forward his content in the best possible manner. He made a film on budget of Rs 200 crore with Vicky Kaushal and trusted his acting talent & dedication when most in the industry are in two minds to even allot a Rs 100 crore budget to Vicky or other actors from younger generation. Cut to the results - Vicky’s talent aided with strong content has reaped strong results as Chhaava is set to enter the Rs 500 crore club, giving a new standing to Vicky in the industry and also benefitting as a studio, as risk taking ability resulted in strong returns. Chhaava has made Vicky a genuine star and his line up ahead just spikes further excitement as there is a scope for him to up the stakes with consistency.
One must also note that the digital rights of Chhaava were not sold until January 2025. The film was made with 0 non theatrical revenue and all the focus was on creating a film with passion for cinema going audience, rather than focusing on finances on the excel sheet. He sold the film to a leading player only after the teaser dropped and spiked curiosity, as pre-selling it had a risk of short-selling at a lower cost. Cut to Munjya. The studio associated with the film was adamant to bring it as a direct to digital film, but Dinoo stood his grounded parted ways with the studio and released the film on the big screen. What next? The studio sulked for bad decision making skills and Maddock reaped big benefits as the small budget film entered the Rs 100 crore club. Much like Chhaava, the digital rights of Munjya were not sold pre-release, as most of digital players refused to buy the film. Its only after release that the film got hot in OTT world and got big offers.
Focus on content and not revenue is among the very few things old school producers would do, as one is often more responsible when things are at stake. In a risk free product, the producer and all stakeholders will always take audiences for granted.
Maddock Films is arguably the most successful Bollywood Production House post-Pandemic
Another area where Maddock is scoring big over others is the music. With Sachin Jigar on board for most of their post pandemic releases, Maddock has seldom gone wrong with music. Right from Bhediya to Zara Hatke Zara Bachke, TBMAUJ, Stree 2, and Munjya - every album has atleast 2 chartbusters and barring Bhediya, every film has been successful at the box office. This also brings the impact of music to the forefront, as hit songs always play an important role in creating right hype and awareness for a film, which eventually translates into footfalls. The Gen-Z is often kicked by hit music and there is a youthful flavour in all Maddock Albums.
There have been misses too from Maddock at the box office, but even there, none can pin point on the banner making a dishonest film. While Sky Force might not have been a success, but the received universal appreciation from everyone who watched it. There’s a lot that industry can learn from Maddock at this point of time - from investing in talented actors, and not mere stars, to focusing on music and finally taking risks rather than just following a formula. Success tastes sweeter when you win a race going against the tide. Dinesh Vijan has done it time and again, winning the race with non-event films in the era of action and high on testosterone.
There are some debatable practices too - right from BOGO to Discounted Tickets to Free Sampling - which the banner introduced and opted for to give a push to their film, but thats a never ending debate, which could be right for some in the industry and wrong for some. Its a case of perspective and presently we are in the phase of trial and error, as content and mid sized films no longer spike same excitement in the audience as they used to in the pre-pandemic world.
Success has no recipe, and it often follows honesty. In today’s world, the audience is smart and can smell the difference between a film made for quick money and a film made with passion. The message is loud and clear - Invest in right stories, right talent and entertain the audience. They step into the dark hall for relatable entertainment: messaging can be a part of entertainment, but messaging can never be entertainment.
And what is entertainment? Anything that can engage the audience for 2 hours - romance, comedy, action, drama, horror, thriller - or a combination of these genres. It’s simple. Stay tuned to Pinkvilla for more updates
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