According to KPMG study in 2011, the Hindi film industry is the world’s sixth largest movie industry. Its box-office revenues are around $ 1.4 billion and projected to rise to $ 3 billion in 2016. It is estimated that more than 1700 feature films are produced in India each year, the highest number in the world.

China is the second largest movie market in the world, after the US. Its box-office revenues are $ 2.2 billion. India and China combined constitute one of the largest movie markets in the world.

First Week’s Box Office Collection ( Net After tax ) ( India )   :   Rs 175 crore

First Weeks Box Office Collection ( Overseas )                           :   Rs 90 crore

Total Box Office Collections                                                            :  Rs. 270 crore

Exhibitor’s Share ( 50 percent of the net after tax )                   :  Rs. 135 crore

Producer’s Share                                                                                :   Rs. 135 crore

Total Investment in the film                                                            :   Rs. 110 crore

Profit to Producers                                                                             :   Rs.  25 crore

Return on investment                                                                        :   Rs.  22.7 per cent

Satelite Rights                                                                                      :   Rs.  50 crore

Music Rights                                                                                         :   Rs   10 crore

Total Revenue for producers                                                             :   Rs 195 crore

A film has to be entertainig. At the same time, it could be intellectual cinema. The film has to reach the audiences. There are lot of stories having multiple characters or an ensemble cast. Tihis could be understood as a product of a writer who is city-bred and sees rows of flats and would like to narrate what is happening in some of them. Still we do not have writers and directors drawn from the interiors of India.

A new idiom has come to describe the cinema which is difficult to classify either as alternative or mainstream. It is an anti-dumb cinema. It is expanding the genre of mainstream cinema by being more inclusive and meaningful.

Jyoti Kalash Chhalke complete 50 years in 2011, and has now entered 54th year in 2015. This song is written by Pandit Narendra Sharma and was set to music by Babuji Sudhir Phadke, and sung by Lata Mangeshkar. It was picturised on Mina Kumari and Master Ajiz for the film Bhabhi Ki Chudiya (1961). The original story was picturised in Marathi Vahinichya Bangdya (1953). It was a story of Y G Joshi. This song uses two symbols — jyoti and kalash and has retained its freshness even today after 54 years.

Jyoti kalash chhale, jyoti kalas chhalke

Hue gulabi lal sunahre, rang badal ke

Jyoti kalsh chhalke…1

Ghar aangan van upvan upvan, karti jyoti amrut se sinchan

Mangal ghat dhalke, mangal ghat dhalke

Jyoti kalas chhalke…2

Ambar kumkum fal barsaae, ful pankhudiya par muskaye

Bindu tu hi na jalke, bindu tu hi na jalke

Jyoti kalas chhalke…3

Paat paat birva hariyala, dharti ka mukh hua ujaala

Sach sapne kalke, sach sapne kalke

Jyoti kalash chhalke…4

Usha ne aanchal felaya, feli sukh ki shital chhaya

Neeche aanchal ke, neeche aanchal ke

Jyoti kalash chhalke…5

Jyoti Yashoda dharti gayya, neel gagan Gopal kanhaiyya

Shyamal chhabi jhalke, shyamal chhabi jhalke

Jyoti kalsh chhalke,,,6

According to the American Motion Pictures Association :

G : General audiences. All ages admitted.

PG : Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

PG 13 : Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

R : Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying by adults.

NC 17 : No one under 17 is admitted.

According to The Indian Censor Board :

U : Universal.

U/A : Children below 12 have to be accompanied by adults.

A : Restricts exhibition of the movie only to the adults.

S : For particular groups, e.g. doctors.

When a film works, the director takes all the credit. When it fails, the writer squarely gets the blame for messing up! Directors do not direct blank pages. It begins with the writer. Films critics rarely acknowledge the writers and their contribution.

Most of the good writers in the US are moving towards TV because of the money. In India, it is exactly opposite.

Writers by default tend to lead an isolated life. It is necessary to see them in one room sharing ideas and discussing their craft.

Sabrina Dhawan wrote Monsoon Wedding for Meera Nair. She is New York-based. She co-wrote screenplays for Kaminey and Ishqiya. She was a script consultant for Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola. She keeps visiting India every now and then.

Battalion was released in Russia on 20 February, 2015. It has won the award of the best film at Mumbai film festival. It is Dmitriy Meskhiev’s picture. It is the story of the exploits of a woman’s battalion under the command of Mariya in Petrograd. This battalion operated in 1917. Mariya has performed brilliantly. In the film, officers suddenly refuse to carry out their orders and stop fighting.

Jaws completes 40 years in June, 2015. It was a Steven Spielberg movie. In the story, a marine biologist, a police chief and a fisherman search for a man-eating white shark who has made life hell for the people of Amity Island, a fictional island. They had to hunt this predator. It won three Oscars. The movie led to three sequels. Jaws 2 (1978 ), Jawas 3D (1983), and Jawas the Revenge (1987). Jaws equals the Exorcist as far as fright is concerned. Much of the film is non-sensical but it is a good deal of fun. It inspired a series of other movies such as Anaconda, The Deep, Alien, Tentacles, Deep Blue Sea. Alien is Jaws in space. Spielberg named the sharks ‘ Bruce.’ American Film Institute places Jaws at No. 2 after Psycho. At No. 3 is the Exorcist. In the list of the greatest American movies prepared by AFI, Jaws is ranked 48th (2005 ). A quarter of the film is shot from water level to give the feeling to the viewers of being in water. In terms of the highest grossing US films, Jaws is ranked seven.

Rajat Arora, Farhad-Sajid, Shibani Bhatija, Abhijiat Joshi are today’s well-known scriptwriters. Habil Faisal wrote Band, Baaja, Baaraat. According to rough estimates, a new comer may get anything between Rs 30000 and Rs 1 lac, depending upon the script. The more established names can earn figures as high as Rs 1 crore. Largely, most writers get a figure on the upper side of Rs 20 lac but less than a crore.

Most scriptwriters natural progression is to become directors. Thus they get better control of the script. According to Reema Kagti, writing and direction go hand in hand. Some like Habil Faisal direct films independently of other writers. and do the writing work for other directors.

Some scriptwriters write their own dialogues whereas some delegate dialogue writing function to others. They should be on the same page. The writers are generally present on the sets everyday of the shooting.

Anjum Rajabali feels that industry today is open to newer ideas and more sophisticated writers. For every 100 films made, there are 5000 scripts at work. The quality has gone up.