From 'Sanju' to 'Neerja', Fox Star Studios' focus on alliances pays off

After a disastrous 2015, the studio went back to the drawing board to realign its strategy and has been able to turn things around.

Three years back, two major multi-national film studios -- Disney India and Fox Star Studios (FSS) -- found themselves in a super slump at the Bollywood box office. Both had a bad run at the movies with films like Bombay Velvet and Tamasha failing to make an impact, despite a commendable cast and director. As a result, Disney India decided to take a step back from Bollywood.

For the second studio, FSS, 2015 was an exceptionally bad year with just one of the seven releases making an impact at the box office. However, instead of calling it quits, FSS decided to take a step back, re-evaluate its strategy, and start anew. Three years on, the new strategy seems to be paying off.

There continue to be some hits and misses, but FSS has managed to churn out commercially and critically successful films over the past couple of years, including titles like Neerja, Kapoor and Sons, and, most recently, Sanju.

Going back to the drawing board, the studio realised that the focus needs to shift from actors to characters, or in other words, from scale to script. Thus came a renewed emphasis on story and working with partners -- actors, directors or co-creators, who brought as much to the table as FSS did. While the studio continues to have a long-standing working relationship with Karan Johar's Dharma Productions, it has also entered partnerships with Sajid Nadiadwala and Rajkumar Hirani.

"We had decided on two focus areas. The first was to do more home productions where our creative teams are driving the entire process, starting with the script. The other equally important agenda was to scale up through strategic alliances with key creative production houses who share our vision. These alliances include our longstanding partnership with Dharma, which we are very proud of, our successful association with Sajid Nadiadwala and, more recently, with Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra. It's important to work with partners over several films to develop a shared agenda that maximises the synergies for both parties," says Vijay Singh, CEO, Fox Star Studios.

The strategy of alliances seems to be working since some of the biggest hits from FSS in recent years have come from the co-production slate like Kapoor and Sons (Dharma), Baaghi 2 (Sajid Nadiadwala) and, most recently, Sanju (Hirani and Chopra). FSS' home productions like Neerja and MS Dhoni have also managed to hit the bullseye.

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Ranbir Kapoor's Sanju smashes records, joins Bollywood's Rs 3 billion club

While the highest Hindi language grosser continues to be the Hindi version of Baahubali 2: The Conclusion.

With Sanju, Bollywood got its seventh member in the Rs 3 billion net (after tax) box office collection club.

While the highest Hindi language grosser continues to be the Hindi version of Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017) at Rs 5.11 billion, the Rs 3 billion club has been growing rapidly over the past few years.

The first film to cross the Rs 3 billion mark was Aamir Khan’s PK in 2014

Since then, Bollywood has seen at least one Rs 3 billion grosser every year

Of the seven films to have crossed the mark, five have come in the past 2.5 years

While Shah Rukh Khan continues to be called The King of Bollywood, he is yet to mark his presence in the club.

The same goes for Bollywood’s Khiladi Akshay Kumar

Aamir and Salman Khan dominate the Rs 3 billion collection list with five of the seven films featuring either as the lead.

Aamir has two films on the list – Dangal and PK, while Salman has three – Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Sultan and Tiger Zinda Hai.

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Reel vs real: The politics behind the life and crimes of Sanjay Dutt

As the debate about depiction of public figures in bio-pics continues, Sunil Dutt's attempts to bail his son out recounted.

When a film about a public figure is made, many questions relating to the accuracy or inaccuracy of portrayals arise. In a vibrant democracy, multiple truths often jostle with each other, so that we can determine for ourselves which one (or ones) we prefer. We must also ponder if any biographical film, condensing a life into two-and-a-half hours, takes certain departures from reality. In this sense, Sanju, a biopic on actor Sanjay Dutt is no exception.

In a particular scene in Sanju, Dutt is seen playing court to a political figure in Delhi, months after he was charged with the crime of possessing an AK-56 rifle and hobnobbing with those suspected of carrying out the bomb blasts in Bombay (now Mumbai) on March 12, 1993. The politician in the movie is rather indifferent and dismissive of Dutt’s plea.

In real life, it was actor-turned-politician Sunil Dutt who had indeed courted a political figure. He had once informally told a gathering of journalists – including the author – that he had approached Sharad Pawar, who became chief minister of Maharashtra soon after the bomb blasts, begging for leniency for his son. Sunil Dutt recalled bowing before Pawar, tears rolling down his cheeks, when he noticed that the politician was faintly smiling, enjoying his ordeal. Stunned and disillusioned, Sunil Dutt subsequently met Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, who eventually came out in support of Sanjay Dutt, declaring publicly he did not believe that any member of the Dutt family could be ‘anti-national’.

It was widely believed in political circles that Sunil Dutt’s family was being targeted by a section of the Congress leadership for resigning in a huff from his Lok Sabha membership after the Babri Masjid demolition and the communal riots in Mumbai. In fact, throughout Sanjay Dutt’s arrest, Pawar was suspected to be behind the family’s ordeals. In those troubled times, it was Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray who stood by the actor, despite their glaring ideological differences. Sunil Dutt would later acknowledge Thackeray’s help with a deep sense of gratitude.

Samajwadi Party leaders Akhilesh Yadav and Sanjay Dutt attend workers’ meeting at the party’s headquarters in Lucknow, March 14, 2009. Photo credit: Reuters.

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