Suniel Shetty has expressed his happiness that work on the highly-awaited Hera Pheri 3 has started and he is back on the sets with his co-stars Akshay Kumar and Paresh Rawal. Taking to his LinkedIn profile yesterday, Suniel wrote a long detailed post describing how filmmaking and decisions made in the process are not all about actors and other creatives involved, but a lot of it is about the business of filmmaking.
Confirming that Hera Pheri 3 is finally on the floors, the actor wrote in his post, “So Hera Pheri 3 is finally happening! Look forward to being back on set with Pareshji & Akki. Like all good things, this one took some time, but it’s a relief to finally have an answer to this question! Films are such a huge part of our culture, and yet, not many understand what goes into making a film. Apart from creative challenges, the #businessmodel & needs of the #movie business make it as challenging as any other.”
He went further and gave details about stages of film-making and the business of financing it and wrote, “There are several factors for any business to succeed - a good idea, thorough market research, a solid business plan, a skilled team, funding at the right time and a strong distribution network. The movie business isn’t very different. To explain the entirety of the movie business here would be over simplifying it. But let's just say having a good script, a set of actors and a director is literally just the start point. There’s the financing of a movie. It's usually studios or production houses, which invest their own capital. Their teams assess the viability of a project before deciding on the budget.”
Suniel added, “Some large films are financed through pre-sales and distribution deals, in which the distribution rights for the film are sold in advance to distributors and/or streaming platforms. Like the startup world, access to financing depends on the size of the film, as well as the connections and resources available to the producers and investors involved. Another key aspect in the movie business is distribution. It’s a complex process that involves several layers like producers, distributors and exhibitors. Many films also tie-up with brands for in-film placements or co-marketing activities, as an additional layer of revenue, or sometimes to offset part of the pre release marketing expenses. There are so many other aspects that make the movie business challenging - audience preferences, data and insights, IP rights and licences, pre and post production, line production, permissions, promotions, pricing etc etc. 33 years and 125 films later I don’t have it all figured out, but I will keep getting better at it.”
Hera Pheri 3 is being directed by Farhad Samji and is produced by Firoz Nadiadwala. The first film in the series came out in 2000 and was directed by Priyadarshan. It became a cult comedy and so did its sequel Phir Hera Pheri that was directed by actor-director-writer Neeraj Vora.
(Source: LinkedIn)
