Like in every other field, the demonetisation drive has affected the film industry as well, but more at the ground level. On the sets of films which have already started shoot, the crew are finding it difficult to manage daily expenses, to the extent that some films have put off the shoot.
Serving food on the set has become the biggest problemA film set has around 75-100 crew members, and they have to be served food, come what may, say the crew. And for that, nothing but cash works.
'Out of the daily expense of ` 3-3.5 lakh on an average at a film set, one lakh is needed in cash. And food is the major expense in that,' says Dickson, a production controller. Dickson is working on Dulquer's Bejoy Nambiar film Solo currently, and it has around 60 junior artistes as well. 'Already we have 90 people on the set and with the junior artistes we have 150 people. To serve food for 150 people daily by paying cash in the current situation is getting impossible,' he says.
The film's production team employs caterers on a contract basis for the food, and is trying to transfer money into the accounts of the caterers. 'But they buy vegetables, fish and meat from street markets, not from supermarkets. And they can't pay shopkeepers in anything other than cash,' Dickson says.
Eldho, production controller, agrees. 'The food expenses itself come to ` 25-35,000 daily on a set. Even if you know the caterer, you have to give ` 10,000 as a mess deposit, in cash. He can't buy vegetables with a cheque.' While shooting in cities in Kerala and other areas familiar to them, shopkeepers and caterers are willing to opt for later payments but not so when you are shooting in rural areas or outside Kerala, Eldho adds.
Art properties require cashWhen you have to buy something as small as a bit of cloth from a roadside shop, nothing but cash works, says Vijay Babu, actor and producer. 'These are for one-time use and you don't spend too much on them, and mostly buy them from roadside shops. Also, for locations, we pick out a house or a shop and pay them ` 2000-2500 as daily rent. Daily expenses are a real issue.'
The shoot of a grand sequence of Dileep's Kammarasambhavam has been postponed for this reason, says Dickson. 'The set needed something on the lines of the Second World War. We are unable to manage the properties.'
The junior artistes also need to be paid between `750 and 2000 daily in cash, which is becoming difficult, Dickson adds. 'We are trying to transfer the entire money to one person's account now.'
Paying for diesel is another problem the crew faces, especially those which are travelling around.
Films in remote locations worst hitVineeth Sreenivasan starrer Aby is being shot in Gundlupet, a small town in Karnataka. And it's out of the question to think of withdrawing money from ATMs there, says the crew. 'There are long queues outside every ATM in the area. Finally we travelled 60 km to Mysore to visit an SBI bank, but were told that we can have only 6k in cash, as the bank was out of money,' says Anil, production controller. 'Six thousand rupees doesn't get you anywhere. Besides the daily food, we need cash for art properties. Few shops in Gudlupet accept cards. There is no way we can stop the shoot now or come back to Gundlupet at a later date,' he adds.
Small films affected mostWhile the bigger films are able to hold off the payments, small films don't have the luxury. 'When it is a Dulquer film with a known producer, people will be willing to money transfer to accounts or accept cheques. But not so for smaller films. You can't blame caterers either, as they don't even know if the films will get completed,' says Dickson.
While Eldho feels it is nothing short of an emergency, Vijay Babu is of the opinion that the changes will only bring about a positive transformation in the industry, eventually. 'Till Christmas, the problems will persist. Films are already getting postponed and many releases might get clubbed at a later date. But all this is for the good, when you look at the larger picture. New terms and conditions will evolve. All industries need correction. And there will definitely be a lot of positive reformation in the film industry,' he says.