Filmmaking in India is all about numbers, not script: Srinivas

… says filmmaker Srinivas Sunderrajan, who talks about his recent film Greater Elephant, which is been travelling to various film festivals
What’s the story behind Greater Elephant?
Greater Elephant is basically a story about a Mahout, who has lost his elephant in the city and enlists the help of many colourful characters to help him find the pachyderm! It was initially written as a serious film, but with the involvement of writer, Omkar Sane - we added in a lot of satirical elements making it more of an existential black comedy.
You’ve used crowd-funding for this film, which is rather niche. Could you tell us about it?
Usually, crowd-sourcing happens before a film is made or during the 'post production process'. In our case, we already had a finished product in our hands. When we started speaking to distributors and buyers for the release, we realized that we had no funds to get the film out, in case of an independent release. A chance meeting with Anshulika from Wishberry gave us the idea of maybe using crowd support to raise funds. And that’s why we decided to try out crowd-funding. A lot of independent films abroad have been successful with such platforms though it’s still novel in India.
Can you give us an idea of the trouble filmmakers go through in taking the film to the screens?
Though the independent film making movement is on the rise, the case of distribution is still a big concern. This is because distributors (and the laws that govern them) are still stuck in an archaic structure. Since there are no 'stars' in the film, it becomes difficult for distributors to engage their networks into releasing a film like ours. The system works solely on market value of stars or known names. Here script or story is not of importance – it’s all about the numbers. And this was quite a learning experience for us because it definitely puts a big question mark on how evolved is the system to accept independent films made by unknowns and whether the system can sustain us in the long run if adequate distribution channels are not setup.
Since the film is travelling to film festivals, does it limit your options in terms of showing the film only to niche audience?
Film festivals are a great platform to showcase your film to people who would only be found at such events. These people will never go into a cinema hall to watch the film. My focus is to show the film to a wide audience – not only film festivals. So though festival coverage is great and it’s also the other half that I aim to please.
Are you planning for a national wide release?
Currently, we're working on releasing it 'per city' rather than a 'multi-city' release, because a film usually gets lost in the chaos of multi city issues. Per city gives us the much deserved focus and space to concentrate on marketing strategies in that particular area. We are kick starting the release with Pune and then will head to Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai.
Your upcoming projects?
I've started work on my next film, which is currently in pre-production. It’s a science fiction drama set in space.