The Great Indian Masala Art: Corporate Concepts for High Budget Movies

Movies are some of the riskiest projects in business. India is the world’s largest producer of movies. In 2015, India produced over 2000 movies in over 20 languages. Of these, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, Marathi, Kannada and Bengali language films accounted for lion’s share (over 1600 movies), with Telugu leading at over 350 films. While production costs have gone up exponentially, and markets have expanded dramatically, the number of real blockbusters as a proportion of the total number of films has shrunk dramatically. Despite the star power that bestows movies with some magic, there has never been a consistent formula for success. That a film should shine in all departments (story, screen play, direction, star cast, music, cinematography, choreography, visuals, dialogues, etc.,) is easier said than achieved.

The author has discussed in an earlier blog how certain sequels and franchises act as a sort of winning formula in Hollywood, and could actually point to dramatic lessons for firms. Reference may be made to “Hollywood’s Sequel Saga: Ten Dramatic Lessons for Firms”, Strategy Musings, May 31, 2015 (http://cbrao2008.blogspot.in/2015/05/hollywoods-sequel-saga-ten-dramatic.html). India is not very much used to sequels although the 2015 national award winner and Telugu blockbuster Baahubali as well as Tamil blockbuster Robo promise to have worthy sequels. It is unclear whether a sequel by itself assures success or the basic elements as listed above need to be top notch for a film to be successful. Two Telugu movies, with high star power and costly budgets, that released recently, one a sequel to the highly successful film of the same name and another a mass masala formula flick, teach us that high budget Telugu movies could start taking a leaf or two from firms.

Success trap

Wise corporate leaders believe that past successes are no assurance of future successes. In fact, some believe that if the same people perform in the same manner all the time, results would be the same as the ones achieved previously, and work to improve the people and the processes continuously. However, some successful industrialists keep doing the same things trapped in the intoxication of previous successes, only to see competitors moving past them with newer success formulae. A movie may not have the same competitive pressures as a product because of non-applicability of substitutability risk; each movie is a distinctive product that has to meet certain benchmarks of audience satisfaction; one movie is not substitutable by others.

Repetition of success formulae, therefore, does not provide any freshness to a new movie. Repetition curbs creativity, making the films routine. Belief in the past successes make the film makers believe that if they throw in successful actors, music directors etc., a new film would also be successful. Wise film makers aver, much like wise industrialists, that each movie should be treated as the first project ever and, therefore, shaped with utmost creativity, freshness, commitment and diligence. Not falling a prey to success trap is a lesson filmmakers could learn from the class of industrialists who lead to sustainable success.

Emotional plan

Businesses need a business plan. Movie projects are no exception. Business plans are built on product plans. Products appeal to customers not merely because of their functionality but also because of their emotional appeal. It could be the premium feel as in the case of Mercedes Benz cars, racy power as in the case of a Ferrari, drive quality as in the case of Toyota, sound richness as in the case of Bose speakers, elegance as in the case of iPhone, and so on. Advertisements for products seek to further enhance the emotional appeal. Wise businesses develop products not only with product functionality but also emotional appeal in mind. Emotional planning for movies is a natural possibility but complex accomplishment.

Movies, more than products, must have clear emotional theme. Many movies just carry out the process of generating emotions, not really concentrating on the emotional appeal. Moreover, Indian movie makers tend to throw in all the emotional triggers as multiple ‘tracks’ in movies. Just as in the case of a firm, both specialization and diversification need depth and relevance for the firm succeed, individual tracks of a movie must have both the depth and context. Whereas in the case of a firm, specialization and diversification do not normally coexist, except as a conglomerate operation, in movies multiple tracks can not only coexist but also be synergistic. This unique feature of Indian movies require careful conceptualization and deployment rather than a “throw it in” approach.

Performance appraisal

Successful firms are performance oriented. While firms do pay attention to team building as well as career development, firms utilize the process of performance appraisal to monitor the realization of goals. Unlike films which rely on public applause (or rejection) to rate the leaders, firms have clear internal benchmarks to assess performance. This “performance culture” is feasible in industry due the possibility to move employees in and out of organizations. Likewise, managements are obligated to ensure an acceptable ecosystem, failing which the employees themselves may leave. Therefore, there tends to be a mutual accountability.

Movie teams differ from company teams in one important respect. Teams stay together until a movie is completed; not only that technicians tend to be “house technicians”, working on a series of movies from the same production house. While this certainly has great merits, it also imposes certain constraints. Music, for example, is one domain where pre-commitment works to disadvantage. Movies which are otherwise good fail to make the grade due to failure of music track. If only movie making system allows engagement of new music directors when the canned songs are not up to the mark, there would be great opportunity to strengthen the most important facet of Indian films. The same need for performance appraisal would be relevant to other departments.

Board governance

Firms benefit from the mechanisms of corporate governance that are available.  Each firm is expected to have a board of directors comprising industry experts who could act as independent directors and ensure that the firm’s affairs are run as per an agreed business plan and the mandated value system. While all is still not perfect with the board system, boards which are manned by experts have served to mentor the fulltime leaders and ensure that firms follow generally accepted principles and codes.

Movie makers can benefit immensely by keeping in place boards comprising eminent film makers to periodically review the production of the movie as per intended specifications and aspirations, and advise the working team. The boards could also bring in an objectivity and independence that could help the filmmakers refocus. The boards could also perform alpha testing of movies (concluding internally that the film is made as planned). While there could be a concern of information leakage, as the board practice takes root there would be a cadre of seasoned and responsible “retired” filmmakers who could add immense value to filmmaking, and reduce the vast financial risk that most filmmakers face.   

Beta testing

Beta testing is an extremely important concept in product development and commercialization in firms. Beta testing is extensively used in software development where after internal testing (alpha testing) the software is released for developers and select customers to understand the performance of the software and receive feedback for corrections and improvements. It has recently been extended to telecom services too by Reliance Jio with a limited rollout of its 4G services to employees and select associates. Even those industries which do not have the practice of beta testing (for example, aero and auto) conduct extensive testing of their products in simulators and field tracks to evaluate the quality of the product, and to identify further improvement needs.

One has to only watch failed movies to wonder why the weaknesses of the movie that are so obvious to the audience were not obvious to the makers. One reason could be that the makers are so involved with the making that they are unable to be discriminating and objective. Also, movie makers tend to be surrounded by fan clubs and self-serving well-wishers who revel in heaping praise than provide objective feedback. If only there were to be a system of beta testing of a film, prior to its censoring and release, by a large enough panel of select independent critics and general viewers, many of the weaknesses and loopholes can be discovered in advance and remediated. The risk of failure of movies and the enormous losses that producers may sustain would be obviated with ‘beta viewing’ of movies. 

Masala art

Masala is a typically Indian word, signifying a mix of several delectable and healthy spices. Indian cooking has become world famous because of the masala characteristic. The world is, in fact, now reverentially discovering the health benefits of the Indian spices as well as the balanced Indian food. Indian movies are also referred to as masala movies, signifying that they tend to cater to all kinds of viewers (so called, mass and class in Indian cinema lexicon) and incorporate all ingredients (nine emotions, as per Indian literature). Indian cooking becomes tasty not merely because of the ingredients but because of the recipe involving the right ingredients and proportions. The same applies to Indian movies; the recipe is as important as the ingredients.

Indian movies are a very important part of the economy. They also are a vital facet of Indian social tapestry. Indian movies cannot afford to have the kind of financial losses that the great majority suffers. While a few blockbusters are helpful, Indian movie making can scale greater heights with more films becoming financially successful. Indian movie critics believe that masala films and art films are mutually exclusive. However, art films also have their own ingredients and they require their own recipes. The five points of guidance, adapted from firm level corporate practices, would be valuable for Indian movie makers in making films that satisfy the highly heterogeneous nature of the Indian movie audience. Masala art, delivered corporate style, could be the next game changer for Indian cinema.

Posted by Dr CB Rao on May 01, 2016

Hollywood’s Sequel Saga: Ten Dramatic Lessons for Firms

On June 12, 2015, Jurassic World would hit theatres worldwide, marking yet another potentially blockbuster sequel in Hollywood’s glorious history. There is a high level of expectation that Jurassic World would set new benchmarks in projecting an unseen dangerous reptile world. The number of sequels that Hollywood has been witness to are many. Some noted sequel sagas are: Terminator, Transformer, Star Wars, Die Hard, Bourne, Matrix, Planet of the Apes, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Mission: Impossible, Aliens, Elm Street, Underworld, Wall Street, Hunger Games, X-Men, Men in Black, Mummy, Toy Story, Thor, Fast and Furious, Rocky, Lethal Weapon, Rambo, Batman, Superman, Pirates of the Caribbean, Shrek, Rush Hour, Mad Max, Godzilla – the list seems to be endless. And, of course, there is the unending spy series on James Bond which continues to weave its magic decades after the first Bond movie, and even twenty five Bond movies and seven Bonds (actors) later!

It is interesting that the Hollywood sequel saga endured even if some of the sequels failed to be of the same standing or as successful as the original. Such setbacks never deterred the Hollywood Moguls from embarking on sequels, each one bigger and better than the respective predecessor.     As the movie buffs would recount, whatever be the genre, the sequels always had a set of factors in common: unlimited scale, unstoppable action, unimaginable visuals, and more importantly, unceasing entertainment, all with increasing brand equity and increasing expectations. The creativity of Hollywood seems to have no limits or endpoints, given the number of sequels each central theme or central actor had given rise to. It is also interesting that the churn in the ownership of movie studios and production houses has not in any way dampened the spirit of sequels. Though not obvious, there is something to learn from the Hollywood sequel saga for the corporate firms and the professionals who shape the firms. 

Industrialization

Industrialization predates movie making by several decades. Actually, without products of industrialization such as cameras, lights, film and projectors, movie making would not have originated and developed as an industry in its own. That does not, however, mean that the core of what movie making seeks to provide, namely entertainment cannot be provided through non-industrial means. The stage dramas of yesteryears and the street plays of current years are proof enough that both entertainment and education can be provided through simple and direct human interaction and interplay. Industrialization, like it did for every other activity, has, however, dramatically transformed how movies can be made and viewed in theatres, and in addition spawned several auxiliary and substitutive industries such as viewing through televisions, compact discs and now through the Internet and computers/mobiles.

Industrialization, as is commonly experienced, seeks to constantly develop new products and services for newer functionalities. A new product tends to make the previous product obsolete eventually, if not immediately, even if the basic functionality does get only morphed but not rendered obsolete. Industrialization is nothing but the sum total of the persistence and progress of individual firms. The role of individual firms, and the professionals, in industrialization that constantly seeks to develop new products to supersede older ones is a practical expediency. Put in another way, the movie industry’s persistence and success with sequels is a fascinating contrast to how firms seek to survive and grow. While firms do launch successive generations of products, they do not have the magic of sequels that movies have. This is because several firms compete to launch multiple products with the same functionality while each movie has its unique emotional mix for the viewers. That is not the whole story, however.

Movie magic

Viewed philosophically, all movies, save some art and niche movies, are made to entertain. Thousands of movies are thus filmed to satisfy one single objective but manage to be different. Compared to that, firms become frustrated at the first sign of competition and crave for differentiation. There lies the magic of movies, and more so of movie sequels. If one is able to decode the magic of movies in general, and that of sequels in particular, there could be valuable lessons for conventional firms. This blog post tries to identify ten relevant factors through the discussion below; first on movies in general and later on sequels, in particular.

Singular purpose

Movies may differ widely, both in thematic content and in the movie formula; yet all movies have only one singular purpose of entertaining the viewers. Firms may take a leaf out of this. The fundamental purpose of any product is not fulfilling its functionality; rather, it is making users happy! Once firms have this clarity the entire value chain of such firms get defined and operated accordingly. 

Continuous stream

Movies are made with no particular sense of timing. Essentially a creative art, movie making is fired by the spark of spontaneity. Unlike products which are clustered around events (motor shows, equipment shows or electronics shows, for example) or seasons (summer and winter, for example), movies are made almost like an eternal stream. They are made with different timelines and get released when ready, and in no particular pre-designed competition with any other movie.  

Standard pricing

This is one aspect in which a movie makes a radical departure from any other product. Whatever be the movie, for a given theatre, the price of viewing or entertainment experience is just the same. Just because a movie is made with a mega budget it cannot have a higher ticket price. The revenue and profitability is purely dependent on achieving the maximum reach and repeat viewership. This is in marked contrast to firms deriving higher specifications and quality from higher investments and therefore demanding differential pricing for products. The egalitarian pricing requirement is not merely a great leveller for customer access but also a great motivator for product superiority.  

Many hues

The magic of movies is that the ‘common’ looks ‘uncommon’ in the hands of the movie makers. The same nature looks different in myriad hues depending on the film director and the cinematographer. The same ragas are mixed to develop new tunes by the music maker. In contrast, firms try desperately to juggle around a few factors (metal, glass, plastic and polycarbonate, for example) instead of achieving multiple hues on those factors. Bringing creativity for better use of available factors is a lesson firms that could be well learnt from movie making.

Unknown demand

Firms typically look for defined customer demand before developing a product. In respect of a movie, the requirement (except the generic requirement of entertainment) is never pre-defined by the viewer sample or universe. Professionals who look for all sorts of assurances before embarking on their product development may take a leaf out of movie making; the uncanny ability to fulfil a purpose which is not quantifiable but may only be intuitively imagined by the developer!

End as beginning

Professionals despairing at product failures and industrialists dejected at business failures need to get inspired at how sequels are made with both passion and gumption. Sequels demonstrate that any end is artificial and every end can be a new beginning with the right creativity. It is the same park and similar reptiles but Jurassic World promises to be excitingly different from Jurassic Park. Rather than belabour the hostile product-market waters, professionals and businessmen must look at better and bigger sequels to start with the end but undo the past of desperation and dejection, if any.

Thematic core

The success of the original as well as the sequels lies in a strong thematic core. All the sequels listed in the beginning of this post have a unique thematic core built in a pioneering way; some, truly exotic and esoteric like Star Wars and some, primal and thrilling like Jurassic Park. Successful products like BlackBerry, iPhones and Windows had strong thematic cores (communication security, mass media and business documentation, respectively, for example). The skill for these firms lies, as do sequels do, in keeping the thematic core vibrant and contemporary. Otherwise, there would be no scope for a product or service sequel, unfortunately!  

Emotional connect   

Every endeavour, be it a blockbuster movie or a successful product, would have a few factors that appeal to the experiencing people (not customers, per se). It could be the exciting opening and signature tune of a James Bond movie or the do-good action of a Batman franchise. The ability to build on those factors of emotional connect and enrich them further ensured the success of the sequels. Every product or service to be long lasting (not merely as a successful one-timer) needs an emotional connect. Once an emotional connect is developed and nurtured it would become an overarching hallmark.

Creative technology

Movie sequels are often seen as triumphs of technology rather than as providers of fresh new entertainment. That probably is not true. Higher technology (especially superior graphics and dazzling visual effects) are no doubt deployed to take the sequels to higher levels but it is the movie director’s creativity that calls upon such an exalted role for technology. High-tech movies are invariably products of highly creative film makers. In contrast, firms and professionals tend to be cautious in deployment of higher technology, often setting limits through investment caps and returns arithmetic. Here again, firms have a lesson to take from sequels.

Reliving demand

As we noted earlier, unlike physical products, movies have demand and yet have no demand. They are an addictive habit as an option for entertainment. To hypothesize, a priori, that sequels would have a natural assured demand is a doubly wrong hypothesis, therefore. Yet, sequels are successful in rejuvenating and reframing demand. There are not many products that last through a whole span of civilization. One may think of the Indian saree as one product that stayed conservative as well as contemporary; handcrafted as well as technology driven over the ages. Creatively thought and executed, more products may well last through ages.

Mission: Impossible?

‘Mission: Impossible’ is one of the success stories of Hollywood sequel sagas. Just as the movie makers and the actors as well as technicians of sequels make the ‘Mission Impossible’ of each sequel a ‘Mission Possible’, firms and professionals in the day to day businesses and product-market spaces ought to adopt certain principles that underlie successful movie and sequel making that can keep themselves and the products or services long lasting. To recall, the ten principles are as follows.

Firstly, there must be only one singular purpose of business: to make the users happy and contended.  Secondly, new developments should be a continuous process; neither timed to competition not timed to seasons. Thirdly, developments should be made with the rigour of a standard sticker price; efforts must be to recover higher investments through expanded reach and repeat purchases. Fourthly, firms must develop the available designs and materials in many capabilities and elegances, rather than look for unique ones each time. Fifthly, firms must have the conviction and passion for an intuitively felt demand.  

The next six principles which come on top of the five earlier principles are specifically derived from the sequels saga. Sixthly, a good product, like a good movie, need not have an end; each end can be a new beginning. Seventhly, there must be an enduring theme in each product or service that is rather ageless. Eighthly, emotional connect builds a long lasting relationship between the firms and their stakeholders, especially the users. Ninthly, the more creative a firm or a professional is the higher can be the level of technology that can be marshalled; lack of creativity at firm level would be an impediment to deployment of technology even if technology were to be available. And, tenthly, the ultimate challenge lies in rejuvenating a satisfied demand.

Just as time progresses and never ends, firms and professionalism must move on, and live on to perpetuity. Amidst the dramatic entertainment of Hollywood sequels there are many lessons for such an approach as discussed herein.

Posted by Dr CB Rao on May 31, 2015

Indian Bollywood Blockbuster Movie Magic: Ten Management and Leadership Lessons

The last four months have seen the successful launch of four Hindi multi-starrer blockbuster movies from Bollywood, each featuring different pairs of actors, and each with a significantly different theme. These, as the avid Indian movie audience would acknowledge, are Chennai Express, Krrish3, Ram-Leela and Dhoom 3. Chennai Express has Shahrukh Khan in the lead, Krrish 3 Hrithik Roshan, Ram-Leela Ranveer Singh and the latest Dhoom 3 Aamir Khan and Abhishek Bachhan. Deepika Padukone is the heroine in two of the blockbusters while Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif are the heroines in two others. All the lead actors of the four blockbusters are top stars of Bollywood. The four films are lavishly mounted with high production values and deployment of graphics and special effects rarely seen on the Indian screen. All of these movies conform to the proven Bollywood formula of music, dance and heroics. And, all of these have proved to be international successes and national blockbusters.

Thematically, each film has amazingly different takes. Two of the movies belong to family drama genre and two to action genre. Chennai Express is a typical Indian lighthearted movie of fun and frolic, with a heady concoction of next door South Indian ambience and theatrical heroics. Krrish 3 is a scientific fantasy on the lines of Superman and Spiderman, with good triumphing over evil, but in a delectably Indian fashion. Ram-Leela is an intoxicating fusion of Shakespearean tale and Indian family rivalries, in a riot of color and beauty.  Dhoom 3, just released, is a tantalizing international escapade of a lovable soft heroic villain, as the lead of an antagonist pair. Two of the movies, as the suffixes indicate, are sequels. All the movies gained from superstar power and added power to stars as well. Each took several months to take, certain dance and chase sequences required days of practice and Crores of Rupees of spend. Uniformly, all the movies benefitted from snappy taking, notwithstanding the typical Indian proneness to lengthy introductions, inescapable song and dance sequences and the inevitable 150 minutes plus of movie length.

High style, some substance

Somewhat cynically, it may be observed that the history of successive blockbusters of either Hollywood or Bollywood demonstrates the power of high technology overwhelming the weakness of low rationality. Whether it is Harry Potter, Avatar or Batman, Spiderman and Superman movies, the intent is clearly to transport the audience to newer thematic universes through a slew of special effects covering up slender storylines. The four Bollywood movies probably have uneven storylines, but have immensely benefitted from deployment of high cinematic technology. The important factor in all the four movies has been that none of the movies was un-Indian, in fact all of them, and certainly three of them, emphasize the indigenous and ethnic elements pretty strongly. This trend is also borne out in other blockbuster hits in other Indian languages, be it Telugu or Tamil. The plausible lesson is that an Indian blockbuster needs to disown nothing of its theatrical tradition but needs to layer it with dollops of technology.

The concept of ‘transportation’ of audience has significant differences between Hollywood and Bollywood. Having experienced to advanced living, the Western audience needed to be transported to sci-fi worlds of outer universe, repeatedly. Probably, the only successful Hollywood franchise that stayed on in physical locations for audience transportation was the highly successful James Bond series.  For Hollywood, it is the virtual virtuosity of science and technology creating new universes. For Bollywood, however, it is more of transportation to more exotic physical locations of India and the advanced countries, including for the latest Dhoom 3 shot extensively in Chicago. Interestingly, Indian movies, more particularly the Telugu ones, have a historical tradition of transporting audience to mythological and folklore realms.  Be that as it may, the essence of successful movie making is transportation of audience to a world that is fantastic and fantasizing, not reachable except in the confines of the movie theatre. That said, the Bollywood blockbuster saga has many lessons for management and leadership, ten key ones being discussed below. 

1.      Integrated imagination is foundation

The greatest feature of moviemaking is imagination. Every department involved in moviemaking, be it story writing, screenplay writing, music creation, cinematography, choreography, art and set making or editing has the common characteristic of imagination, besides each department’s core competence. While moviemaking in general may have such departmental imagination, blockbuster movies are notable for the way individual departmental imaginations are aligned and integrated. The higher the level of integrated imagination the greater would be the blockbuster status. In contrast, business enterprises tend to be conformist and devolve the responsibility of imagination only on planning departments, and a few leaders. Even the few existent imaginative initiatives are not perfectly integrated. Ability to imagine departmentally and functionally, with alignment and integration, is a key aspect of successful organizations.

2.      Direction is execution

Business management theorizes and practices that the chief executive of an organization assisted by a team of functional leaders manages an entity and delivers success. In a typical business or industrial organization, the chief executive leads and directs but rarely executes by himself or herself. In contrast, the director of a movie dons multiple hats.  A great director not only imagines the entire movie but also drives and integrates imaginations of different departments. He not only plans and resources, but also actually executes his directorial responsibilities on a daily basis, covering all actors, and all departments of moviemaking, until the final product of a fully edited movie is censored and released. The chief executive of a movie thus overturns the conventional wisdom that leaders need to lead while executives need to execute. While establishing and running an enterprise is quite distinct from movie making, the lesson from movie making of the leader taking complete ownership and being associated with execution should not be lost sight of. Business leaders may derive greater success by emulating the concept to execution ownership of movie directors. 

3.      Sensory experience drives success

Each of the four Bollywood blockbusters mentioned earlier, or for that matter any blockbuster movie of any ethnicity or language, demonstrates that heightened sensory experience transports the audience to a world of acceptance and appreciation. While products and services of enterprises are not two-hour capsules like movies and are longer lasting, such a feature underscores even more the need for a higher sensory experience for users to be attracted and attached to a product or service.  This principle is relevant for leadership and managerial initiatives too. The success of the blockbuster movies indicates that the incorporation of varied emotions is an essential component of success in Indian ethnicity. The success of several market-facing multinational corporations in India, from Unilever to P&G, is based on their sales and marketing strategies that are ethnically emotive. Internal organizational processes that make and sell products as well as products and services that cater to users equally require ethnic sensitivity, albeit in different shades and emphases. 

4.      Creativity adds spark to success

Over the last 100 years of the Indian cinema, several thousands of movies in various Indian languages have been produced on the basic Indian formula of family dynamics and dance and song mechanics. The freshness the Indian movie technicians have been bringing to the celluloid screen with newer lyrics and tunes as well as energetic choreographic movements (notwithstanding the value erosion in some cases), integrating in the process modern technologies and global trends is truly amazing. Indian moviemaking demonstrates that even an age-old formula can be rendered fresh with a dash of creativity. Managers and leaders, who are often faced, with highly repetitive processes and are often expected to deliver the beaten messages, must take a leaf out of the Indian movie makers to add a dash of creativity to make the processes, procedures and deliveries fresh and appealing. Charismatic leaders and managers differentiate themselves from the pedestrian ones on the basis of creativity.       

5.      Age or culture no bar

Moviemaking is a universal art with no barriers of age, language, region or religion. This is one enterprise, in which the youngest technician can make the best of movies on a shoestring budget, and budding actors, musicians and lyricists can turn stars overnight. It is also an industry which can see the most seasoned and aged directors mount pictures of contemporary standards. Indian Bollywood, in particular, has been home for multi-religious prosperity. For the predominantly Hindu movie audience, the three superstars are Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan. Corporations need to look beyond the demographic profiles and focus on talent and performance as the primer drivers of acceptance, independent of preconceived perceptions on backgrounds or regions and religions. Corporations also must be willing to provide integrated project opportunities for youngsters to deliver and for seniors to reinvent themselves.

6.      Exceptional people, exceptional success

A review of the blockbuster movies reveals that they are made by teams of exceptional people in all departments, including the director himself or herself. While a few exceptional technicians tend to take other average talent in stride to make good movies, blockbuster movies that are differentiated in all respects tend to have exceptional professionals leading all the departments. This has an important lesson for those corporations which seem to treat performance appraisals as distribution of annual increments. The concept of normal distribution of ratings and increments is, in most cases, is justifiably reflective of the talent and profiles that calibrate themselves in a natural manner. However, like blockbuster movies, trendsetting organizations encourage and institutionalize top-ranking talent across the organization. This approach reflects a penchant and passion to accept nothing less than exceptional talent and hold back nothing in rewarding such talent exceptionally (even if it covers the total organization) for exceptional performance.

7.      Job clarity delivers clear results

The art of moviemaking, often considered unregulated and self-taught, is quite scientific, and reflects the highest principles of organizational design and organizational behavior that are not seen commonly even in evolved business organizations. Moviemakers provide the greatest respect to departmental structuring. Each department, be it production, art, photography, music, lyrics, dialogues, dress, lighting, logistics or editing, has its core competence and core delivery clearly defined. Each department knows how it can add value to the other departments and the overall movie but is resolutely focused on its core delivery. Unlike the complex organizational structures where accountability is often confused with collaboration, and functional delivery is obfuscated with value chain management, moviemaking has clear departmentation. Blockbuster movies get recognized for superior departmental delivery as much as other movies are noted for any slippages that could have led to less than optimal performance. For corporations as much as for celluloid, job clarity produces clear results.

8.      Nativity is not naivety

Despite the sweep of modernity in the Indian society and the overwhelming influence of Hollywood on the movie scene, the Indian movies continue to retain their nativity. In fact, reflection of native values and practices is an integral element of successful Indian movies. This is not surprising as the centuries old hoary traditions of India have not only withstood the ravages of multiple foreign invasions and occupations but have consolidated themselves, globalizing with integration of modern trends. Some corporations tend to think that they must bring in change for change sake, often viewed in terms of Western practice and wisdom. On the other hand, more successful organizations respect and cater to nativity, leveraging nativity for acceptance of modern requirements. As the resurgence of practices of Yoga and Ayurveda across the World demonstrates, nativity is not naivety but is representative of authenticity.   

9.      Global quality, Indian costs

The newer Bollywood blockbuster movies represent a step-function jump in quality, almost to the best global standards, and have called for significantly higher production budgets hitherto unseen in India. Even so, the production budgets of the four movies cited were around USD 12 million each for the family drama genre and around USD 20 million each for action genre with special effects (even including shooting in overseas locations). This contrasts extremely favorably with the very high production costs that were upwards of USD 280 million for the likes of Titanic, Spiderman 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean. Clearly, Indian movie magic can extend to achieving global quality with local costs. Of late, there have been doubts whether India would consolidate its advantage as global manufacturing hub. The Bollywood movie magic demonstrates that India still enables a unique paradigm of global quality with local costs. The Indian movie industry and the Governments must seize the opportunity by setting up the likes of Universal and Disney studios in India.  

10.  One for all, all for one

The most interesting aspect of blockbuster moviemaking is the interest the director takes in all the departments for functional perfection and the interest all the departments take in matching up to the director’s vision. From listening to and improving upon the storyline through music sittings to determining shooting angles and playacting for the actors in each day’s shooting, to quote a few, the director participates in every function, and collaborates with each departmental head. The situation that obtains in business or other enterprises is starkly different. From the Chief Executive down to the Functional Heads, the practice is to let the others perform to their goals, with the heads and chiefs limiting themselves to reviews, assessments and management of performance and consequence of their reporting executives.  The assessed individuals also strangely disregard any partaking of functional interests by their superiors, criticizing it as micromanagement. Managers and leaders should emulate the way a blockbuster movie director and his team members work on a ‘one for all, all for one’ principle to realize the director’s vision of a blockbuster movie in the making.

Movie magic, leadership logic

Movies are often seen as nothing more than 150 minutes of entertainment. Indian movies, anchored in their templates of emotions, songs and dances, are seen as even more escapist entertainment. Worse still, most professionals and leaders have a marked disdain for moviemaking as a poor cousin of any organized enterprise. However, behind these 150 minutes of celluloid experience lie important lessons of management and leadership which can be imbued in the day to day as well as strategic business and corporate management practices. There is, in fact, no project like making of an intended blockbuster movie, translating a directorial concept into a magnum opus, working in the process with hundreds of talented leaders and individuals on a daily basis. There is no power like the power of a blockbuster movie in riveting the attention and collecting the adulation of the society. Successful moviemaking is dexterous management of total uncertainty and creation of a creative extravanganza from the simplest of ideas, based on talent, imagination, creativity, passion, dedication and team work.

The history of Indian film making has several chapters scripted by movie moguls and actor stalwarts through their cinematic contributions. In several cases, from the popular Raj Kapoor to the legendary NT Rama Rao, hugely successful moviemakers demonstrated synergistic core competencies in a number of domains such as acting, screenplay, scripting and direction, to name a few. People who are familiar with the Telugu film industry aver the kind of deep research and strict discipline that NTR brought to his inimitable mythological roles. Aamir Khan reportedly practiced for over 45 days to get his tap dance in Dhoom 3 to perfection.  Successful movie stalwarts never stopped learning; they continued to learn and demonstrate personal leadership in multiple domains, spurring imagination and creativity, and seamlessly merging with every element of the movie making system from light boys to musical geniuses. The ten principles of successful movie making identified in this blog post have relevance and applicability in the broader realms of management and leadership for all enterprises and for all organizational endeavors.

Posted by Dr CB Rao on December 22, 2013