BY ROBIN GHOSH
(The author is the first producer of Bengali TV Serial made  in Digital Format in Kolkata Doordarshan, superhit opera-  Sonar Sansar based on the story of writer Shankar)
KOLKATA, 3 JANUARY 2023
Cinema in Bengal has never been seriously taken as an industry. It has been more of emotion than economics. Perceived more as an medium of expression than medium to earn return on investment.
No serious thoughts has been given by the stakeholders of this industry as also the government to treat this trade as a verified industry having potential to generate employment, revenue and foreign currency.
Having not been seriously taken as an industry, cinema in Bengal has fallen in distress trap from time to time with a shadow of death any moment.
If you look film industry in Bengal through the lenses of an businessman it is indeed not very encouraging. Single screen theatres have closed down and are still closing and multiplexes are not sprouting either, cinema viewing capacity is standing still.
On the demand side, quality of content, story telling skill, presentation technical quality continues to be mediocre- not good enough to pull audiences to the theater.
Jinxed in between supply constraints like stagnant viewing capacity and mismatch of what the viewers are looking for and what is being provided – the industry is going through uncertainty, turmoil and depressive business out look.
But the fact is : what is happening to Bengali Film industry is not unique. All industry go through this phase and get out of this trough by implementing appropriate and dynamic policies.
The revival of an industry through policy changes stand on innovative policy mix and creative design thinking.
If you start thinking about what kind of design thinking can resurrect Bengali Film industry you ought to know a bit about what is design thinking.
What is design thinking ? Essentially, it is a process. An iterative process of synchronizing all actions to deliver consumers demands at an optimum cost.
In the context of Bengali Film industry, it is time, industry leaders and gurus step into film viewers shoes or consumers shoes imagining what kind of films they are interested to consume and then go back to the drawing board and craft what the customers are looking for.
Design thinking is basically a tool to look at root problem of a situation, exploring alternative solutions.Testing and improving these solutions, looking at an issue with in depth knowledge.
The pillars of design thinking consist of empathy, ideation, research and iteration.
Given the four tenets of design thinking, let us visualize some actionable initiatives to improve the quality, efficiency and scale of operation.
Empathaise.
Identify what kind of films viewers are looking for in metro, tier two and tier three towns?
Do research what themes and what kind of story telling will delight the viewers.
Do research on the price point most viewers feel comfortable.
Do research on distribution ecosystem of Bengali films and devise a transparent and fair to all system.
Ideate.
Explore the idea of setting up 100 Miniplex Theater in 30 towns over a period of 2 years.
Explore the possibility of executing the plan on private public partnership basis.
Explore the possibility of waiving or lowering of tax and /or offering a cash subsidy for promotion of the film.
Exploring the possibility of centralized digital ticket booking system for single screen and multiplex theatres.
Reiterate
Launching a dedicated YouTube channel for promoting Bengali films.
Launching of a people film rating program with award and prizes.
A NOSTALGIC AND GLORIOUS PAST
If you flash back on bengali cinema, you will find a harmonious and unique tapestry of various genres of cinema captivating and entertaining generations after generations.
If you are sold on an actor like Uttam Kumar or Suchitra Sen or Chabi Biswas or Kali Bannerji you have film story lines centered on their stardom and fan appeal.
If you are a film buff looking for realistic cinema with graphic aesthetics , you have Satyajit Ray and there is our dear Mrinalda if you believe cinema is cinema only when it is political cinema.
Then there are master story tellers like Tapan Sinha,Tarun Majumdar. And lastly, Ritwik Ghatak, the maverick , the soul twisting filmmaker who could provide an mattchless immersive experience .
The last 50 years of Bengali cinema has been magical, an audiovisual galaxy entertaining all and sundry from local to global film hungry audiences.
To conclude: resurrecting and reinventing Bengal Film industry, the key is to conceptualize a sustainable business model, enrolling unreached demographics, empathasing with customers, and running this loop time and again .
( Picture of US President John. F.Kennedy along with others arriving at Dupont Theatre for screening of Apur Sansar in 1961)
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