Page 72 - From Bombay to Bollywoord The Making of a Global Media Industri

Industrial Identity in an Era of Reform >> 59

Panelists at FICCI-FRAMES 2009 listening to Vishesh Bhatt deliver a scathing talk about
the problems with large corporations entering Bollywood.

were decidedly “corporate,” designed to assuage any nervousness about the
state of the industry and of potential investors’ doubts about entering a busi-
ness space where risk management involves propitiating the right spirits as
much as it is about conjuring a “superhit” for financiers. As Kheterpal, after
explaining that access to funding to the tune of Rs. 2,000–2,500 crores at the
beginning of 2008 had led to a number of rash decisions in the film industry,
asserted: “Corrections are inevitable, we need to stick to core business, and
further corporatization will make a difference.”
In one respect, Goldie Behl’s comment that “there will always be funds
available for someone with a solid story to tell” does need to be taken seri-
ously. His remark about being “a second-generation kid in the industry”
speaks to the fact that the interpersonal networks in which he is ensconced
provide him with both the cultural and financial capital needed to weather
periods of economic uncertainty. On the other hand, Kheterpal’s almost
casual mention of the spectacular sum of Rs. 2,000–2,500 crores points to a
key dimension of change in the Indian media landscape. To begin with, rapid
expansion in print and television markets in India during the 1990s had led
to the emergence of media conglomerates with a presence in the film indus-
try as well. Groups such as Network 18, Essel, and Times that own and oper-
ate television channels, gaming companies, cable and satellite companies,