Viacom18 backed the movie 'Manjunath: Idiot tha Saala' because it told a meaningful and impactful story about a whistleblower standing up against corruption in a way that held a mirror to society and the business world. They saw potential in the film to challenge viewers and push boundaries. Their history of backing innovative, theme-driven films and their internal values of integrity in business also aligned with supporting such a movie. However, backing films with social messages remains challenging commercially. To encourage more films that bring real role models to light, the film industry needs changes across the entire ecosystem to embrace more diverse stories, control costs, find a balance between message and entertainment, support varied pricing and longevity in

1. Sudhanshu Vats,
Group CEO, Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd.
Viacom 18 promoted and released the movie
‘Manjunath: Idiot tha Saala’
ET CASES
October 2014
Interviewed
by
Dr. Nagendra V. Chowdary
Interview
with
Sudhanshu Vats
Ref. OB-1-0033B
CASE VIEW ON
IIM LUCKNOW’S MANJUNATH SHANMUGAM:
PURPOSE-DRIVEN PERSONALITY AND THE VALUE OF VALUES

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Interview with Sudhanshu Vats IIM Lucknow's Manjunath Shanmugam: Purpose-driven Personality...
1. What made the Viacom 18 Studio back such a different yet commercial project? What
were the challenges?
Viacom 18 Studio has now been doing projects which in our judgement are more of
meaningful cinema, or if I could use the word content-led cinema. If you look at some of
the projects which we’ve done, more specifically in this space are two biopics – Bhaag
Milkha Bhaag and Mary Kom. We also did a film on Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination called
Madras Café.AlsoViacom18,notonlythestudio,butasacompany,oneofthekeyelements
of our DNA is innovation or doing things as I call ‘hatke’. And that was also one of the most
important driving factors for the success of Colours, at Viacom 18. And if you look at it
again from the point of view of this theme of innovation and ‘hatke’, we’ve done quite a
few films in that space – films like Kahani, Gangs of Wasseypur 1 & 2, Oh My God, Special
26 to name a few. We have been making films which are theme or content-led, which have
innovation from the point of view of thoughts and most specifically we’ve been trying to
do a couple of films, which in our judgment is more of ‘meaningful cinema’. It is in this
context that Sandeep had approached us with his project on Manjunath. And I think the
beauty about Manjunath as a project is, not only is it meaningful cinema, I think it is in a
way showing mirror to the society and to many of us in the corporate world. Here was an
individual who was like us, like most of us actually, coming from a typical Indian middle
class family. Having worked very hard during his growing years, excelled in education and
then bagged a very respectable job in a reputed organisation in India. So a very classic
story, particularly of the last two or three decades of the young India. And the difference,
however with this gentleman was the courage which he could display, and his courage of
conviction. And his ability therefore – the story of a whistle-blower who refused to bow
down to that which is happening around us, by the deep-seeded corruption which has
seeped into our society and in some ways is an endemic disease, if I could use the word.
It’s a strong, harsh word but I want to use it – which has set into the Indian society. So we
thought that it’s a very powerful story, it’s a story that definitely needs to be told. And I
think that Sandeep has had the courage to make the film, we should therefore be able to
then see how to bring it to the fore. So, one, a bit of our history in the space in which we
were doing things, two, about one whom we could relate with and something which we
“““““...we’ve been trying to do a couple of films,
which in our judgment is more of ‘meaningful
cinema.”””””

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IIM Lucknow's Manjunath Shanmugam: Purpose-driven Personality... Interview with Sudhanshu Vats
need to particularly show a mirror to ourselves, to the society in corporate India and finally,
a film which stood up to one of the key issues facing the society. So I think that’s what
made us as a studio, look at Manjunath.
2. Does it arise from an internal corporate value system which made them take the
decision to support such a movie?
Some of these things are reflective of the value system of the organisation, and in my
judgement, many a times of the leaders as well (the people who make the organisation),
we do things with conviction and all businesses should be done like that. This is also a
story which in some ways strengthens that conviction, of Viacom 18 as a company. So I
think we are basically committed to doing business with integrity so that’s the thing that
resonates with us when we do a film like Manjunath. The other point being that it is also
part of the value system which is trying to, as I expressed in the previous answer, is for us
to do cinema which has an element of meaningfulness to it. So basically, meaningful cinema
has a message which we are conveying to the society and also in a way it is being innovative.
It is being able to push the boundary and challenge ourselves that allowed us to accept
this. We understood that it is challenging. From a commercial point of view, a project like
this would always be challenging and it has been, actually. We’ve had success with a few
but these projects are very challenging, your ability to draw the audience to watch these
kind of stories – it’s still a challenge in a country like India.
3. What in your view needs to be done to ensure more such movies are made in India so
that more such real role models come into light to a general audience?
I think to drive content-led cinema or different cinema there are a few ingredients which
need to come into play. I think there has to be a change across the value chain, across the
ecosystem. It starts from first identifying these stories and being open to listening to
these stories, and building within individuals and ideally in organisations the conviction,
that we will back such stories. And I think, in a manner of speaking that it is individuals like
Sandeep Varma who allow us to be able to ensure that these kind of stories are being
looked at because of his own conviction. And I think as organisations also, we as studios,
need to look at the business with two lenses – a business which is purely entertainment,
and that’s important – as we’re in the business of entertainment. But at the same time, a
part of the business, which is both entertaining yet educating and enriching individuals,
from the point of view of their growth, which is also as important.
Are we seeing some green shoots already? The answer is another unequivocal ‘yes’. Do
we needto nurture it further? The answer is again, ‘yes’. And we needto look at mechanisms

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Interview with Sudhanshu Vats IIM Lucknow's Manjunath Shanmugam: Purpose-driven Personality...
to encourage it so that we are more open to listening to everyone. We open our talent pool
evenmore,particularlyinwriting,directingtalentpoolratherthandependingontheexisting
small ecosystem – because they are more occupied with so called commercial cinema.
That’s the first piece which needs to happen.
The second piece that needs to happen is being able to make these films on much tighter
budgets. Because fact of the matter is that these films are likely to be, not your 100 crore
films. They are not likely to be blockbusters, it’s a different thing that some of them may
turn out to be like that. But by definition, these are more likely to be smaller films to begin
with. Therefore, our ability to define and be able to run them in very tight budgets is the
second factor.
Third factor, though slightly contradictory with the second, but I do want to bring that in, is
that there has to be an understanding between studios and directors to acknowledge that
these films need not be big and therefore there has to be a control on costs and on
production particularly. But at the same time we need to recognise how we bring in hooks,
or characters, or faces, or stars around which we can mount them bigger. Because the
purpose of doing a film like this is to be able to relay this message to all of India, in the
“““““...the advent of multiplexes has given in
some ways, a vehicle or room for this kind
of different cinema to be showcased as well,
which is wonderful.”””””
utopian sense, and the whole world in a manner of speaking. If that be the purpose then by
definition the line between so called ‘content rich’ cinema and ‘commercial’ cinema needs
to blur. So, we should be sure that we get those hooks. So, the question we need to ask is
– are we crafting some of those thresholds? Is there an anchor there? And what is the cost
attached to getting that anchor in? Is there a star who is lending his or her name to the
project? And what will that do to the project. So, the third point is how to ensure that we
make these powerful films, which are equally entertaining, and have a little bit of star
power or the conventional wisdom of movies. As you know film-making is an expensive
craft. At the end of the day you are making a feature film and how do you bring in those
idioms of the craft. That’s the third point.
The fourth point, in my judgement is exhibition. I think in exhibition, if we have to drive
more and more such films, we need to find first of all, more dynamic pricing. It’s not one

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IIM Lucknow's Manjunath Shanmugam: Purpose-driven Personality... Interview with Sudhanshu Vats
shoe fits all. The good news on the exhibition front is, in the last five to ten years in India,
the multiplexes have come up. And the advent of multiplexes has given in some ways, a
vehicleorroomforthiskindofdifferentcinematobeshowcasedaswell,whichiswonderful.
In the good old days of single screen cinema this would have been very, very difficult. So
that has changed. You can see it in the success of smaller budget films. However, I think
we need to go a step further now. A step further being, how do we ensure that some of
these films have two things – perhaps a slightly longer longevity at the ticket window
because some of them need word-of-mouth publicity to build, and word-of-mouth publicity
sometimes could take a little longer. Two, can we also look at a more differential pricing,
not only for this film, but for films in general, so that when you do a star-led film which
opens in almost 4000 screens, in the week – one you may want to price your ticket at 300
or 400. And people pay that 300 or 400 to watch the superstar, let’s be honest. But when
you are bringing in a story, and if that hook is not there, and in many of these films it may
not be there, what are they going to come in for? Are they expected to pay 400? Maybe
not. So if we have, a more dynamic pricing for films like this. Where we drive up occupancy,
we give longevity to the film in the hall, but we look at pricing more judiciously and not
necessarily at those high levels that we do for the classic star-led and commercial cinema,
I think this is another thing we need to work on, in terms of exhibition.
The other thing which we need to look at when we do films like this is also marketing. So if
you look at the conventional marketing model, for star-led films which are mounted – is
one model. And it has its own system, its own ‘go-to-market’ strategy and perhaps its own
set of budgets. Their reliance on more conventional media is higher and therefore you
spend a huge budget in a short while. And that’s how you rapidly build the awareness and
drive them. What will need to be looked at for films like this is may be a more differentiated
marketingstrategyand‘go-to-market’model–perhapsaveryhighindexingoroverindexing
on digital and viral marketing and at the same time seeing and testing how to still build
the awareness, which you want. At the end of the day, the awareness needs to peak at the
point of time when the film is releasing. So that’s another challenge – basically how to get
creativity and innovation into marketing as you move forward and what is it that you can
do in order to drive that. Even your outreach programs – are these outreach programs
more focused and directed towards educational institutions, towards youngsters, corporate
and so on and so forth? Do you have more such programs which are done more
unconventionally and which can generate in some ways, a demand? So, these are the
things we need to look at when it comes to marketing of such films, in the future.