Star-power drives BO wins but won`t make typical films:Dibakar

Mumbai: Though star power and box office success of a movie are interdependent, Dibakar Banerjee won`t make a typical film by just banking on big names and then manufacturing collection figures to draw the audience.

"Cinema has been a star-driven medium and it has been so since the beginning. There is nothing wrong in that as stars make a film profitable," Dibakar told reporters. "Almost 70 per cent of the time people go to theatre to watch stars and the rest 30 per cent is what you play with, to make the experience more rewarding and that`s the way it will be," he said. Dibakar, however, prefers to cast new faces as they provide a balance. "I have most of the time gone for unknown and new people and that comes in that 30 per cent... It provides a balance. It`s the stars whose presence makes blockbuster films and that money is used to finance our films and I am very happy about it," he said. Dibakar feels a star will work with him provided they like the kind of films he makes. "A star who wants to work in a typical film will not work with me but a star who wants to work with me in any which ways, will work with me," he said. Star power has always kept the cash registers ringing at the box office. And for Dibakar too, BO is important but he feels the figures should not be manipulated to lure audiences. "Every business is important and is dependent on money. For me, what is slightly dodgy is the touting of box office collection as a means of telling the audience to come and watch the film. That`s what is suspecting... Is unreal and untrue and manufactured figures. I feel it is wrong," he said. "If a film makes Rs 200-300 crore, the producer has all the right to shout it from rooftops but if it`s in profit then only," he added. Now that Yash Raj Films has announced plans of a three-film co-production deal with Dibakar, it will become easy for the filmmaker to work with stars. "When stars work with Yash Raj Films, its for a reason. The brand equity of Yash Raj Films is based not only on hype but on the decade and half of the films that have done well, marketed well, nurtured by the studio. Stars have been continuously made and invented by Yash Raj," Dibakar said. "I think stars want to work with Yash Raj because they know the company is about filmmaking and they don`t cash in on stars. They take stars to a newer level," he said. PTI