Film industry not in grave crisis: Johar

Reports of Disney India pulling plug on its Hindi movies production business and Balaji Motion Pictures shutting shop got experts speculating about future of studios in India but filmmaker Karan Johar doesn't think it's a sign of worry and he says India cinema will survive this phase too.
"We are not in grave crisis. There is absolutely no crisis that is looming large. There is a reason why studios start, there is a reason why they end.
"If there is one thing in common between all the panelists is that we are all filmmakers trying to tell stories," he said.

The filmmaker was speaking at a special event of Jio MAMI 18th Mumbai Film Festival with Star.
Johar, who owns Dharma Productions, one of the biggest film production companies in the country, said ouster of studios is not something new and hence people should not panic.
"The other day someone thrust a mic on my face while I was coming out of the airport saying 'Will Indian cinema vanish?' I was like 'When did this happen?'

"When studios came it was surprising, when some of them are leaving it is equally surprising. The producer, the director and the film will always survive. We were trying to control budgets since I could remember. That congenial problem has remained."

Producer Siddharth Roy Kapur, the managing director of Disney India, said he looks at the situation as a great opportunity to improve the financial condition of the film industry.
"In every time of crisis there is a time of opportunity as well. I think it is an interesting time for the industry right now for us to take stalk and figure out what's going on.
"See what we can do for the next generation of Indian cinema to actually be much more effective financially than it has been over the last few years," he said.
Disney India, which owns UTV Motion Pictures, announced last month it is going to focus on its Hollywood films distribution and television and licensing and merchandising businesses effectively pulling the plug on its Hindi film production business.

There have been reports that owing to the back-to-back box-office debacles like "Kya Kool Hai Hum 3", "Azhar" and "Great Grand Masti", Balaji Motion Pictures is shutting down.