The Tamil film industry, which spends several crores on actors’ remuneration, has a tendency to tighten its purse strings when it comes to buying insurance cover for its projects. Only 30-40% of the 200-plus films that get released every year have a complete insurance package. The rest only get their equipment and key cast members insured.
Nascent stage
Experts in the film insurance industry point out that when it comes to insurance, the Tamil film industry is still at a nascent stage. “Only a few big production houses in the Tamil industry are functioning like Bollywood when it comes to insurance but the point is that the ratio of insuring films versus the number of productions going on the floors is not very encouraging,” says Sumant Salian, Business Head, Alliance Insurance Brokers Private Limited. He added, “We have also seen heavy price negotiation without giving importance to the compromise in coverage. The insurer who does not have a large book size will definitely not be comfortable giving wide coverage.”
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According to Shreeraj Deshpande, Chief Operating Officer, Future Generali India Insurance, says, compared to the Mumbai film industry, which buys insurance that covers all aspects (package policy), the Tamil film industry is still catching up. “Initially, insurance was considered as one more burden on the film budget and the producers were very hesitant to take insurance policies. Now, with massive-budget Tamil movies coming up, they are open to opt for film insurance and even pay high premiums,” Mr. Deshpande points out.
The popular policy amongst film-makers in Tamil Nadu is one that covers the cancellation of shoots and injuries of the cast, which includes the main actors and directors and the crew members, and includes covers like damage to sets, public liability etc. Today, major Tamil movies feature a range of risky elements like motorcycle/ car stunts, fights and filming in foreign locations, hence insuring a film — especially a big-budget film — has become crucial.
Crew left out
“But the Tamil film industry very rarely gives importance to insurance for people, including stuntmen, cameramen, hospitality team, location managers, etc. There are policies which look into distributors’ loss of revenue, but this is not a hit among people in Kollywood,” said the managing director and CEO of another insurance firm who requested anonymity as he has signed a contract with producers.
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Mr. Sumant explained that generally the film package insurance taken by the production house covers the entire crew, including light man and camera man, on an unnamed basis for accidental insurance. “The insurance rule book says if you are insuring your crew on an unnamed basis, the insured should declare the total number of crew members in attendance at any point of a given day so that there is no under-insurance or a no-insurance situation,” he said. “We have seen insurance policies where the number of people insured on an unnamed basis looks inadequate and also the value of insurance per person is low,” added Mr. Sumant.
Producers who spoke to The Hindu said that their biggest concern while making a film is the lead actor and his salary. Then comes the payment of the director. Unless it is a big budget film, producers said that they would not bet much on insurance.
“Making a film is not easy – from pre-production to post-production, it involves so many stakeholders. And, apart from the producers like me, there are other people who also invest their monies. So, taking insurance needs the nod of all these people,” said a producer, who has been in the industry for over two decades.
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“Even today, 20-30% of dealings in this industry are in black,” he added.
A few years ago, a few production houses tried to streamline film insurance and film budgeting by roping in financial experts and even chartered accountants.
“It did not work out. Producers here have a different mindset and would not like it when an outsider talks about finances,” this producer added.
