“Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted film industry in India”

Kandaswamy Bharathan, Executive Producer of award-winning films like Roja, Annamalai, delivers Distinguished Lecture Series at MYRA

Mysore/Mysuru: Kandaswamy Bharathan, Joint Managing Director – Kavithalayaa, delivered a talk at the MYRA School of Business here on Jan. 25 as part of their “Distinguished Lecture Series.” 

Kandaswamy Bharathan was the Executive Producer of award-winning films such as Roja, Annamalai, Saamy, Kuselan, Muthu and many others. Roja launched the career of A.R. Rahman  while Muthu was a massive success in Japan. 

A Visiting Faculty at IIM-Ahmedabad and ISB-Hyderabad, Kandaswamy, who has designed very popular courses on the Indian Film Industry, said the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the film industry in India  and added that Netflix, Apple, Amazon Prime and Disney+ will likely play a large role in the future.

“These four big players are here to stay  and they are currently hiring management graduates in huge numbers, particularly for marketing and customer-relationship management roles. Those who have experience in an FMCG (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods) company will be at an advantage,” he observed.

 Next year, a course tentatively titled “The Past, Present and Future of the Indian Film Industry — a Business Perspective” will be offered to MYRA PGDM students as an elective. 

As part of the course, students will analyse case-studies on Indian and International classics and blockbusters, discuss post-pandemic challenges and opportunities, and attend seminars with well-known names from the South Indian film-industry. 

This elective will encourage MYRA students to apply their coursework (particularly in marketing, strategy, and HR subjects) to the film industry. 

There is a lot of scope for management graduates to bring corporate-like discipline and professionalism to all creative industries, the speaker said.

 “The Premier Studio tragedy was a big loss for the Mysuru film industry. This city has a lot of creative potential that is waiting to be tapped. Management courses like this can help revitalise the city’s creative-community and help foster corporate-style discipline and problem-solving in the future,” he noted.