Copyrights, contracts & clauses

Whose show is it anyway? 

A couple of months ago, Kapil Sharma and Colors, which aired Comedy Nights With Kapil, had a fallout and the stand-up comedian has moved to rival channel Sony. Even before his new show has gone on air, his team has got a legal notice from Colors that Ali Asgar and Sunil Grover cannot perform as Dadi or Gutthi in any other show. This notice was sent after Comedy Nights With Kapil went off air and both Ali and Sunil were to perform at a live show in Surat. Among other restrictions, Ali has been barred from wearing a similar wig, while Sunil cannot wear ribbons in his hair. 

Recently, another controversy erupted in connection with Kapil’s show, albeit indirectly. Actress Shilpa Shinde who is the lead character of &tv’s popular show Bhabhiji Ghar Par Hai has quit to join Kapil’s show. While she has alleged that she hasn’t got the raise that was due to her and was being asked to sign an exclusivity contract, producer Binaifer Kohli claimed that Shilpa has already got a raise twice in one year and also signed the exclusivity contract that bars her from taking any other show when she is doing Bhabiji Ghar Par Hai. The matter was referred to Cine and TV Artistes Association which after examining the issue told Shilpa to report to the sets of Bhabiji Ghar Par Hai. That was one week ago, and she still hasn’t turned up for the shoot. Binaifer has sent a legal notice to Shilpa and is planning to go to court if the actress doesn’t start shooting.

Thanks to these two instances copyright issues and exclusivity contracts, have suddenly taken centre stage. How do these contracts work? Are they viable in the fiercely competitive TV industry? Is creativity suppressed at the cost of business? After Hrs explores... 

Why exclusivity?

Pradeep Hejmadi, Business Head, Zee, says that exclusivity contracts are quintessential, especially as far as the lead actors are concerned. “That’s because unlike Bollywood actors who are known as themselves — you know Shah Rukh Khan, you barely remember the character he played in a movie no matter what the turnover is — TV actors in fiction shows become popular as the characters. Channels make heavy investments for the shows to work and characters to resonate with the viewers. We need a certain amount of time to build powerful characters out of actors, for which we sign three-year exclusivity contracts with the leads,” he reasons. Producer-director Rajan Shahi (Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai) adds that sometimes actors, who become popular because of the show, utilise that popularity on different platforms which goes against the imaging of the main show. “A lot of shows and their units have suffered because of this,” he says. 

Don’t film producers like Yash Raj Films sign an exclusive three-film contract with an actor they launch, asks another producer JD Majethia (Badi Door Se Aaye Hai). “If somebody launches you, they will expect to get the benefit. It is the same with TV, especially in today’s times when everything is so uncertain and risky,” he quips. Deeya Singh (Parrvarish, Kaala Teeka) recalls that when Mona Singh was signed on for Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahi she was told that she will have to surrender her identity to Jassi. “We actually stifled her identity and she was seen everywhere as Jassi. There were lots of terms and conditions and she readily agreed. She would go to events in India and abroad dressed as Jassi and as soon as she was back would be on the sets to shoot. She did feel bad that she couldn’t wear clothes that she wanted, but she realised that the kind of popularity she had gained was because of Jassi.”

Actors have a short shelf life

Even as channels make the contracts tight and fool-proof with their actors, they have no qualms approaching actors from rival shows. As a producer on condition of anonymity says, “Channels want popular faces for their reality shows and have no qualms taking actors from rival shows, but when the other channel approaches artistes of their shows they don’t allow the actors to go.” Not so long ago, Gia Manek who became popular as Gopi bahu of Saathiya Saath Nibahana on Star Plus was caught in the channel crossfire. When Gia decided to take up Colors’ Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, it didn’t go down well with Star. As a result, Gia had to quit Saathiya to take up the dance show. She says, “Saathiya was a superhit show and my character was extremely popular. I had been doing it for three years. My character had become so big that when I would wear jeans, people would say how can Gopi bahu wear jeans? I also wanted to be known as Gia and an actor has a short shelf life. But the channel was possessive about the character and didn’t want to let me work on another channel. This was despite the fact that I did not have an exclusivity contract. All that my contract said was I had to work 25 days in a month on Saathiya, and the remaining days I was free to do what I want,” she explains.

Ali Asgar who has been acting in TV and films for over two decades says that exclusivity contracts have become a fad now. “I have been working for donkey’s years and have never signed such contracts. When I did Jeannie Aur Juju the contract was merely two pages that said, ‘you are doing my show, you will give so many days, this is the money you will get, looking forward to working with you’ that’s it. Now when I see a contract I get scared. There are so many clauses that you cannot breathe. An actor has a short span and he has to make money, fame, everything in that time.”

Killing creativity?

Ali, who has been sent a notice that he cannot perform as Dadi in any other show is aghast. “For the first time in my life I got a legal notice and had to consult a lawyer. I have been blindly working on the basis of relationships. If an actor has signed an exclusivity contract he/she should honour it. But my bone of contention is how can a channel own the character? Main zindagi mein four characters karunga — ek Sony, ek Colors, ek Star aur ek Zee pe — and if they own the character my career is ruined. Shah Rukh Khan has been doing his signature step of opening his arms wide for 25 years. He did it for the first time in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, if Yash Raj Films had said that it is exclusive to that film what would he have done. All these contracts kill creativity,” says Ali. As far as Dadi is concerned, he agrees that the channel was the one to design his attire. “But everything from my dance step, the word ittusa, the hichki and the way she would cry was created by me. My father used to say ittusa and I took it from there,” he explains.

While acknowledging that the creatives and writers had a part in creating Gopi bahu, Gia says that she also worked hard on the character to make it believable. “I used to cry without glycerin and made it so realistic,” she says adding that as an actor she wanted to be versatile and do different things. “I proved that I can dance and broke the image of Gopi bahu with Jeannie Aur Juju where I played Jeannie that was completely in contrast to Gopi,” she says. Shashank Vyas, who became popular as Jagya in Balika Vadhu, says that he signed an exclusivity contract with the channel after one year of telecast. “It meant that any visual of mine couldn’t be seen on any other platform. Not even in endorsements for soft drinks or web series where I had to wear western wear or act drunk. It went against the image of Jagya. As a result Jagya was blossoming but Shashank had to die. I have no problem signing a contract, but I feel they shouldn’t restrict creativity. If I am not needed for a few days, or my track is not on for 10-15 days, I should be allowed to do something else, it could be for a commercial or creative purpose,” says Shashank who has wisened up and for his next show has inserted clauses that will allow him to do so.

The way out

Producers are not always stringent with actors who are committed and disciplined. For instance, Sumeet Raghavan who is the lead actor in Badi Door Se Aaye Hai (SAB TV) will soon start shooting for another show (on Zee). JD says, “I have no issues because he is a sincere, earnest and disciplined actor. He has asked me four-six days in a month to shoot for the other show and I have granted him that.” Even Zee’s Hejmadi says they are flexible. “We don’t have a Draconian way of working. We make sure actors have ability to do different things as long as the core character doesn’t get compromised and they appear as themselves on other platforms.” A couple of years ago, Gurmeet Choudhary who was the lead actor in Zee’s Punar Vivah had also participated in Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa and so had Ankita Lokhande who was part of Zee’s Pavitra Rishta. Amit Behl, chairperson, Dispute Settlement Committee, CINTAA, says that Shilpa with a little tact and understanding can solve her issue with her producer. He observes that this kind of problem is only going to increase with shows becoming seven days a week. “Channel war has intensified 300 per cent in the last one year. Stress levels are increasing and things have reached a breaking point,” he says.

The fierce competition between the channels will only lead to actors getting drawn in tighter exclusivity contracts. After all, they are the ones giving the platform for actors to perform. On the other hand, the actors’ contribution to the character is equally important. What is needed is for the broadcasters, producers and actors to sit together and sort out the issues before there is a complete break-down. After all, it’s a business of art and creativity.

Source | Daily News Analysis | 29 March 2016

Regards

Pralhad Jadhav

Senior Librarian

Khaitan & Co

Upcoming Event | National Conference on Future Librarianship: Innovation for Excellence (NCFL 2016) during April 22-23, 2016.

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