When you think of Yash Raj Films (YRF), names like Yash and Aditya Chopra will come to your mind.
But keeping a low profile, working from the YRF empire, is another man who is building up a different kingdom.
Well, we are referring to the man of the hour, Ashish Patil.
Ashish, who started his career as a copywriter in an ad agency, soon moved to a business school to major in Marketing. Work started flowing in and in 1998 he joined MTV.
The creative guy with a business mind, he soon helped the youth channel re-brand itself and created history by developing Roadies for it, followed by Splitsvilla.
After a good 12 years, Ashish, who dreamt of making movies, was offered a lucrative job offer by Aditya and he readily agreed.
Joining YRF as the business and creative head, he was given the duty to helm its youth division Y-Films!
Today, seven years into the organisation, Ashish heads Y-Films (Business & Creative Head, Vice President) in addition to looking after the brand partnerships and talent management of YRF.
The multi-talented man is not only fulfilling his dreams of making movies (Luv Ka The End, Mere Dad Ki Maruti and Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge), but has also launched a YouTube channel that produces some of the best web series ( Bang Baaja Baaraat, Sex Chat with Pappu and Papa, Man’s World and Ladies Room). Ashish’s idea of launching six transgenders as a music band, ‘6 Pack Band’ got him the honour to be included in the World’s Top 50 Creative People, by an international publication.
Modest and humble by nature, we met Ashish in the spacious canteen of YRF over sandwiches and coffee. And what followed was a never- ending conversation that kept us hooked.
Intelligent, well-read, witty and honest, the honcho can be a treat for any budding journalist. Here is an excerpt from the insightful conversation...
From working in Viacom, dreaming of launching a studio to heading one how has the journey been?
It’s been great; making a movie was always in the bucket list. Three films old, I feel really lucky. Also at YRF, I managed to experiment with jobs, as apart from making films I also look after the brand and talent management. There has been lot of learning from Aadi (Aditya Chopra) and the talent that I get to interact with. My team which comprises of just three more people are young, feisty, talented souls who teach me every day. I am the technically challenged guy who is the uncle in the lot. They teach me so much more about work, new ideas and life.
With so many digital players swimming in the network, how do you deal with competition? What are the attributes that you work towards creating a niche?
I guess we are not really competing. We had an advantage as we were early starters. We have followed our own vision and did not ape anyone. We were clear of what we wanted- the best looking stuff on web, game changing content and having a ‘message’ that’s not preachy but does say something. Also, luckily for us, we had a wider range of content, and touched upon all emotions of our viewers giving us an edge.
Will we ever see a Bollywood star venturing into a web series or will it continue to be a newcomer’s zone?
The web allows the mandate of getting new faces. And not just web series, but Y Films (feature) also believes in bringing new talent. It kind of helps amplify the message as people from all quarters can relate to them. I am not too sure whether a B-town star would be seen in a full-fledged role but the script can only decide that. We will be getting a known face for our next web venture Darr 2.0, though the girl will be a new one.
Karan Johar recently said that ‘what is rejected by TV and studios turns out to be a web series’, do you believe in the perception?
I have heard that too and I feel it’s really stupid. If it’s a bad script you will be dumb to use it. But there are few stories that will look suitable only if it’s made in a 10-15 hours storytelling, for example Game of Thrones. So opting for TV or web is a good idea for that. But I must tell you there will be tsunami of garbage coming our way. There are about 300 hours of content being uploaded on Youtube every minute. I think one has to be really good to be able to be discovered. Your content has to be clutter breaking as the audience is really smart.
Can a web series become a movie or can something like a Sex Chat with Pappu and Papa ever have a theatrical release?
It’s ironical that we have 40 year old men writing to sex columns with absurd questions, but we are not ready to talk about it openly. There is so much of misinformation about sex and we wanted the same to clear out. That was the reason why we launched Sex Chat... in 15 languages. I would have loved to put it on TV and one of the theatres agreed to put it on cinemas in the morning slots. But we had to get it censored and guess what, the censor board refused to see it stating that it was unsuitable for public exhibition (laughs). It is a sensitive subject and has been shot in the cleanest possible way, and I would want the world to see it, but there is no scope. So how do we ever get it made into a film?
A National Award, Filmfare or 100 crore BO make a movie grand; what will be the grand moment for a web series?
I will tell you a short story. While we were having a press meet for the 6 Pack Band, one of the band members told the media that after getting so much popularity, she received a call from her father, who had thrown her out of the house, when she came out of the closet, to come home for lunch. That call somewhere gave us a high. We don’t want to act as a social messenger but we want to be entertainers who leave a smile on people’s mind. The connect with audience, is by far the best achievement.
Business-wise, how differently do Y Films and YRF function?
See, it is a different market; it’s like comparing apples and oranges. When it comes to revenue we did not have a single film this year, while YRF produced Sultan. So there is no way we can judge it.
And how much is Aditya involved in the functioning of Y-Films?
We are completely independent though when I have the access to one of the most creative minds, I would be a fool not to utilise him. I keep on bouncing ideas to him and he like a free boss lets me do things that I believe in. The beauty of working with him is that he will give ideas and suggestions but will never force it upon us. He lets us take the last call.
Ashish, tell us honestly, does being a part of YRF give you an upper hand in business?
Yes, we do use the brand smartly as we presented Bang Bajaa Baraat as ‘From the makers of DDLJ, Veer Zara comes a hatke love story’. Also we have the upper hand in using infrastructure of the studio. From getting the best of film cameras to costumes, everything is available here. Yes, it gives a certain amount of advantage and helps open more doors for us.
You also played an important role in getting brands not just for Y Films but also YRF- has it become a means to get funds? And what’s the future ahead?
Brand integration is huge. On the talent side, we are not typically tactical but also give content solutions. The business has increased 15 times in the last three and a half years after brand content came in, and that’s insane. What just started as a power centre has become a profit centre. For Sultan, we had so many brands but it was never in the face. So one has to deal with them smartly. Our film Mere Dad Ki Maruti was almost a two hour advertisement and it got us loads of money but no one objected. It has now become a case study for content marketing.
You also handle the YRF talent space- how does it function and help the business?
The YRF talent started several years back and we were the first studio to start an agency. We were launching a lot of talent and it was important to handle them and strategically position them as a brand. It also helps us in getting more monetary benefits and that was a business call we took.
You talk business like a pro- which job role do you enjoy more? Creative or business?
Both, as I have always loved wearing dual hats. Even when I was in MTV, I chose to go the less treaded way as I knew we had to build a niche. A business mind can calculate the risks but only a creative mind can get new ideas. Also I must add that being profitable gives you the luxury to be creative.
YRF has worked on TV shows; are there any plans for Y-Films to do that too?
The content that we want to make, this country would not want to put out (laughs). As I earlier mentioned the incident with Sex Chat, I don’t think we will be allowed on TV. And I don’t know how to make shows with flies and snakes. They are hugely popular and I don’t want to put it down but that’s something I do not understand and thus would not like to do.
And finally, what’s next for Y-Films?
We are working on the web series Darr 2.0, which is a reboot of the original one. And as Uncle Ben said, ‘With great power comes great responsibility’, we have to do justice to the iconic film. It’s a thriller in the new age genre with the backdrop of social media. In the feature division, we have Bank Chor that will be a complete entertainer.
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