A Quote by Tena Desae

The two Hindi movies that I did were not marketed well, and so not many people came to watch the film, hence the audience doesn't know much about me. I am a newcomer, and I cannot sell a film on my own. There has to be a backing in terms of producers.
I did two movies that were arthouse movies; they were critically successful but made no money at all... but after making those movies, I thought, 'I wouldn't watch my own movies when I was 16, and my buddies where I came from wouldn't watch my movies, because they were boring.'
I didn't watch a film after the 1960s. I have no idea who all were the good heroes, directors or producers in the '80s. The only film I watched after all those years was my own film.
In India, multiplex ticket prices are high; therefore people are a bit hesitant. The ticket price for a newcomer's film is the same as a Shah Rukh Khan or a Salman Khan film. Why would people pay, say Rs 400, for a newcomer's film when they can watch a Shah Rukh Khan film at the same price?
I got so much out of 'The To-Do List.' This is a joke that I say about myself sometimes, in terms of my film career: I feel like I'm always playing the kid in serious adult movies. So, for me, it was so wonderful to suddenly be working with other people my age who were doing this on film.
When I did my first Hindi film, 'Sargam,' I had to play a dumb girl. Critics went to town saying that since I was a south Indian and didn't know how to speak Hindi, producers of the movie decided to make me play dumb.
I took an internship at Focus Features while I was in film school. I was really interested in how specialty movies were marketed and found their audience despite being about topics that were outside of the mainstream.
I had to take over the reins of the company at a time when I did not know a thing about the business. The producers who were committed to work with my father wanted to back out because they felt I would not be able to sell their film's music the way my father did.
People ask 'How does doing a film compare to doing an ad?' Well, when you're doing a commercial you don't have to sell tickets. You have a captured audience. Which is actually completely rare and great; it gives you a lot of freedom. When you make a film, you have to do advertisements for the film.
You make a film and you can't really pick the way it's put to the public. You control the content, but the way it's marketed, or the poster, or what they're telling the public about the film, it's beyond you. Some people don't even see them, because they think they already know it. That can be frustrating, when something you've done is marketed in a way you think is antithetical to what it is.
When you know you made a film that people are going to watch, that's just really awesome; you know you did it for something, you know you shot a film for people to watch it.
I made four comedies, and all did well, but I always wanted to do an action film. When I saw 'Singham,' I thought this was the right film. Many stopped me, saying, 'You are doing so well in comedy, why do you want to make this film?'
Akshay Kumar is a senior in the industry, and I consider myself lucky to be working with him. Each film of his opens to a packed house. Today, a film will sell only if you have a story. The audience is smart and won't be taken for a ride. And I'm confident about my movies.
When you sit and watch the film with an audience, the focus groups and the cards and all of that is the less what you're worrying about. When you watch a film with an audience you see what is working and what's not working.
I really liked the script of 'Alone.' I thought there were a lot unexpected things in the film, which I would want to watch as a viewer. I did not think like I was doing a horror film; I did not think in terms of genre. I decided on the basis of the script.
I think the success of a film is very important to an actor. It depends on how many people go to watch your movies; the more the merrier. Nobody wants to do a film for five people. You work so hard that millions of people watch the movie; this is directly related to box office success.
I think of 'Beyond The Clouds' very fondly. Yes, it has not been seen by a lot of people in theatres. I had anticipated more people would watch it. But that has to do with something I don't know well: marketing. A lot of people didn't even know that it was a Hindi film.
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