Veteran producer Dil Raju believes the survival of the Indian film industry hinges on a hard reset 鈥 and it starts with producers taking control. He stresses the urgent need to rein in skyrocketing star fees, stop wasteful spending, and prioritize powerful storytelling over big names. 鈥淚f a film flops, it鈥檚 the producer who pays the price,鈥 he says, adding that in today鈥檚 landscape, 鈥渃ontent is the only true star.鈥滶xcerpts from an interviewYou recently said producers need to exercise strict control over what goes into a film?I want to make several points about why I feel the movie business is suffering. I think the content is the biggest culprit. Indian cinema is going through a lot of upheavals after Covid. We have seen a lot of changes in football because of OTT. We need to increase the footfall.How will that happen?Firstly we want to work on theatres 鈥 the ticket price, food price and the ambience of the theatre. Then there is the problem of theatre content going to OTT too quickly. The content that is being given in the South in four weeks to five weeks on OTT, is being given in eight weeks in Bollywood .We need audiences to get a message from our cinema industry that a film in the movie theatre won鈥檛 be seen on OTT for a long time. Like Aamir Khanji鈥檚 Sitaare Zameen Par which won鈥檛 be seen on OTT anytime soon.We are losing 50% of our audience to the OTT platforms.So it鈥檚 content that matters?Look at Aamir Khan鈥檚 Sitaare Zameen Par.It shows the audience is willing to go into movie theatres, but the content has to be worth the while for the audience to make that effort to go into theatre.Do you feel a producer needs to be more proactive in the making of a film?Definitely. A lot have left the business. If you make 10 films and 8 films are hits but two are flops, the producer is finished. All the others associated with a film 鈥 the stars, the technicians, the marketing team have nothing to lose. It is the producer, me, who has everything to lose. I am the one who pays everyone, runs after the combination date of the actors…So what鈥檚 the solution?A producer must make a project viable, control the wastage. Remuneration must be based on demand and supply. Control the star prices, control the release cost. Control the wastage. That is the producer鈥檚 responsibility. For example, if a film is being made in Rs. 200 crores, in that situation, the non-theatrical market is also over. How will Rs. 200 crores recover?So-called superstars are not able to bring in Friday audiences any longer?That鈥檚 what I am saying. If you say that the theatre is not full on Friday, then there is no star! There is no value for the star now. Content is the star. Content is the value. For example, Aamirji is there. His Sitaare Zameen Par on Day 1 collected Rs. 8 cr. Day 2 is Rs. 20 crores. Because of the content. Content has connected with the audience. There are not even 3-4 films a year that the audience likes.Was 鈥楪ame Changer鈥 an eye-opener for you?That was not up to the mark, the opening.Is that the kind of cinema you would like to avoid making?No, no. I will do all kinds of films. But jo jo bhi star hai, jo bhi director hai, jo mera wave nahi, abhi unke saath nahin (whoever is not on my wave length I won鈥檛 work with them).Whatever one producer does successfully, another one tries the same, then a third… They have no clue about originality and real boxoffice numbers. They are just following the herd mentality. They have no clue whether their trailer, songs are reaching the audience.One more point. YouTube mein, we are giving out false numbers about hits and views.