"Can Bollywood Market A Billion Dollar Film?" - Koimoi Reader's View
Dhoom 3 Movie Poster
Bollywood is growing at a rampant rapid pace and going by the methodical changes in presentation and content, the dream of making a film that is palatable for the flavor of international audiences isn't unattainable. Koimoi's reader Abhinav Mishra writes to us saying that the dream isn't unattainable but loopy content can't win us the heftiness of franchises like Pirates Of Caribbean. Read on -
Dhoom 3 has made a total gross collection of 88 million $ (more than 500 crores) at the global box office. What is more interesting here is to know that this movie has made more money than some of the popular Hollywood counterparts likeKick Ass 2, Pain & Gain, The Family, Broken City and The Last Stand.
But before you start celebrating at this cue, let me throw some light over here and let you know that Dhoom 3 is the highest earning Bollywood movie ever and the Hollywood movies that I've mentioned above were not even in the list of Top 50 for the year 2013!
As we all know that that the disposable income in India is growing at a much faster pace than the west and that the Indian audiences' hunger for movies will only increase. And it won't be wrong to suggest that there will be a time when Indian movies will earn more than the likes of Avengers and Pirates Of The Caribbean!
Here are some reasons for me to believe that Bollywood can market a billion dollar:
1) Growing Multiplex Chains: Multiplex chains such as PVR, INOX and many others are rapidly growing. Their stock prices have tripled in the last 18 months suggesting that multiplex business in India will grow further.
2) Growth in Disposable Income: We all know that India's growth in disposable income is much higher than the America's and that American income is also reaching a saturation point these days. Indians happily pay 200 INR for a ticket. And it is possible that 5 years from now, one ticket in PVRs of metropolitan cities might just cost us a 800-1000 INR.
3) Foreign Viewers For Bollywood Movies: So far Bollywood movies are being watched by South Asian expat population living in the US and UK; and the only complaint they had was the low production value of our films. High end Indian movie budget has already reached a staggering 25-30 million USD range and this will go even higher.
4) Young Population: India has a vast range of younger population and its film industry can easily reap the demographic advantage.
5) Top Movies Performance In Past 5 Years: Ghajini released in 2008 and it made just a little more than 100 crore and was considered a blockbuster and just 6 years later in 2014 when Jai Ho made 100 crore, we call it a flop. It is a healthy sign that the expectations from a movie has increased.
Indian cinema has a great future as the country itself is expected to become a 5 trillion $ economy by 2020 and hence there will be a time when Bollywood movies will figure in the list of top 10 movies in the world. The only problem it seems is the content. Content has become a serious issue. Out of the Top 10 highest grossing movies in Bollywood only Barfi! and 3 Idiots deserves to be there, I feel. We are already seeing people in metro cities preferring Hollywood over Bollywood. The Avengers had made more money in India than Tezz(starring Ajay Devgn and Anil Kapoor). These are worrying signs and we need to bring originality in our movies, stop performing gravity defying action stunts that has no respect for the laws of physics. So now it all depends on the content provider to take the industry forward and not let these so called stars destroy the industry.
We do great packaging. We are great at marketing and publicity. We have a thriving market and now what we need is a good product to sell!
Anupamaa
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