From Bombay Velvet to Neerja: Did Fox rethink its game?
Fox says it might have had a challenging year but with renewed energy, could always hope for a new lease of life
New Delhi: Fox Star Studios' latest release Neerja has made over Rs.25 crore in its first four days thanks to rave reviews and positive word-of-mouth despite a limited release in 700 cinemas. The Sonam Kapoor-starrer comes close on the heels of Fox's recent American superhero movie Deadpool that has netted Rs.29 crore in the two weeks that it has been in theatres.
The two new films have built on the success of Diwali blockbuster Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (PRDP) that had crossed Rs.200 crore within India alone. The Salman Khan starrer, along with the regional language outing, the critically acclaimed Tamil film Kaaka Muttai, have spelled the return of good times for the studio after a lean period most of last year.
All told, Fox Star Studios' six outings (until PRDP in November) had earned slightly over Rs.200 crore. Among these films were much-hyped movies such as Anurag Kashyap's Bombay Velvet and Vikas Bahl's Shaandaar. Trade experts estimate that the former cost nearly Rs.125 crore to make and the latter around Rs.70 crore.
"A colleague of mine had once rightly said that films don't fail, budgets do," said Shikha Kapur, chief marketing officer, Fox Star India, referring to lessons for them as a studio and as an industry. "That applies to any film"good, bad or spectacular. If we set up a project that is not effective in terms of costing, it will reflect on its marketing and lifetime. Everything is a direct impact of how efficiently a film has been made. If a film has a great story but is made on a humongous budget, we can do what we want but it will fall flat. That applies to marketing also. Finally we're all in a P&L (profit and loss) business. We need to be cognizant of our costs."
With its last three films, and especially Neerja, Kapur says the studio was clear about two things. One, that it needed to back good-quality content with great marketing. Two, that it might have had a challenging year but with renewed energy, could always hope for a new lease of life.
"We've stumbled," she admits. "But I think it's only fair and nice for people to go through a challenging time to refocus, rise and understand the audience and what kind of content is working for them. Failure is a recipe for success is what I believe. Truly, this is an embodiment of that."
With a renewed focus on 2016, Fox's slate for this year includes a new association with Karan Johar's Dharma Productions on films such as Kapoor & Sons and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. There is also Sonakshi Sinha's action-drama Akira and the biopicM.S Dhoni: The Untold Story. The Hollywood line-up includes Kung Fu Panda 3, X-Men: Apocalypse, Independence Day: Resurgence and Assassin's Creed.
Referring to its recent successes, filmmakers and film industry experts say that a turnaround of this kind is not that uncommon.
"Every studio worldwide faces these ups and downs," said Girish Johar, head of global revenue at Essel Vision Productions Ltd. "Content choices can go wrong in ways nobody can predict."
Ram Mirchandani, chief operating officer, production house Endemol Shine India, emphasized that if a studio has 8-15 titles coming out every year and the bigger ones among them don't work, it creates a perception about its profitability.
"The idea is to spread yourself across languages and products," he said.
Mirchandani added that Fox has dabbled across genres and most of its films this year look promising. While Neerja is both real and entertaining, Kapoor & Sonslooks different and interesting despite its commercial elements, he explained. There is also Traffic, a film on heart transplant that Endemol is releasing with Fox this year. Plus, the studio has a fantastic international library to fall back on and Indianize titles.
"It's a great mix of tent-poles and breakout films," said Mirchandani, adding that credit is due to the team headed by CEO Vijay Singh and chief marketing officer Kapur.
However, not everyone agrees that Fox has reworked its strategy.
"Honestly, nothing's changed," said a film producer who declined to be named. "It's like playing poker where you get 10 games wrong and probably three right. So it's a matter of chance and not skill."
The producer, however, added that the business of motion picture studios cannot be subject to scrutiny based on a couple of quarters or even financial years. What should be seen is whether their content, marketing and distribution strategies have played out correctly over at least three-four years and created value for them and their stakeholders.
"That kind of staying power, frankly, has only been displayed by studios like Yash Raj, Eros and, for all their films and shows, Balaji," this person said.
Another rival swears by the Yash Raj model of production and says it is sustainable because it is based on nurturing in-house talent. "When studios go after established brands and past successes, it is lazy filmmaking," he said, referring to Vikas Bahl being roped in for Shaandaar after delivering a massive hit with Kangana Ranaut in Queen.
This person added that the only real success for Fox was its satirical comedy Jolly LLB that brought windfall profits, with box office collections of over Rs.32 crore.
Upcoming projects such as Kapoor & Sons or Ae Dil Hai Mushkil "would have to make at least Rs.100-200 crore each" to be considered profitable," said this person who asked not to be identified.
But even to its harshest critics, Fox's 2016 line-up should look good.
"I don't think there could have been a more challenging film than Neerja," said Kapur, referring to the need to be sensitive and careful throughout the film's marketing dedicated to Neerja Bhanot. "It's too early to talk about other films. But our three back-to-back successes (PRDP, Deadpool and Neerja) endorse that the team can really turn around and work across multiple genres."
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