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Drona joins big losers club
Amit Sharma NEW DELHI
BELLS and whistles of big stars riding on mega buck publicity binge doesn't always fire up the audience. It's modest work that could steal the show many a time. And that's been the story of Bollywood this year. While big-ticket productions — Love Story 2050, Drona, U, Me Aur Hum to name a few — have failed to rustle up excitement at the box office this year, it's small to medium budget movies — Aamir, A Wednesday and Welcome to Sajjanpur — that have managed to impress both, critics and audiences alike. Not surprisingly, it is content that has powered the latter's success. Friday after Friday has proved to be a nemesis of sorts for big budgeted fare that is found wanting on sound content.
Although Drona and Kidnap, the two mid-week releases reportedly made at a budget in the range of Rs 40-Rs 50 crore, took off decently, exhibitors reckon that figures started dwindling after the first two days."The occupancies for Kidnap and Drona in the first four days were 50% and 35% respectively," says Ashish Saxena, COO, PVR Cinemas. "The content simply didn't work out for both the films." Despite the first four days being a long weekend for the two movies, collections were anything but satisfactory, feel exhibitors.
"While Kidnap has done an overall business of Rs two crore, Drona has managed a little less than one crore and occupancies dropped after the very first day," says Vishal Kapur, COO, Fun Cinemas. "In contrast a movie like A Wednesday that is running in its fifth week, still has 60% occupancy and has made Rs 7 crore in our screens."
As yet another big ship (Drona) sinks without a trace; trade pundits are forced to relook at what Bollywood is churning out week after week. There is a resounding consensus on the fact that Content is indeed the King. "Budget is no guarantee of success today," says trade analyst Taran Adarsh. "Today, if the content is good, there is no stopping movies. In the absence of a fixed formula for movies, nothing can really be predicted. What clicks with the audience, works." In the last two years, there is a stark contrast that is built, between films like Saawariya, Tashan, Krazzy 4 on one side, and Khosla ka Ghosla, Bheja Fry, Aamir, A Wednesday on the other. Movies made on tight budgets and taut storylines are clearly taking the cake at the box-office.
Exhibitors also point at other reasons for low revenues. In case of poor content, audiences move to other options such as television and Internet, says Shashank Raizada, president, National Association of Motion Picture Exhibitors and MD, Delite Cinema who claims that today, no movie can sustain for more than two weeks. "There is also the factor of revenue leakage whereby, up to 40% of a movie's revenues are lost to piracy," he says." Some like Saxena of PVR Cinemas also hold the view that pricing is critical to a movie's success.
"It is good that content-wise, moviemakers are doing different things. People want variety, but the films should be viable. The pricing has to be right. Prices fail, not films. They should be made on recoverable budgets. That's precisely why small-budget movies are hits. "Perhaps Taran Adarsh aptly sums it up. "Content is becoming the casualty in big-budget movies these days and because a lot of money is involved, it is difficult to recover it. Ultimately, its about public sentiment. The film has to click with the audience."
Although Drona and Kidnap, the two mid-week releases reportedly made at a budget in the range of Rs 40-Rs 50 crore, took off decently, exhibitors reckon that figures started dwindling after the first two days."The occupancies for Kidnap and Drona in the first four days were 50% and 35% respectively," says Ashish Saxena, COO, PVR Cinemas. "The content simply didn't work out for both the films." Despite the first four days being a long weekend for the two movies, collections were anything but satisfactory, feel exhibitors.
"While Kidnap has done an overall business of Rs two crore, Drona has managed a little less than one crore and occupancies dropped after the very first day," says Vishal Kapur, COO, Fun Cinemas. "In contrast a movie like A Wednesday that is running in its fifth week, still has 60% occupancy and has made Rs 7 crore in our screens."
As yet another big ship (Drona) sinks without a trace; trade pundits are forced to relook at what Bollywood is churning out week after week. There is a resounding consensus on the fact that Content is indeed the King. "Budget is no guarantee of success today," says trade analyst Taran Adarsh. "Today, if the content is good, there is no stopping movies. In the absence of a fixed formula for movies, nothing can really be predicted. What clicks with the audience, works." In the last two years, there is a stark contrast that is built, between films like Saawariya, Tashan, Krazzy 4 on one side, and Khosla ka Ghosla, Bheja Fry, Aamir, A Wednesday on the other. Movies made on tight budgets and taut storylines are clearly taking the cake at the box-office.
Exhibitors also point at other reasons for low revenues. In case of poor content, audiences move to other options such as television and Internet, says Shashank Raizada, president, National Association of Motion Picture Exhibitors and MD, Delite Cinema who claims that today, no movie can sustain for more than two weeks. "There is also the factor of revenue leakage whereby, up to 40% of a movie's revenues are lost to piracy," he says." Some like Saxena of PVR Cinemas also hold the view that pricing is critical to a movie's success.
"It is good that content-wise, moviemakers are doing different things. People want variety, but the films should be viable. The pricing has to be right. Prices fail, not films. They should be made on recoverable budgets. That's precisely why small-budget movies are hits. "Perhaps Taran Adarsh aptly sums it up. "Content is becoming the casualty in big-budget movies these days and because a lot of money is involved, it is difficult to recover it. Ultimately, its about public sentiment. The film has to click with the audience."
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