Bollywood Suffers Loss In Q1; Eyes Big Budget Films To Make Recovery
The Bollywood's quarterly report is out, disclosing the entertainment industry hasn't had even one major hit to validate all the money it spent.
Vikas Mohan, who runs the trade publication Super Cinema, said, "The first three months have been very bad. Bollywood has lost anywhere between Rs. 300 and 400 crore and there is not one hit to show for it."
"Producers will give the excuse of IPL (Indian Premier League) and many such factors. But the honest truth is we are not making good films."
As per ibosnetwork. com, megastar Amitabh Bachchan's 'Teen Patti' fell flat with just Rs 8.5 crore regardless of the added attraction of Ben Kingsley. Big B's "Rann" did well with Rs 14 crore. Sallu's "Veer" grossed Rs 42 crore, but with distributors shelling out a rumoured Rs 70 crore for it, the film was a flop.
At Rs 25 crore, Farhan-Deepika starrer "Karthik Calling Karthik" could not make profits.
Vishal Bharadwaj's "Ishqiya" made Rs 31.5 crore. The Shahid Kapoor-starrer "Chance Pe Dance" could make just Rs 15 crore.
Vishal Kapur, COO, Fun Cinemas, said, "The best month this year was January and that too because of '3 Idiots' and 'Well Done Abba', both of which released in December last year. Among the 2010 releases we had good business with 'My Name is Khan' and 'Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge'."
According to a trade expert, the major earner in 2010 thus far has been SRK-Kajol starrer MNIK.
Even by complex BO approximations, MNIK is not a hit. That is because the distributor, Fox Star Studios, is supposed to have paid Rs 100 crore for the movie, which earned worldwide only about Rs 86.5 crore.
Ajay Devgn-Konkona Sen Sharma- starrer "Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge", is on its way to turning a moderate hit as, in spite of just 30-40%opening in movie theatres during the starting week. The film earned Rs 28 crore.
On the other hand, Dibakar Banerjee's "Love Sex Aur Dhokha" earned Rs. 8.5 crore and made profits for its producer Ekta Kapoor.
LSD made earning for its makers, but to be called a hit, a film needs to make enough money at BO with enough ticket sales.
But, the Hindi film industry should take heart from the truth that the first quarter of 2010 rarely generates any big hits.
The major hits normally hit theatres late summer and between the Diwali to December period.
And Bollywood might still recover its losses with forthcoming big budget flicks such as "Housefull", "Kites", "Raajneeti", "Raavan" and "Action Replay". (With Inputs from Agencies)