Bollywood to take Rs 230-cr test during summer vacations

Pradipta Mukherjee & Swarup Chakraborty

Post the box-office drought during the Indian Premier League (IPL), Bollywood is now gearing up for the harvest season, with four big releases spread over the next 40 days.

With Yash Raj Films’ Badmaash Company, which released last Friday, May and June will see the release of Kites, Raajneeti and Raavan. More than Rs 230 crore has been riding on these four films. Their success is paramount for the health of the film industry, which has seen a number of flops this year.

Between January and April this year there have been 62 film releases of which only four have been hits. The film industry incurred losses of at least Rs 200 crore in these four months, primarily due to poor content and the IPL matches which dominated the entertainment scene. Failure of medium-to-big budget movies like Dulha Mil Gaya, Chance Pe Dance, Rann, Teen Patti, Pyaar Impossible and Prince led to the losses.

The industry has been waiting with bated breath for the big releases of May and June to cast their spell to put the industry back in shape. There has already been some respite for producers with the release of Eros International Media Ltd and Sajid Nadiadwala’s Housefull on April 30. The film, in its first week, has done business of Rs 52 crore and is expected to become a hit, considering that the satellite rights were sold for Rs 16 crore.

“Housefull is expected to earn Rs 70 crore, of which around Rs 54 crore is expected from theatrical collections,” said trade analyst Komal Nahata. According to industry estimates, the film was made at a cost of Rs 50 crore. Starring Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone and directed by Sajid Khan, Housefull is a madcap comedy. The film got the best opening amongst the 62 that have released so far this calendar year.

Baadmash Company, which released on May 7, saw around 50 per cent opening during the weekend. Trade analysts say the film grossed nearly Rs 10 crore during the weekend. The movie, made with a budget of Rs 30 crore, was released with over 1,000 prints. This film is expected to be a test for the Yash Raj banner, whose last outing, Pyaar Impossible, failed to impress viewers.

May 21 will see the release of FilmKraft’s Kites, which stars Hrithik Roshan and Mexican actress Barbara Mori. The film, made on a budget of Rs 60 crore, has been reportedly sold for over 100 crore, by industry estimates. Reliance Big Pictures will be distributing the film globally.

“The expectations from Kites are very high. The film has been edited and a shortened version of 90 minutes will be shown to the Western audiences. With Mori in the film, it is expected to do well in the US markets. With the hype, it will get a very good opening; however, how it fares beyond the opening weekend will depend on the content,” said a Mumbai-based film trade analyst.

Two weeks after Kites, audiences will be offered Prakash Jha’s Raajneeti on June 4. The film is made at a cost of Rs 45 crore and has been sold for Rs 65 crore, according to industry estimates. On June 18, the Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan starrer, Ravan, will hit the screens.

Aditya Shroff, AVP-distribution, Fame India, said, “We are expecting a 40-50 per cent jump in revenues during May and June. We also expect around 80 per cent occupancy during some weekends. The March and April months were badly hit, with occupancies around 15-20 per cent.”

According to industry estimates, Bollywood spends around Rs 3,500 crore on 150 films every year.