After box-office bonanza in 2013, big bucks riding on films this year

Ten movies will have budgets of Rs 70 cr or more in 2014, compared with four last year

Brace yourself for more big-budget Bollywood movies in 2014 than in any other year. Buoyed by the hefty returns on investment the tinsel town saw last year, production houses — and Hollywood studios like Fox Star Studios — have loosened their purse strings to bring four mega-budget blockbusters (costing more than Rs 100 crore) this year, compared with two last year.

Around Rs 750 crore of film companies’ money will be riding on the year’s top-seven movies (in terms of budget), compared with Rs 565 crore last year — a rise of 33 per cent. The biggest ones this year include Happy New Year, produced by Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies (Rs 130 crore); Fox’s Bang Bang (Rs 110 crore); Salman Khan-starrer Jai Ho (distribution rights bought by Eros International for Rs 111 crore) and Peekay, starring Amir Khan (distribution rights sold to UTV for Rs 118 crore). Last year, the Rs 110-crore production cost of Chennai Express was the biggest for any Bollywood movie.

That production houses are budgeting for bigger movies is reflected in the fact that  10 movies will have budgets of Rs 70 crore or more in 2014, compared with four last year. Independent distributor and trade analyst, Suniel Wadhwa, says: “The cost of films has gone through the roof in 2014, as competition is growing. The year looks like a promising one and we may see many records being broken. And, many leading actors will be competing among themselves to break their earlier box-office records”.

Also, what surely makes 2014 a big year for Bollywood is that all the big stars are lining up their big releases. Salman Khan, for instance, has two releases this year (Jai Ho and Kick), compared with none last year. Two of Shah Rukh Khan’s movies will hit the screen (compared with one last year). Ranbir Kapoor has two movies line up, while Hrithik Roshan and Aamir Khan will have one release each.

Besides, foreign production houses, such as Fox Star Studio, which entered into the country a few years ago, are now going full blast and putting in big bucks. Fox, for instance, say trade analysts, is investing over Rs 270 crore in producing just two movies — Bombay Velvette, Bang Bang — and co-producing HumShakals.

Fox Star Studio CEO Vijay Singh says: “We have been scaling up in a measured way over the past three-four years. This has led to a massive line-up of nine Hindi films slated for release this year. The most gratifying aspect of this line-up is that we have the biggest stars and the best film makers and production houses working with us.”

The producers are ready to splurge also because movie companies are going for buying out distribution rights of films much earlier — at hefty premiums. Broadcasting companies, too, are making a beeline for satellite rights. For instance, Peekay, estimated to have been produced at a cost of Rs 50 crore, has already been sold to UTV for Rs 118 crore. Similarly, Jai Ho, produced for Rs 55 crore, has been sold to Eros at Rs 111 crore, according to analysts. Action Jackson, a movie starring Ajay Devgn, has also reportedly been sold to Eros International for Rs 95 crore (including satellite rights).

The price at which satellite rights are being sold are also very high. Kick’s satellite rights, for example, were sold to STAR Plus for Rs 50 crore — this almost fully makes up for the production cost excluding remuneration paid to lead star Salman Khan. STAR has paid a similar amount for the satellite rights of Jai Ho, too. Wadhwa says cash is not much of a problem because the big blockbusters that are not being produced or co-produced are being backed by studios.