Bollywood had tougher year than in 2015

Even as regional films and Hollywood enjoyed a superb run at the Indian box office, Bollywood found itself on a stickier wicket in 2016.

Compared to 2015, the top 10 films saw a 6.5% dip in combined collection, from Rs 1,484 crore last year, to Rs 1,387 crore in 2016.

This is despite having eight of the top 10 films crossing the Rs 100 crore mark, from six last year. The major revenue came from three -– Sultan (Rs 300 crore), Dangal (Rs 216 crore as of Friday and still running in cinemas across the country) and MS Dhoni–The Untold Story (Rs 133 crore).

Bollywood managed to sustain profitability as the top eight films in 2016 gave returns comparable to 2015, and are expected to exceed the (return on investment), considering Dangal, which has already booked profits, will be in theatres for a couple of weeks more, largely unchallenged.

On the other side, losses widened for the loss-making ones. Comparing the five notable flops, the loss percentage rose from 48% in 2015 to 56.4% in 2016. Experts attribute this to lack of rationalisation while budgeting for films, a trend that has burdened the sector for a while but is now seeing some correction.

“I have said this before and I maintain that we (as an industry) need to start budgeting movies depending on the script and who the content is meant for. Only then will we see profitability rise. The other challenge I notice is increasing the footfall to movie screens. There might have been a slight dip in the footfall in 2016 and while inflation in ticket prices makes up for some of this drop, the movie-going habit needs to be encouraged for the industry to grow,” says Ajit Andhare, operations head at Viacom18 Motion Pictures.

Sunil Lulla, managing director, Eros International, agrees and adds, “Release strategies and marketing are connected to the cost of production, genre and talent. Marketing is all about smartly reaching the audience through various mediums, through appropriate budgets. Release strategies (number of screens) have to be planned accordingly, so as to bring out the optimal box office collection.”

In terms on content, sport themes and biopics seem the flavour of the season. The top three films of the year (Sultan, Dangal and MS Dhoni) all centred around sport and/or sport personalities (wrestling/wrestlers in the first two and cricket in the third. Non-sport biopics also found favour with the audiences, as is evident from the success of films Rustom, Neerja and Airlift. 

Marketing continued to play a significant role, with studios opting for a measured and targeted approach, rather than going for a one-size-fits-all strategy. “With hundreds of movies releasing every year, marketing is critical in communicating about your film to the audience, as well as building that connect, creating excitement and anticipation. For example, with Dangal, we stayed very true to the movie and didn't overdo the marketing noise levels.

The most important collateral launch, the pay-off trailer, was done in a pure-play digital method, instead of a traditional TV and print burst. We built upon the existing positive buzz by releasing strong audio and video assets. We also rolled out some behind the scene units, such as the ‘Fat to Fit’ video which went on to become viral, as it was raw and real and showed the effort behind Aamir's phenomenal transformation,” says Amrita Pandey, vice-president, studios, Disney India.

2016 also saw the emergence of a new player in the studio business, with the Punit Goenka-led Zee Entertainment Enterprises launching its Bollywood and regional operations under the Zee Studios brand. Goenka mentioned they were looking at films as an essential vertical for the business, and with hits like Rustom and Sairat (Marathi), it seems to have started on a right note.

While many feared the fate of movies releasing after the demonetisation drive announced by the government, these did not suffer as much as anticipated. Kamal Gianchandani, chief executive at PVR Pictures, feels the success or failure of a title cannot be attributed only to the cash crunch from demonetisation.

“Content plays a big role. If the content is appealing, the film will do well, as we saw with Dear Zindagi and are seeing with Dangal. The main impact was felt in the first two weeks, when the content from Bollywood didn’t really excite the audiences either,” he says.

Content did play a major role this year, as in the past three-odd ones. Neerja, Pink, Kapoor and Sons, Dear Zindagi, Baaghi, Airlift and Rustom proved that good content sells. “2016 has been a good year for differentiated content and high concept films. It’s been the year of biopics and realistic cinema which not only entertains but presents a new story that audiences haven’t seen. Most important, once again, it has reinforced the power of good scripts,” says Vijay Singh, chief executive, Fox Star Studios.

Studio heads feel the challenges ahead would be much the same as before – recognising the scale and target group where the content will appeal and budgeting accordingly, dealing with the under-screened nature of the Indian exhibition space, and marketing the movie innovatively and cost-effectively. As the Hollywood and regional slate grows in output and appeal for audiences, Bollywood has its work cut out in 2017.