After the drought at the box office during the cricket World Cup, producers are set to test their luck with around 15 movies valued at Rs 200 crore lined up for release in April and May. However, these clash with the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL-4), which started on April 8 and ends on May 28.
Among the major releases during this period are Anees Bazmee’s Thank You (released on April 8), Rakesh Omprakash Mehra’s Teen Thay Bhai (April 15), Abhishek Bachchan-Bipasha Basu starer Dum Maro Dum (April 22) and Vikram Bhatt’s Haunted (May 6).
Taran Adarsh, film trade analyst said, “April to June is usually a very lucrative period, as the summer vacations are on at the time. Producers have already postponed releases due to exams and the just concluded cricket World Cup. So IPL or no IPL they are willing to take their chances now.”
“Bollywood and cricket are the biggest draws in the entertainment industry in India. There have been over two months of cricket now; fatigue is bound to set in. If the content is good, audience would not have to choose one over the other. Movies would do well”, said Siddharth Roy Kapur, chief executive officer, Motion Pictures – UTV.
Komal Nahata, film trade analyst and editor of koimoi.com while conceding there may be a hunger among audiences who have been deprived of major releases for over a month now said, “There are a slew of movies on line. But with India winning the World Cup, there is likely to be a renewed interest in cricket in which case box office earnings would be impacted.”
Faltu, for instance, which released on April 1 saw business dip by around 20 per cent due to an onslaught from cricket. A spokesperson at the box office said Faltu could have closed the weekend at Rs 16 crore net instead of the Rs 10.5 crore had the release not coincided with World Cup finals. Adarsh is optimistic, “Whether footfalls at theatres are affected during the IPL will depend on how the teams play. During crucial matches earnings may fall, but overall the industry is positive this year.”
However most industry officials say that if the content is good, the movie will work like magic, citing the example of Viacom18’s Tanu Weds Manu. “The prodcuers went against conventional wisdom and decided to release the movie during the World Cup but had a very successful run at the box office,” said Devang Sampat, Cinepolis.
Ram Mirchandani, chief creative officer, Eros International Media feels considering that IPL has become a part of the calendar, Bollywood has to learn to co-exist with it than losing a six-week window. “ In the US and UK, sports and entertainment co-exist together as sporting activities are held through the year,” he said.
Between January and April last year there had been 62 film releases, of which only four had been hits. The film industry had 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 had led to the losses.
