FILMS: Producers hit the jackpot in the October-December 2008 quarter
Box office collections in the October to December 2008 quarter have shattered the myth that the fortunes of the film industry are linked to the overall business cycle. Buoyant ticket sales during the quarter have firmly established that there is no correlation between the two and viewers will turn up to watch a good film, no matter how severe the economic crisis.
Data complied by a score of distributors, analysts and trade portals shows that the 40 or so films released during the quarter ended December 31 did gross collections of about Rs 680 crore. This is nearly 70 per cent of the overall collections done by the 130-odd Hindi films released during the entire 12 months of 2008.
Trade analysts say that the average occupancy of multiplexes and single-screen theatres also improved in the October-December 2008 quarter. "The average occupancy across theatres stood at about 60-65 per cent on any weekday," says a Mumbai-based film trade analyst. This is a vast improvement over the previous months when occupancy had fallen to about 40 per cent.
The good run at the box office continued in January as about half-a-dozen new Hindi films released during the month generated nearly Rs 52-55 crore of collections, 10-12 per cent more than the comparable period last year.
Now all eyes are set on films like Farhan Akhtar's Luck By Chance, Shah Rukh Khan's Billu Barber, Abhay Deol's Dev D and Abhishek Bachchan's Delhi6 — big budget films aided by high decibel marketing campaigns set for release in February.
Not bad at all at a time when the rest of the economy is going through its worst ever crisis. Production in factories has slumped, exports are down and thousands of jobs have been lost. Liquidity is tight and consumers have held back purchases. The situation has been made worse by the uncertainty in the jobs market.
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Till a few months back, film producers as well as exhibitors were apprehensive that their business would suffer as well because consumers are expected to cut down first on entertainment expenses in a slowdown. Tickets are no longer inexpensive and a family of four could easily spend close to Rs 1,000 on a movie outing.
However, the success of films like Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Ghajini released in December and Fashion, Golmaal Returns and Dostana in October and November proved their fears wrong. Audiences lined up in large numbers in the theatres to watch these movies. Film producers find that money is hard to come by and some film stars (most notably Akshay Kumar after the resounding failure of Chandni Chowk to China) are known to have cut their astronomical fee. Still, viewers have proved that come what may, they will always lap up a good film.
"We have always believed that Bollywood is insulated from recession. The success or failure of films is simply dependent on the content, apt marketing and distribution which was evident for so many films released in the third quarter," says a senior PVR Cinemas executive.