Chopra wants larger share of pie

His blockbusters earn multiplex owners 60 to 70 per cent of their annual box office revenues. That is why Bollywood mogul Yash Chopra is flexing his muscles again with a distribution deal that both increases and frontloads his returns.

With five releases slated this year "� including a Madhuri Dixit comeback movie and a Bachchan father-and-son starrer "� Chopra will be meeting owners next week to propose a 50:45:40 revenue-share arrangement in the first, second and third weeks, respectively. The industry standard is 48:45:40.

Unlike last year, when they rejected Chopra's 50:48:45 package plus a demand for the same rates for Dhoom 2 and Kabul Express, multiplex owners seem inclined to accept this year's package deal.

"You cannot afford to miss his movies. It makes sense to negotiate once for all the movies rather than negotiating terms for each movie," said Devang Sampat, general manager (marketing & sales), Cinemax.

Added Ashish Saxena, COO-films cell, PVR Cinema, "With a lot of movies being churned out by the renowned production house, it is viable for us to sign for all five movies together."

Last year, the multiplex company had lost significant revenues during the release of Dhoom 2 because it failed to reach an agreement with Chopra's Yash Raj Films on the revenue share.

While PVR was willing to take Dhoom2, it refused to pay a high revenue share for Kabul Express an experimental film with a non-star cast of John Abraham and Arshad Warsi. A spokesperson for Yash Raj Films declined to comment on the development.

Typically, 12 out of a year's 52 weeks are non-productive in the movie-theatre business. Of the remaining 40 weeks, Yash Raj Films accounts for almost half the movie stock "� it makes four or five films a year that run for an average of three weeks. This makes it difficult for multiplexes to withstand aggressive bargaining deals from the house.