King Yash relents on revenue sharing

tanking in the box office, last week, Chopra is believed to have offered discounts on the revenue he was sharing with multiplex owners to ensure that the movie is not masked out of theatres.

Only a few months ago, Tinsel Town's badshaah had shown his clout by forcing most multiplex owners to fork out a larger part of their revenues as his share for all movies produced by his production company.

Admits Sanjeev Kohli CEO Yash Raj Films : "Jhoom did very well in its first week but in its second week it did not perform as expected; as a gesture Yash Raj Films has given a rebate of 5 per cent on the revenue sharing proportion with multiplexes."

So what has changed? After a roller coaster ride last year for Bollywood movies, blockbuster production houses and their top notch films are falling like ninepins on the box office. 
 

FLOP SHOWS Box office performance of recent releases
Movie	Budget	Performance
EKlavya: The Royal Guard	25	Lost 10
Nishabd	6	Lost 2
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom	30-32	Lost 6-7
Salaam-e-ishq	34-35	Lost 10-12
Cheeni Kum	8-9	Recovered 12
Namaste London	30	Recovered 32
Ta Ra Rum Pum	30-32	Recovered 32

UPCOMING MOVIES  Approximate budgets
1. Partner	30-35	6. Saanwariya	45
2. Cash	16-18	7. Race	22
3. Bhulbhulaiya	15	8. Jodha Akbar	55
4. Sholay	25	9. Chak De India	24
5. Om Shanti Om	35	10. Tare Zameen Par	15
(All figures in Rs crore)

And despite all the star power and large banners industry estimates that Bollywood has lost between Rs 120 crore and Rs 150 crore in the first six months of this year compared to a profitable last year.

Big films from big producers and big films have just bombed. Star producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra's (who made super hits like Munnabhai) Eklavya: The Royal Guard made with a budget of Rs 25 crore, was able to recover only Rs 15 crore from the box office.

But its failure pales into insignificance when compared to this year first big budget movie Salam-e-Ishq. Made on an extravagant budget of Rs 35 crore, the movie with stars like Salman Khan, John Abraham, Vidya Balan and Priyanka Chopra recovered about one-third of the money.

Indeed, star power has not worked its magic. So Amitabh Bachchan who starred in Nishabd was unable to help the movie recover its money (it lost over Rs 2 crore), nor did his small screen presence in Jhoom Barabar Jhoom help the cash registers ringing. And despite his critically acclaimed acting in Eklavya, audiences were not convinced.

"Content has failed to deliver. Audiences want variety," said film analyst Taran Adarsh. Film experts believe that mega stars and huge promotional tools never guarantee a hit. Adds Komal Nahata, film analyst, "Marketing can only drive audiences to watch the film on day one. A film works wonders only if the content is good."

Multiplex owners are not happy either. They typically expect a Yash Chopra film to run for at least 4 to 6 weeks but his recent offering has not been able to hold audience interest for even a week.

"Certainly, we have witnessed a dip but have been able to earn via smaller movies that have run for weeks. Hollywood movies have also been a saving grace this year," said an executive from a leading theatre chain.

Of course the industry is nervously betting that the next line up of blockbusters will woo audiences back to the silver screen. And they are betting over Rs 300 crore to get a positive answer.

Said PVR Cinema's COO-films cell Ashish Saxena, "We have signed a five-year films deal with Yash Chopra's production house so that cannot be undone. We are hoping that their other movies click at the box office." He added that the coming six months will decide the fate of the Bollywood and also industry traders.

Even producers are living on hope. "It has been a bad start but the industry is such. It is a cycle. The coming six months look promising but one never knows what clicks and what does not. Hopefully, the second half should do well," said Ravi Chopra, managing director, B R Films and a key film maker.

But there is one ray of light in the seemingly dim screen-small budget movies have just taken the box office on fire. They cannot reduce the overall losses that blockbusters have faced but could lead to a rethink in the business of movie making.

For instance Sunil Doshi's Bheja Fry (budget: Rs 60 lakh) has earned the producer six times his investment. Anurag Basu's Life In A Metro made a 40 per cent return.