No salaam to these films

Bollywood films on cricket coinciding with the World Cup are the latest to go under because of the team's debacle.

"I can go on record to state that the response to my film is dull and that not many people are going to catch the film." Subhash Kapoor, director of Say Salaam India (SSI), a Rs 2.5 crore film, has been knocked out at the box office.

And Kapoor says it's all thanks to the pathetic performance of the Indian cricket team at the World Cup. "The mood of Indians has completely changed post the World Cup debacle and the fate of films revolving around the cricket theme has been disastrous," he adds.

While SSI released last week to empty cinema halls, the fate of Milan Luthria's much-hyped film Hattrick wasn't too different either. The Rs 14 crore budget film has collected Rs 2,66,66,407 till date and according to trade reports been given a flop status.

"Hattrick has been a learning curve for us. The movie could've been etched differently but we didn't have enough time, especially as we wanted a pre World Cup release," admits Ronnie Screwvala, CEO, UTV Software Communications, that produced the film.

Hattrick, a story revolving around a couple, where the man is mad about cricket and subsequently finds his wife in love with cricketer Mahinder Singh Dhoni, got a cold response from audiences within the first week itself.

Within its second week it was declared a flop even though a special promotional video began doing the rounds. While the music video may have cost Rs 15 lakh, the cost of airing music videos is very high. To air a music video between 35-50 times every day, producers would spend Rs 7-10 lakh per week.

For a mid-range budget film, producers keep aside at least Rs 2 crore for promotions. "What has angered Indians is the way our team lost the World Cup. Obviously, our strategy of depending completely on the hype of these matches backfired," says Kapoor.

His film revolves around the dreams of four young boys who want to play cricket for India and according to Kapoor, since there was no money for publicity, he was grateful to Adlabs who picked up his film for distribution.

"A small budget film like mine is getting positive response from Kolkata, Mumbai, Gujarat and western UP, places where cricket is revered," adds Kapoor.

SSI and Hattrick have barely managed a decent opening, so one wonders about the fate of forthcoming cricket centric films like Mirabai Not Out and Shoonya.