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Bollywood ended 2013 on a high note with the Christmas release Dhoom 3, which broke records in takings. The industry, however, lost momentum in the New Year as box office collections dropped 14 per cent in the first six months of 2014 from the same period last year.
With a similar number of movies released in the January-June period, box office revenue in the first half of 2014 stands at Rs 1,024 crore, down Rs 171 crore from Rs 1,195 in same period last year.
"Takings dropped by 14 per cent in the first six months of 2014. The gap would have widened had it not been for the June releases," said Suniel Wadhwa, an independent film distributor.
Analysts blamed the poor collection on the general elections in what is usually the slower half of the year because of school and college examinations and the Indian Premier League cricket tournament.
"Producers did not want to release big banner movies. The two big movies to hit the screens were Jai Ho! (January) and Holiday (June). While Jai Ho! failed to meet expectations, Holiday is doing well," said Taran Adarsh, a film critic.
Of the three movies that collected over Rs 100 crore, Jai Ho!, 2 States and Holiday, only 2 States had a positive return on investment. Jai Ho! and Holiday, starring Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar, respectively, failed to recover their high costs.
Only a handful of movies this year made money for their producers from the box office. Satellite telecast rights, which in many cases are bigger than the box office, brought in the revenue for movies like Hasee Toh Phasee, Jai Ho! and Bhootnath Returns. Satellite telecast's share in film revenue has climbed from 34 per cent in 2013 to 41 per cent this year.
The return on investment on all films in the first six months of 2013 was 1.6 per cent, this slipped to a negative 0.6 per cent in 2014. Principally because the big budget movies did not deliver. Queen, 2 States, Ragini Mms, Heropanti and Yaariyaan have done well, but not as well as Aashiqui 2, Fukrey and Kai Po Che did last year.
Producers made another Rs 100-105 crore from music rights apart from overseas collections. Adding everything, returns on all films releases in the first six months of the year are positive.
Analysts expect the second half of the year to be better. "By the end of the year, we will be trailing 2013 by at least five-seven per cent. Closing that gap will require a record performance during the festival season. Can Kick, Happy New Year, Bombay Velvet and Peekay get the job done?" Wadhwa said.
Six of the eight Rs 100 crore grossing movies in 2013 were released in the second half of the year. Three of them made over Rs 200 crore each.
