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The Hindi film industry had much to thank its leading ladies for the past quarter, which could have otherwise seen a series of flops.
Thanks to Kangana Ranaut’s Queen and Sunny Leone’s Ragini MMS 2, Bollywood collected Rs 525 crore from the box office in January-March. However, this is lower than the same period last year when ticket sales were Rs 544 crore.
Queen and Ragini MMS 2 had combined takings of Rs 99 crore and are still running to fairly full houses. Ragini MMS 2, despite all the bad press, made Rs 46 crore and Queen pulled in Rs 53 crore. The two movies were made for Rs 35 crore and have raked in nearly as much together as the most talked about film of the year, Salman Khan’s Jai Ho, which grossed Rs 110 crore at the box office.
Suniel Wadhwa, independent distributor and analyst, said domestic box office collections in January-March were Rs 525 crore from 43 releases, against 44 in the same quarter a year ago. But as many as 10 movies did not recover their money and six did not raise even Rs 10 crore.
Last year’s big hitters were Disney UTV's Race 2, ABCD — Any Body Can Dance, Kai Po Che, Fox Star Studios’ Jolly LLB and Viacom18 Motion Pictures’ Special 26.
Komal Nahta, editor and publisher of film trade journal Film Information, said, “This quarter has been a clear indication of content-driven films working and, more importantly, it has brought to the fore the need to deliver exactly what is promised to the audience. While the focus on the first weekend was again very strong, Queen came out a winner, bucking the trend.”
The first big movie of 2014, Jai Ho, failed to break any box office record. Pundits expected it to gross Rs 150-175 crore since it marked the return of Salman Khan to the big screen after Dabangg 2 in December 2012. The slate of disappointments includes movies like Sholay 3D, One by Two, Gulaab Gang and Bewakoofiyan.
The top five grossers of the quarter contributed Rs 321 crore, or 61.11 per cent, to box office collections in 2014, compared with Rs 302 crore, or 55.51 per cent, in 2013.
Last year, six movies collected less than Rs 10 crore while this year the same number has already attained that distinction. A couple more could be added to the list from the releases on March 28. Also, movies this year have collected as low as Rs 70 lakh (Miss Lovely), while the minimum collection last year was Rs 4 crore (David and Jayantibhai ki Love Story).
The April-June quarter seems set to be dull too. There is no film on the horizon that can do a Rs 175 crore business like Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. May is a quiet month as far as Hindi film releases go. Analysts feel the first six months of 2014 will see Bollywood earning Rs 50 crore less than the same period last year.
“If this pattern continues, 2014 will come close to 2013 earnings. But that is not guaranteed: 2014 is lagging behind 2012, 2010 and 2009,” Wadhwa added.
With elections and the Indian Premier League up ahead, film makers are shying away from releases this quarter. Last year, one of the biggest hits in recent times, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, released right in the middle of the IPL and still managed to make Rs 175 crore. Analysts said the chance of such an occurrence this year was bleak.
BRIGHT SO FAR, BLEAK AHEAD
* Rs 525 cr collected at the box office in January-March from 43 films
* Ragini MMS 2 made Rs 46 cr and Queen, Rs 53 cr
* 10 films failed to recover money and six couldn’t raise even Rs 10 cr
* Flops include Sholay 3D, One by Two, Gulaab Gang, Bewakoofiyan
* The April-June quarter seen dull. With analysts seeing no film capable of collecting Rs 175 cr, the first six months of 2014 might see Bollywood earning Rs 50 cr less than in the comparable period last year
