)
While 2013 was the year of recording breaking box office collections and star studded releases, 2014 seemsto be slow in taking off for Bollywood. After the muted performanceof highly anticipated movie Jai Ho and the failure of movies like Gulaab Gang and Shaddi Ke Side Effects to do as well as expected,collections stand at roughly Rs 400 crore up to the first week ofMarch.
When compared to last year, this collection is Rs 23.5 crore short (box office collection stood at Rs 423.45 until 10 March 2013). With no big banner movie releasing inthe remaining three weeks and the existing movies at the theatersdoing average business, the gap is set to widen. The movies runningin the theatres currently include Shaadi ke Side Effects, Gulaab Gang, Total Siyapaa and Queen.
While Shaadi Ke Side Effects (Rs 34 crore till 10 March), currently in its second week, (released on 28 February) has pretty much run out of steam only Queen (Rs 12 crore till 10 March) seems to be holding its own among 3 the releases on 7 March. Mired in controversies of plagiarism, Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla's Gulaab Gang (Rs 9.95 crore till 10 March) found few takersat multiplexes, while Ali Zafar and Yami Gautam's cross border love story Total Siyapaa (Rs 3.85 crore till 10 March) failed to have a romance with the audiences. After a somewhat bumpy start, Kangana Ranaut-starrer Queen is finally showing steady collections since Sunday and analysts are optimistic that the movie will sail through.
In fact, 2014 has been aboutdisappointments so far. Salman Khan's action drama Jai Ho, touted tobe the first big release of the year, met with lukewarm response atthe box office. Despite his immense fan following, the movie ended up making just Rs 111 crore at the Indian box office in its lifetime.This is the lowest a movie featuring the Being Human founder and promoter has made since his 2010 Dabangg, which propelled him into the Rs 100 crore club.
While 2013 was host to a lot ofsurprise hits like Special 26, ABCD and Kai Po Che, 2014 had just one movie springing the unexpected - Yaariyaan. The movie was made on a budget of Rs 11 crore and amassed Rs 40 crore at the end of its runin the movie halls.
Among other movies to be released inthe time there was the Madhuri Dixit, Anseeuddin Shah, Arshad Warsiand Huma Quereshi starrer Dedh Ishqiya and Imtiaz Ali's Highway, bothof which did under Rs 30 crore business at the box office.
Last year, February was the waterfal lmonth in the first quarter of 2013, bringing in Rs 227.70 crore inbox office collections. The healthy collections came at the back ofmovies like Special 26 (Rs 69 crore), ABCD - Any Body Can Dance (Rs39 crore), Murder 3 (Rs 22.4 crore) and Kai Po Che (Rs 49 crore).
In contrast, this February, the boxoffice saw a lackluster line-up with only Gundaay (Rs 76.55 crore)and Hasee Toh Phasee (Rs 35.5 crore) making an impression. The total collections in the month of February this year stand at Rs 140 crore.
The April-June quarter looks slightly more promising with comedies like Main Tera Hero, Hawaa Hawaai, Bhoothnath Returns, Action Jackson and Humshakal lined up forrelease along side romance and drama entertainers like Holiday, The Villain and 2 States. However, with elections and the Indian Premier League taking place at the same time, movie goers will need a very good reason to go to the movie halls. Analysts believe that while it may not be a disastrous time at the box office, the coming quarter may also be slightly muted.
ALSO READ: Jai Ho: Cinemas unsure if Salman will enter 2014 with a bang
