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29 March 2024

Indian cinema loses its sheen

Hrithik Roshan-Aishwarya Bachchan starrer, Jodha Akbar, is Bollywood's biggest hit of 2008. (SUPPLIED)

Published
By Abdulla Mahmood and Bindu Rai

For an industry that averages Rs86 billion (Dh7.3bn) in annual turnover with its quotient of kitsch and glamour, Bollywood seems to be fast losing its box-office charm with cinema audiences.

The results for the first half of 2008 are already in and the revenue figures aren't rosy: Only four out of 44 films managed to strike gold at the box-office, averaging a mere Rs2.4bn globally. Compared to the first half of 2007, the industry success ratio has slipped nine notches to 27 per cent, largely due to bad films and the rise of the urban, intellectual audience that are demanding much more in terms of good cinema. This simply means that the stakes are much higher for the Bollywood film factory to rake in the moolah in the second half of 2008.

The year's first hit film came in the form of director Ashutosh Gowariker's magnum opus, Jodha Akbar. Pegged as a Valentine's Day release, the allegedly fictitious love story of Emperor Akbar and his queen Jodha Bai, worked its magic on-screen thanks to the stunning costumes, set designs and the chemistry between lead pair Hirthik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan. The controversy surrounding the plot's authenticity only helped the film, which netted Rs626m in India alone, and grossed another Rs312m in the overseas market. The film also performed well in the UAE, averaging Dh4 million in ticket sales, which catapulted it into the Top 5 Hindi film earners of all time in the Middle East.

"What really worked in Jodha Akbar's success was the hype surrounding the film, coupled with the fact that a period film hadn't been released in Bollywood for quite a while," says Amrita Pandey, vice president, international distribution and syndication for UTV Motion Pictures, the film's producers. She adds: "Plus, it was a solo release that week and it made a big difference in box office revenue figures for us."

Race was the next big Abbas-Mastaan directed thriller from Bollywood in March, also produced by UTV. Starring bigwigs Saif Ali Khan, Bipasha Basu and Katrina Kaif, the film soon went on to become the highest-grossing movie of 2008, netting a record-breaking Rs356m in its opening weekend – second only to 2007's Om Shanti Om, which raked in Rs402m in its first week. After netting a tidy Rs700m in India, Race also drove fans wild overseas, earning an additional Rs202m globally.

"Race was also the solo film of the week, and we released it in the Gulf with 30 prints," states Pandey. "The film grossed approximately $1.05m in box office revenue in this region alone."

Explains Mahi Golchin, Managing Director of Phars Films, the distributors for Asian and regional films in the UAE: "Jodha Akbar and Race have been the biggest Asian hits in the UAE largely because of the star power, the storyline and the direction."

What followed next was a lull at the box-office until Vishesh Films emerged on the scene with the surprise package Jannat. Chronicling the life of a cricket bookie, the Emraan Hashmi starrer released during the Indian Premiere League and cashed in on the cricket fever. Produced at a budget of Rs70m, the film made Rs375 globally – Hashmi's biggest hit ever.

Director Ram Gopal Verma's Sarkar Raj rounded up the quartet of 2008 hits. With Amitabh, Abhishek and Aishwarya Bachchan as the main leads, the political thriller didn't perform across India, but its central Maharashtra theme revived its box-office collections in the Indian state with Rs284m.

However, four hits are not enough to sustain an industry, say trade analysts. Bollywood's record number of flops in 2008 had promising films such as Halla Bol, Bombay To Bangkok, Black & White, Woodstock Villa and De Taali crash in their opening week. The biggest disaster was the film with the highest potential, namely Tashan. The Yash Raj Film (YRF) was expected to be the year's golden ticket but it failed to even fetch a decent initial opening, and was panned by critics. Starring Anil Kapoor, Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor, the film only made Rs 313m in India.

"Tashan didn't live up to expectations but comparatively, the UAE recorded the best collections among all overseas territories," says Nelson D'Souza, sales and marketing manager for YRF in the UAE. "In the film business you have ups and downs and cannot predict what will work at the box-office."

If July is used as a benchmark, then the second half of 2008 can only be full of surprise hits and upsets. YRF's Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic opened to lukewarm response, and even the Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukherji chemistry could not manage a hit. Following that was the collision of UTV's Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na and the Adlabs-Baweja Films release, LoveStory 2050. Jaane Tu... tasted success, while LoveStory has been panned.

Bollywood has its sights set on multiple bigwigs like Akshay Kumar's Singh Is Kinng and junior Bachchan's Drona to break this jinx.

- Box-office figures are approximates



The numbers

Rs938m
The worldwide box-office collections for Jodha Akbar


Rs558m
The worldwide box-office collections for Race


Rs375m
The worldwide box-office collections for Jannat

Source: www.indiafm.com