By Hindustan Times
The Bollywood film year has had a longtime rhythm that has remained roughly unchanged for several years. Industry experts say that, traditionally, the year would start slow, punctuated by short bursts of big-ticket films that may release usually around holidays equivalent to Republic Day and Holi.
“The first half the year, until a few years ago, was once extremely lean,” says Prakhar Joshi, head of programming for PVR Cinemas, who have been within the business for the past eight years. “In the last five years, with the arrival of Indian Premier League, the lull got worse. Theatres would usually be empty during that time.”
To see serious money, distributors and theatre owners would often need to look forward to the latter 1/2 the year, usually after the month of Ramadan (around September), that's when most big-budget commercial money-spinners are released (a well-worn industry joke goes like this: ‘Eid belongs to Salman Khan, Diwali to Shah Rukh Khan and yuletide to Aamir Khan’).
However, the image has changed. Last year’s critically acclaimed Nobody Killed Jessica was released throughout the so-called lean first half and went directly to make R29 crore. This year, Kahaani released across the same time and made nearly thrice that quantity. Moreover, Vicky Donor, which was released slap-bang in the course of IPL season, went directly to become this year’s fourth biggest hit. “This was the primary year that we found that even IPL wasn’t affecting the box office because it used to,” says Joshi. “Audience tastes and expectations are changing, and flicks with good content are being watched by more people.”
The rest of this year has a slew of industrial releases arising. Trade pundits are looking keenly at Ek Tha Tiger (Salman’s Eid release), Aamir Khan-starrer Talaash (releasing in November) and Yash Chopra’s as-yet-untitled film, a sweeping romance featuring Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif (to be released during Diwali).
Many, if not all, of those films tend to make big profits. However, with audience tastes dashing established industry norms within the first 1/2 the year, it will likely be interesting to look whether the rhythm of the box-office remains intact.
