Sneha Mahadevan (DNA; March 19, 2015)


Films that have fared well are small ones, where actors have taken big salary cuts to keep the budget in check. Varun Dhawan starrer Badlapur that released on February 20, became the first film to fare well at the box-office in 2015. The revenge crime drama directed by Sriram Raghavan was made at a modest Rs 25 crore and at the end of fourth week collections, it collected Rs 50.17 cr. Dum Laga Ke Haisha starring Ayushmann Khurrana and newcomer Bhumi Pednekar garnered critical acclaim, but business-wise, collections at the end of third week stand at Rs 23.85 cr. Anushka Sharma’s maiden production NH10 earned Rs 13.30 cr on the first weekend. Figures are expected to rise in coming weeks.

World Cup fever, followed by the burden of a big budget and poor content are the top three reasons for the dry spell in the first quarter of 2015.

Last year, the industry was better off in the first quarter of the year where the first box-office success was Gunday, which released in February 14, followed by the critically acclaimed Highway on February 21. Queen, that released on March 7, however, managed to shatter all previous records to become the biggest hit in the first quarter followed by Ragini MMS that hit the screens on March 21. Experts give us their take on this.

Trade talk
Taran Adarsh: Businesswise, there has definitely been a decline and the monies are much lesser compared to the first quarter of 2014. PK released in December and dominated the first two weeks in January but besides that no film has managed to do as well. Content-wise too, Queen that released last year did phenomenally well along with other succcesses like Gunday, Highway and Ragini MMS. Besides Badlapur and now Dum Laga Ke Haisha, content wise too, there has been a decline. NH10 is doing pretty well but then it will be a wait-and-watch situation for the film as it is still in the first week. I think we need to be more consistent with hits because right now the ratio is 10 flops to two hits. Also, the ongoing World Cup where India is doing well along with exams is taking a toll on the revenues. Hopefully, the summers will bring better revenues in the next quarter.

Komal Nahta: Obviously, the one big release hasn’t been there because of the World Cup. Also, there were no hits because no film deserved to do well. They were all such bad films. People have just taken the audience for granted and this time, more than ever it has been proven that content is king. Films that have done well this year are films that haven’t has any great star value. Dum Laga Ke Haisha had Ayushmann Khurrana who came back after a spate of flops and NH10 too just had Anushka Sharma. The first quarter of 2015 should be a wake-up call for writers and directors. Approximately of the Rs 500 crores invested, we would have lost about 100 crore which is a very bad ratio. Even after this, the situation will only improve May onwards when big films will hit the screens.

Atul Mohan: Unlike first quarter of 2014, the first quarter of 2015 has been bad so far for the film industry. It’s not that the films haven’t managed to score decent to good collections but what is ailing the industry is the pricing or the landing cost of the films. Except for Badlapur and Dum Laga Ke Haisha, we don’t have any certified hits in the first quarter. Baby, Dolly Ki Doli and Roy were break-even films with profits coming from other avenues. The list of bad performing films or disasters includes many films. Bad content, bad economics, World Cup, bad slotting, exams (we have them every year), expensive cine-going experience compared to the quality of films served, are some of the major reasons the films have under-performed so far this year. Hoping for better times soon.