Post multiplex-producer tiff over the revenue-sharing model, the Indian film industry is trying to get back to its usual form. Media analysts feel July and August are likely to be the most lucrative period for the Indian film industry.
June will see the release of Vashu Bhagnani and BIG Pictures? Kal Kisne Dekha, Subhash Ghai?s Paying Guest and Yash Raj Film?s (YRF) New York. Yet, big budget films releasing in July, like Sajid Nadiadwala?s Rs 98-crore Kambakht Ishq and Saif Ali Khan?s home production Love Aaj Kal are expected to fetch better returns.
Navin Shah, CEO of Percept Picture Company, said, ?The movies scheduled for release in June have bigger advantage to do well at the box office. These films will now do better since the dearth of movies has left cinema-goers hungry. However, July looks like a more promising month for films than June.?
Experts believe that films to be released in the month of June will not get ample time for promotion and advertising compared with those to be released in July and August. The marketing and promotion spends for the films to be released in June is expected to be almost half of the normal budget that is usually set aside for publicity. Marketing spends for most of the June releases have been reduced to Rs 4 crore as against the usual Rs 6 crore.
?On an average, a film generally gets six weeks for promotion. However, movies like Paying Guest and New York are getting only three weeks of publicity,? added Shah.
Vishal Bharadwaaj?s Kaminay, pegged at Rs 35 crore, and Ram Gopal Varma?s next horror film Agyaat, at Rs 5 crore, are slated to release on August 14 and July 24, respectively, from UTV?s stable. While UTV will spend Rs 4 crore for promoting Kaminay, Agyaat has set aside Rs 2 crore as its marketing spends.
Siddharth Roy Kapoor, CEO, UTV Motion Pictures, said, ?The contents of the films that are due for release in July seem more interesting. July and August releases are getting more time for promotion, so the films will be able to grab more eyeballs.?
The marketing budget for New York is as low as around Rs 5 lakh to Rs 1 crore at a time frame of nearly three weeks for promotion. But the film, like most other YRF?s releases, is likely to find a huge audience overseas. Film analyst Vinod Mirani mentioned, ?As per past records, July and August are always lucrative months for the Hindi film industry. This year, most films have not done so well. So even a week?s publicity may work wonders as long as the content is intriguing.?