2008 may have been a bad year for the Hindi film industry due to the recession and the terror attacks, but the box office collections during the last quarter of the year managed to evoke a good response. Though the year started on a slow note, films like Jodhaa Akbar, Race and Jannat soon proved to be hits, grossing close to Rs 120 crore, Rs 119 crore and Rs 56 crore, respectively, worldwide. Other films that did fairly well in the last quarter and recovered more than Rs 30 crore on an average were Karan Johar?s Dostana, Fashion, Golmaal Returns and Singh is Kinng.
According to Utpal Acharya, vice president programming and distribution, Inox Leisure Ltd, ?Though there were high expectations from the Bollywood line up of 2008, the performance of most films was lacklustre. The content of some big budget films released in 2008 was not up to the mark. There was an absolute lull before films like Jodhaa
Akbar, Race and Jannat hit the theatres.?
As most multiplexes experienced a dip in footfalls during the terror attacks to as low as 8-10%, occupancy increased to 12% post the attacks. Yash Raj Film?s Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi managed to pull the audience back to the theatres garnering Rs 40 crore within the first week of its release. While Ghajini did well on the day of its release, Rab Ne took around two to three days to pull the audiences to the theatres. Ghajini is being dubbed the biggest grosser of 2008 with collections of around Rs 35 crore within the first three days of its release. The film is said to have procured Rs 60 to 65 crore within the first week.
Film analyst Vinod Mirani says, ?The second half of 2008 saw big movies hitting the multiplexes. If you think in terms of price versus recovery, it is definitely the small budget movies like Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, Jannat and A Wednesday that did better than some big budget films.? Analysts feel, production houses like UTV, Studio 18 and Yash Raj Films did exceptionally well in 2008. Devang Sampat, senior vice president, marketing and programming, Cinemax India mentions, ?Despite the reduced footfalls, Ghajini managed to pack in the audiences. On December 31, we experienced footfalls as high as 80-85%.?