It?s been a dismal five months for Bollywood. The reasons are many. Not the least is the runaway success of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in cricket, luring movie-goers away from multiplexes. Besides, there haven?t been many releases and those that were expected to do well at the box-office, like Yash Raj Films? Tashan, bombed badly.
?Box office collections have been hit by at least 25% this year, compared to last year,? admits Utpal Acharya, vice president, programming & distribution, INOX Leisure. ?The success of IPL has further worsened the scenario. The average occupancy has been around 20-25% whereas in the last season up to May 2007, the averaging occupancy was 40%,? points out Bhumika Tewari, general manager, cinema programming, Fun Cinemas.
The industry is rueing the fact that there?s not been a single universal hit since Taare Zameen Par. ?If we did reasonably well in January and February, it?s because two of last year?s hits, Taare Zameen Par and Welcome, drew people to the multiplexes,? says Ranjan Singh, general manager at PVR. ?Among this year?s hits, Jodha Akbar had a spectacular opening. Race did well in the metros but not in the tier II towns,? he adds. While Jodha Akbar grossed Rs 9.2 crore at PVR theatres, Race did business worth Rs 7.6 crore.
Films like Ajay Devgan?s directoral debut U Me Aur Hum and BR Chopra?s Bhootnath, in which Amitabh Bachchan plays a friendly ghost, didn?t do as good as expected. Small-budget films like Mithya (Rs 7 crore nationwide) and Shaurya (Rs 5.5 crore) did reasonably well and the latest release from the Bhatt stable Jannat, is drawing the crowds too.