Hollywood Becomes Bollywood's Nemesis

This year, Bollywood film business has plummeted while firang movies have been commanding a stronger hold over the box office. Most Hindi releases havent crossed the Rs 30 crore-mark in the first weekend though over 35 films have already opened in cinemas this year. According to Box Office India, a leading trade magazine, Tevar made Rs 11 cr 23 lakh, Dolly Ki Doli made Rs 7 cr 3 lakh, Shamitabh made Rs 12 cr 30 lakh, Badlapur made Rs 23 cr 32 lakh, Ek Paheli Leela made Rs 11 cr 70 lakh and NH 10 made Rs 12 cr 55 lakh over the first weekend.
 

Whats worse, Avengers - Age Of Ultron netted Rs 35.74 crore on its first weekend. By Tuesday, it had collected Rs 46 crore and its numbers are soaring even against the Akshay Kumar-starrer Gabbar Is Back. Avengers has become the second highest weekend grosser at the Indian box office this year.

I have already booked a host of the upcoming Hollywood biggies for my cinema hall Gem, says Manoj Desai, the director of G 7 cinemas and Maratha Mandir. He adds that not only do these films guarantee returns but they also draw footfall steadily for weeks. In the recent past, we have incurred so many losses with Bollywood films. Their collections dip from the second day. But that doesnt happen with FF7 or Avengers. So, we have turned Gemini into a cinema hall dedicated to Hollywood movies, he says. 

Not just this year, Hollywood films have had a good year in 2014 too. According to a KPMG Report, the gross box office collections of the top 10 Hollywood films increased from Rs 320 crore in 2013 to Rs 420 crore in 2014. 

 What has worked for Hollywood films?

Avengers: Age Of Ultron and Fast & Furious 7 were marketed exceptionally well and had wide releases, almost at par with a Bollywood release. A strategy was formed by the studios and distributors to penetrate over 1000 mini metros, small cities and towns. Such centres have often shown great interest in Hollywood action movies but lacked accessibility earlier.

One of the strategies adopted by Disney was to release Avengers - Age of Ultrons in India a week prior to its USA release. This helped in catapulting the interest level and curb piracy to a large extent. Being a U/A film also made it largely viable for children and families

Smaller Hollywood films that released recently in India with just about 50 to 300 prints, also worked quite well. Gone Girl made Rs 12 crore, The Imitation Game raked in approximately Rs 6 crore. Gravity ran for two straight years without a break in a cinema hall in Bangalore. Birdman, The Grand Budapest Hotel and even Cinderella ran successfully in India.

The market share of Hollywood movies, according to modest trade estimates, is 10 per cent (approx.) in India, with their theatrical growth estimated to grow to 12 per cent an annum.

However, Nimisha Tiwari, director general, programming, PVR Cinemas, sits on the other side of the fence. She points out, Spiderman is the only film that releases without competition from a Bollywood film, even now. Their films, no doubt, have a market here but Hollywood films can still co-exist with Bollywood films in India.

All said and done, we bet Bollywood producers must be spending sleepless nights.

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