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4 Movies cross Rs 100 crore mark in 3 months!

It’s that time of the year when everyone is awaiting their appraisal, the film industry is no different. Here’s the report card of how films fared in the first quarter...

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Bollywood has had a good start in 2017. As many as four films have done Rs 100 crore business in three months creating a record of sorts! Despite clashing at the box-office, this year’s biggest releases, Shah Rukh Khan’s Raees and Hrithik Roshan’s Kaabil churned out over Rs 100 crore each. So have Akshay Kumar’s Jolly LLB 2 and Varun Dhawan-Alia Bhatt starrer Badrinath Ki Dulhania. Raees grossed Rs 110 crore, Jolly LLB 2 minted Rs 108 crore, Kaabil raked in Rs 103 crores and Badrinath..., which is still running in theatres has already collected Rs 107 crores and is expected to do business of Rs 122 crores.

“This is the first time since the concept of Rs 100 crore films came into our lives with Ghajini in 2008, that we’ve had Rs 100 crore films in three consecutive months! It’s a great new sign. Also, earlier, producers wouldn’t release their big films over the Holi weekend, but that myth has also been busted by Badrinath Ki Dulhania, so it’s a good, new trend,” says trade analyst Amul Vikas Mohan.

Film exhibitor and distributor Akshaye Rathi agrees that Raees, Kaabil, Jolly LLB 2 and Badrinath Ki Dulhania stand out in the first quarter for its business. “Jolly LLB 2 and BKD particularly, as these films catered to universal audience. People went out on dates to watch these movies and families went together, so they were universal fun films,” he explains.

Biggest misses

Even as the trade is rejoicing the windfall of blockbusters, there are disappointments like OK Jaanu, too. “Some films have under-performed, the most notable among them being the Saif Ali Khan, Shahid Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut-starrer Rangoon. It hasn’t got any money back for the people involved,” says Amul.

The Vishal Bhardwaj directorial made on a budget of Rs 67 crore managed to make only Rs 22 crore. It brings to mind the disastrous Fitoor, which incidentally released in the same month as Rangoon, last year, ie February.

Last year, this time

No doubt, compared to the last year’s first quarter, the performance this trimester at the box-office has been good in terms of more movies making it to the coveted Rs 100 crore club. But last year wasn’t bad either. Airlift, a Republic Day weekend release crossed Rs 100 crores. Neerja (February) and Kapoor & Sons (March) made a business of around Rs 70 crore. “A Republic Day release, doing Rs 100 crore business is nothing new, but films that release in February and March usually don’t do the kind of business Neerja and Kapoor & Sons did. The first film to do Rs 80 crore business in March was Race in 2008. But the fact that this year’s releases in the same months have reached Rs 100 crores is a good turnaround,” says Amul.

Interesting second quarter

Even the next quarter looks promising with several big releases — the eagerly-awaited sequel of Baahubali, Baahubali — The conclusion, Half Girlfriend, Meri Pyaari Bindu and Tubelight slated in April-May-June. “The tent pole obviously is Baahubali (April 28), and Tubelight (June 23) is the other big one. The opening month and the closing month of this quarter are poised with these blockbusters. The Fate Of The Furious 8 (April 14) is also big. These are the three films people are really looking forward to,” reckons Akshaye. He adds that this quarter has a nice spread of films coming up. Some are blockbuster material and some interesting fare for the niche audience. “A Begum Jaan is not for everyone, it is for specific collective audience, then there’s something like Noor that caters to a different audience. Meri Pyaari Bindu is an urban multiplex film, Half Girlfriend about a Bihari boy and Delhi girl is for the masses. There is some entertainment for every kind of audience, which is good for cinema to sustain. Else people will seek alternatives like piracy and the Internet and it will be difficult to bring them back to cinema,” he points out.

Potential blockbusters

Amul observes that there are a couple of potential Rs 100 crore movies on paper with Baahubali being the biggest film ever. “It’s a hectic quarter and May is looking tight with Sarkar 3, Half Girlfriend and Meri Pyaari Bindu, which are huge on people’s wishlist. Post that June is looking slightly off right now, because Toilet — Ek Prem Katha has shifted to August, but there is Salman Khan’s Tubelight, which comes after Eid and is poised to be Rs 100 crore film.” Akshaye adds that the Kabir Khan-Salman combo has never gone wrong. Besides, the subject of Tubelight is universal. As for Baahubali, Akshaye predicts that it is a potentially highest grossing movie — including all languages — bypassing even the figures of Dangal. “The figures these kind of films get in Telugu market are much bigger than some of the biggest Hindi movies. In Hindi alone, we are anticipating on day one approximately Rs 25 crores, and that plus Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam business can be a game changer.”

Clearly, the coming three months have a mixed bag of films — small content-driven cinema, fantasy flicks as well as the typical masala fare. Which among these will hit the bullseye, become a surprise hit or let us down? Your guess is as good as ours.

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