A superhit first half!

The first half has been nothing less than superhit for Bollywood at the BO this year. And starring alongside the three Rs100 crore plus biggies that helped in the big shift to a profitable six months of 2012 are the supporting smaller films that’ve done exceptionally well. Trade analysts agree. “Yes, it’s been a good six months for Bollywood. What’s interesting is that it’s been pulled off without a single Khan release and better still the filmmakers have beaten away the fear of the cricket season. Also subjects that were once presumed to be non-mainstream have been effortlessly assimilated into mainstream cinema,” they say in unison.

“Agneepath, Housefull 2 and Rowdy Rathore, all three back to back biggies hitting jackpot at the BO has B-Town celebrating. But the surprise heroes have been films like Kahaani, Vicky Donor, Paan Singh Tomar, Shanghai and Ishaqzaade whose success set the cash registers ringing. There’s been a very good balance between mainstream and meaningful cinema,” says trade analyst Vajir Singh. “What’s also happened is that the myth that the industry belongs to the Khans has been shattered. There have been three `100 crore movies and none of them had a Khan in the lead,” he adds. 

Elaborating on the collections, insiders reveal that films like Vicky Donor, Paan Singh Tomar and Kahaani made on shoe-string budgets have turned out to be the most profitable ones. And the total BO collections for the first half is pegged to be approximately Rs1,000 crores.

Trade analyst Komal Nahta points out that beyond the numbers, the success of these smaller films reflects that audiences tastes have evolved over the years. “While the three biggies have all been formula masala films, the smaller ones have all treaded the unbeaten path. One could not have imagined a film with a pregnant protagonist, a film on a taboo topic like sperm donation, a film on a dacoit to have done so well a few years back. The fact that all these diverse topics have all been accepted by the audience
says a lot about the changing face of cinema to a large extent, which is encouraging,” he says.

Sujoy Ghosh (director Kahaani) agrees. “It was a risk that may not have worked a few years back but the audience palatte has certainly grown bigger to accommodate more tastes for sure,” he says. “So it’s not just the filmmakers who have evolved, but also the audience, which is a positive sign,” adds the director.
Talking about the cricket season, trade insiders point out that unlike the previous years, this time around, films have not  been overshadowed  by cricket. “Good and entertaining content is what works,” adds Nahta. This apart films like Ek Main Aurr Ekk Tu, Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya and Gangs of Wasseypur too have worked among others adding to the total collections.

“This is no doubt proving to be a bumper year for Bollywood. Usually, it’s the second half which is the exciting period for Bollywood, but this time around, the first half itself has been such a hit and the second half is only promising to get bigger with Salman, SRK, Akshay, Ajay, Aamir all clashing at the BO. So, it’s definitely one of the best years so far,” says a leading distributor.