After a miserable two years of flopping films and stagnant revenues, what has changed for the Rs 156-billion film industry?
Entertainment News: Sanju, Padmaavat, Raazi, Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety, Bharat Ane Nenu, Rangasthalam. The list of profitable films in 2018 is getting longer. “It has been a great year so far,” says Nitin Tej Ahuja, publisher of trade magazine Box Office India.
Meghna Gulzar’s Raazi, one of the most profitable films of the year, has Alia Bhatt in the lead. She is not a star the trade would have bet on for a film that rests largely on her shoulders. However, the (real) story of an Indian girl who married a Pakistani army officer to spy on him during the 1971 war is an outstanding film. Audiences loved it and spent close to Rs 2 billion (in India and overseas) buying tickets to watch it. That is true for many of the top 50 films. What’s changed is the frequency with which such films, called ‘content films’, are doing well. In industry parlance, ‘content films’ are those without a star while ‘commercial’ or ‘masala’ films have big names.
Top Movies of 2018
“In the last few years, audience’s taste is changing and that change is now entering into the top 10 charts. Raazi, Sonu… it is not just about big actors not being there, it is about content. Earlier people used to watch big stars even if content was ok, now there is a drop in that,” says Kumar Ahuja, president, business development, Eros International Media. “In general, content films or more meaningful films are the norm rather than the exception,” adds Ajit Andhare, CEO, Viacom18 Motion Pictures.Not only are such films these being made but these are pulling in revenues. “In the last six months, a lot of films have done a business of Rs 1 billion, Raazi, Raid, Veere Di Wedding,” points out Bhushan Kumar, chairman and managing director, Super Cassettes Industries (T-Series). “Compared to previous years, the first six months of 2018 have been a high earning one,” says a happy Apoorva Mehta, chief executive officer (CEO) of Dharma Productions, which....continue reading
News Source: BS
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