Joined: Mon Dec 03, 2001 5:53 pm
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FIREWORKS . . . and after
Will Diwali work its magic on the box-office this year or will Ramzan bring in early mourning for our dream merchants? A report...
Diwali. For at least the last two decades this has been a red-letter day for the film industry. Ghayal, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Raja Hindustani, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, Dil To Pagal Hai, Hum Saath Saath Hain, Mohabbatein...All these films were released in the Diwali week and went on to rewrite box-office history. The year 2002 has been a particularly bad one for the Hindi film market. It’s been a year of debacles. The first 10 months have made the industry poorer by over Rs 200 crore. Not just distributors and exhibitors but, for the first time, even producers are losing heavily. Will the festival of lights foretell doomsday? Or can it change the face of the future?
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Festivities
Light Moments
“From the look of it it’s going to be a lacklusture Diwali with nothing to light up the screen or people’s minds,” says a despondent Komal Nahata, editor of the trade weekly, Film Information. The star-studded extravaganzas from the house of the Chopras (Yash and Aditya Chopra), the Johars (Yash and Karan Johar) and the Barjatyas (Kamal, Rajkumar, Ajit and Sooraj Barjatya) have been sorely missed the last couple of years. Last Diwali, three unconventional, relationship-based films—Mukesh Bhatt’s Tanuja Chandra directed Yeh Zindagi Ka Safar, the Mahesh Manjrekar-directed Tere Mere Saath Rahen and Kamal Haasan’s double dhamaka Abhay—had little to appeal to the holiday spirit. And even Deewanapan, a typical formula film, smacked of an overdose of violence. The result: a Black Diwali for industry, the clouds of gloom dispelled almost a month later by Karan Johar’s feel good Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.
This year too, thefour movies on show, Vashu Bhagnani’s Jeena Sirf Merre Liye, Sibte Hasan Rizvi’s Waah...! Tera Kya Kehna, Ravi Dewan’s action-packed Annarth and Leela, a mature love story, don’t come with the promise of big-time entertainment. Instead of Shah Rukh and Kajol, viewers have to be content with Tusshaar and Kareena and a remake of a ‘40s hit, Anmol Ghadi. The bade miyan is out of sight till Kaante releases in December, but the chhote miyan is hoping to bring some light along with a mast mast Raveena Tandon and a chui mui Preeti Jhangiani. Dimple looks as ravishing as ever even though she’s now a grandmama and is looking to hook the educated elite while Sunil Shetty and Sanjay Dutt may pull a few punches with the front-benchers. But will this be enough for our dream merchants to roll out the red carpet and pop the champagne?
“Not with Ramzan coming along three days later. That’s the reason big banners are shying away from a Diwali release this year, even though for the first time they’re getting a weekend when business is always up, especially in the cities, ahead of the Diwali holiday that comes on Monday-Tuesday. This gives them a clear four days to pull in the crowds and a whole week before the Muslims’ month of abstinence sets in,” points out trade analyst Amod Mehra.
But obviously, that’s not good enough because Suneil Darshan has pushed his Akshay Kumar-Kareena-starrer Talaash back by almost a month. And even the Vivek Oberoi-Rani Mukerji-starrer, Saathiya that has been complete for a long time, and might have won hearts considering the many big names involved — Yash Chopra and Mani Ratnam are presenting the film that has music by AR Rehman and lyrics by Gulzar— is now scheduled for early December. Sanjay Gupta’s Kaante, Aishwarya Rai’s home production, Dil Ka Rishtaa, Raj Kanwar’s Andaaz, Madhur Bhandarkar’s Satta, Harry Baweja’s Karz—The Burden Of Truth, Indra Kumar’s Rishtey, Suneil Darshan’s Mere Jeevan Saathi, Guddu Dhanoa’s Jaal—The Trap,Vinent Selva’s Ek Haseena Ek Deewana, Ripples’ Roshni and Boney Kapoor’s Khushi are the other films that are afraid to risk the festive times even though most of them are ready for release. Even Nitin Manmohan, instead of opting for a Diwali release, released his chiller-thriller Deewangee on October 25. “I thought the two week period before Diwali was safer for me,” Manmohan confessed .Does this mean that the magic of Diwali is slowly fading away?
Not for Vashu Bhagnani, who despite the debacle of Deewanapan less than 12 months ago, is still hell-bent on releasing his Jeena Sirf Merre Liye in the Diwali week. And with the Mujhe Kuchh Kehna Hai team of Tusshar and Kareena back together, a hummable music score from Nadeem-Shravan, besides a high-powered publicity campaign, Vashu has managed to elicit some interest in the trade for his “time pass” film. Obviously, he has hoping that Jeena Sirf Merre Liye will be able to repeat the success of Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, that despite stiff competition from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, got off to a bumper start and its first week share was enough to make its all India distributors “safe.”
In the last four years though, the chhote miyan has lost a lot of ground and is no longer happening. Which explains why Govinda’s Waah...! Terra Kya Kehna is not considered a “hot” project today. “The film was to be a quickie and completed in 30 days. It stretched over a month which is still good by any standards. But in an effort to attract buyers promos of the film have been running for the last six months and that gives it a dated look and conveys the impression that it’s a long-delayed film,” informs Mehra.
The film’s producer admits that he hasn’t been able to sell the film anywhere except Bombay, and will be releasing it himself. But doesn’t blame Govinda’s failing market for this. “Even today, Govinda’s films are playing on every channel and people are watching them. It’s because he campaigned for the Congress party during the last election that a peeved opposition has been spreading the rumour that he is finished,” reasons Sibte Hasan Rizvi. He goes on to inform that his film started shooting in June and was completed last November. The last 11 months he has been re-shooting and revising the film to erase all flaws. Finally satisfied, he’s ready to finally show it to the world. “It’s a comedy. It’ll be the blockbuster of the year because unlike other producers who compromise on their script to accommodate their artistes, I’ve been concentrating on my script to the exclusion of all else and that will work for me,” Rizvi says confidently.
Komal Nahata agrees that this has been a particularly bad year because films overall have been bad. “Nobody is making a good film, they’re all making good proposals. But what they seem to have forgotten is that faces don’t make a hit, you need substance to sustain audience interest. Today, most films lack content. And with ticket rates being so high, people don’t want to pay so much for so little,” he maintains.
Taking Nahata’s argument into account, Rizvi’s 11 months of script-indulgence seems justified. But isn’t he giving himself too little time to make an impression? “It was a deliberate decision to time my film for a Diwali release. So what if Ramzan is coming on November 7? I still have one week clear. I believe that if you can make an impression with the first show of the first day, then you’re through,” Rizvi argues. He recalls how his Ahista Ahista was expected to be a wash-out. It certainly got off to a slow start. But those who came to see the film liked it. “With every show collections improved and by the second day we had a full house,” he smiles. The same thing happened with Khandaan. Jeetendra was not a hot favourite at the time and the film took time to draw in the crowds but eventually it went on to celebrate a silver jubilee. “ I’m confident Waah...!Tera Kya Kehna will be in the same league. Rains,riots, Ramzaan...all these are just excuses. If a film is good it will run irrespective of whether Ramzan comes three days later or not. Hey, Muslims only form 15 per cent of the film- going audience. What about the remaining 85 per cent? Will they also abstain?” Rizvi wonders.
It’s a valid argument and endorsed by film-maker Ravi Dewan. Like Rizvi, Deewan too believes that a good film will run whether it is released during Christmas, Id or Diwali. “However, Diwali is a good date which is why my distributors are pushing for a November 1 release. All my action films—Anth, Balwaan, Aatish, Hum, Bombay—have done well and that makes me confident of Annarth,” Dewan says crossing his fingers.
Dewan’s statement raises a question: Why is Diwali considered a good date by distributors? According to Amod Mehra Diwali has traditionally been considered an auspicious day and a time for new beginnings. “That’s why all theatre owners, even those of small cinemas in the B and C grade centers, want a new film rather than a re-run in the Diwali week and are ready to pay good money for it. The public too is more open to catching a film with their families during the Diwali week because, thanks to a bonus that comes only once a year, they are feeling flush, and this, coupled with the holiday mood, makes it a time for celebrations,” Mehra explains. For producers and distributors too the Diwali week is considered lucky because of past records at the box-office during this time.
One of the earliest Diwali releases to make the cash counters jingle was the Ajay Devgan-Karisma Kapoor-starrer, Jigar in 1992. However, the real biggie was the Sunny Deol actioner, Ghayal. The directorial debut of Rajkumar Santoshi, the film packed in a lot of fire-power and drew full houses.
The Diwali hype though really started with Aditya Chopra’s first film, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. “Come fall in love,” he invited, and the audience came in droves, to fall in love all over again with Shah Rukh Khan and is dulhaniya. The film did exceptional business for four weeks and eight years later, is still running in a Mumbai theatre, Maratha Mandir.
A year later, mid-way through the Diwali week, Dharmesh Darshan’s Raja Hindustani lit up the screen while the sparklers continued to play outside, and went on to celebrate a jubilee run.
In 1997, Yash Chopra come out of hibernation with another heart-warmer, Dil To Pagal Hai.
Twelve months later, Shah Rukh once again had people queuing up outside the theatres with another vacation treat, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. For the first two weeks in Mumbai, this romantic musical registered 100 per cent collections. It slipped to 90 per cent in the third week but still left trade pundits awe-struck because in the last 30 years no film had done such phenomenal business in the city. After Dil Se, KKHH was also the first Indian film to enter the UK charts, ranking amongst the first 10 releases of the week, but unlike Dil Se and Elizabeth holding on to its ranking for a good two weeks. KKHH did a business of over Rs 10 crore per territory in India, grossed $2.7 million at the UK box-office and over $2 million in North America.
Bade Miyan Chote Miyan released along with KKHH, was the costliest David Dhawan-Govinda film ever sold, fetching Rs 2.5 crore per territory. It was released in 700 theatres and registered 100 per cent ollections in the first week. By the second it had slipped to 90 per cent and netted in 80 per cent in the third week, but was still a good commission earner.
1999 saw Sooraj Barjatya returning to the theatres after a five-year break, during the Diwali weekend with a modern-day Ramayan. Hum Saath Saath Hain was the perfect Diwali entertainer and turned out to be a huge grosser.
The new millennium brought along the clash of the Titans or rather the Chopras with Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Hrithik-Sanjay Dutt starrer, Mission Kashmir taking on Aditya Chopra’s Mohabbatein that boasted of the star power of Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan. Love eventually triumphed over terrorism and war w ith Mohabbatein striking gold, but Mission Kashmir had the satisfaction of knowing that it had had as good an opening.
The last year was a summarily bad for all four Diwali releases. Tere Mere Saath Rahen, Yeh Zindagi Ka Safar, Abhay and Deewanapan all turned to ashes. And while this was shocking it wasn’t all that startling because over the years other Diwali releases too have failed to ignite the spark.
If Jigar was a hit then Feroz Khan’s more-hyped Yalgaar released along with it, was a flop. No one remembers Daku Kali Bhawani, Jallad No. 1, Dinosaur or Maut Ka Jhaljhala that came with Mission Kashmir and Mohabbatein. Even Ghayal, in its tax-free re-run didn’t make waves and the Academy Award winner, Life Is Beautiful got a short shrift. Sapoot that arrived with Raja Hindustani disappeared without a trace, and Sunny Deol’s Dillagi and Manoj Bajpai’s Shool that chosen a head-on collision with Hum Saath Saath Hain, also failed to make much of an impression. This negates the conviction in the trade that any genre of films works during the Diwali week, and that the market at this time, because of the increased spending power of the audience, is big enough to handle more than one film. Over the years, the myth has been exploded time and again, and in recent years, has producers weighing the pros and cons of a Diwali release against factors like the onset of Ramzan or a clash with a biggie, before hurrying or delaying their film to catch the deadline.
It isn’t only this year that Talaash and Saathiya have been postponed to avoid the Ramzan period. Last year too, with the Ramzan period following Diwali, Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla and Aziz Mirza chose to release Asoka three weeks before Diwali, while Karan Johar pushed back his Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham to the end of the year. In 1999, Dharmesh Darshan and Shah Rukh Khan delayed Mela and Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani by a couple of months to January 2000, to avoid coming along with Hum Saath Saath Hain that flooded the market with 421 prints in India, 124 prints overseas and the message that “life is togetherness.”
This year, with the number of flops growing every week and Ramzan keeping many filmgoers home all of November, apprehensions in the trade are understandable. “Ramzan coming so soon after Diwali can kill the market. It’s looking to be a Black Diwali,” sighs distributor Ramesh Sippy and then adds, “But this business lives on hope. And we’re hoping that the 3-4 days of Diwali holidays will boost the business of at least one of the films. Once it catches on, it will keep running.”
This time the industry is not just looking to Diwali for light. It’s looking to it for a life too...
—Roshmila Bhattacharya
http://www.screenindia.com/20021101/fcover.html
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