Bollywood report card: Small films boost box office

Mumbai: Small is big in Bollywood. In the first five months, small-budget non-commercial films have kept the cash registers ringing and kept filmmakers happy, trade experts say, adding that the icing on the cake has been three biggies that crossed the Rs 100 crore ($22 million) mark. In the second half, all eyes will be on the Khans.

A bouquet of non-commercial offerings - 'Kahaani', 'Vicky Donor' and 'Ishaqzaade' - turned into big successes at the ticket window, which also saw biggies 'Agneepath', 'Housefull 2' and 'Rowdy Rathore' doing roaring business.

Rajesh Thadani of Multimedia Combines told IANS: "I would say small-budget films have done exceptionally well at the box office. 'Ishaqzaade' has collected around Rs 40 crore, 'Kahaani' Rs 75 crore, 'Vicky Donor' Rs 45 crore and 'Paan Singh Tomar' Rs 20 crore."

An entirely female-centric film, Kahaani shows a pregnant Vidya Balan in search of her husband in Kolkata.
The search for her husband takes Vidya from London to Kolkata.
The trailer of Kahaani was released on January 5, 2012.
Seven months pregnant and alone in a festive city, she begins a relentless search for her husband.
With nothing to rely on except fragments of her memory of him the search seems in vain.
Everyone tries to convince Vidya that her husband does not exist.
She realises that nothing is as it seems in the city.
Trapped in a mesh of lies, she is determined to unravel the mystery for the sake of her unborn child.
Kahaani will hit the screens on March 9, 2012.
The film is directed by Sujoy Ghosh.
This is Vidya's next in a long list of women-oriented films.
Fresh after the success of her hugely successful Dirty Picture, Vidya is riding a wave of acclaim for her portrayal of Silk Smitha.
Actor Parambrata plays the role of a police officer in the film.
The story of Kahaani has been written by Advaita Kala and Sujoy Ghosh.
Dhaval Jayantilal Gada and Sameer Suresh Nair are the co-producers of the film.
A distraught Vidya plays the role of Vidya Bagchi.
The city's landscape is caught in fine spendour as it prepares for the Durga Puja festival.
The film stars Vidya Balan, Parambrata Chattopadhyay and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.
Vishal and Shekhar have composed the music for the film.
Vidya's favourite designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee has draped her again in the film.
No One Killed Jessica, Dirty Picture and Paa all had Vidya playing strong roles.
Vidya is seen heavily pregnant in this film.
Vidya made her movie debut with the Bengali film Bhalo Theko in 2003.
She made her Hindi film debut with Parineeta in 2005.
Her first commercial success with Rajkumar Hirani's Lage Raho Munna Bhai.
Vidya also appeared in Guru, Heyy Babyy and Bhool Bhulaiyaa.
In the film 'Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute to Love' Vidya was praised for her portrayal of Tehzeeb Raina, a woman who loses her memory.
The city's lanes and bylanes come alive in the film.
Her film 'Eklavya: The Royal Guard' was selected as India's official entry to the Oscars for the 80th Academy Awards.
In 2009, Balan played the role of Vidya, a young independent gynecologist who is also a single-mother struggling with her 12-year-old son's Progeria syndrome, in Paa.
Known for taking up challenging roles, she played a woman suffering from Multiple Sclerosis in Mani Ratnam's Guru.
She won a Filmfare Award for Best Actress and a Star Screen Award for Best Actress for Paa.
The Durga idol is seen in this still.
The film is a suspense thriller and is sure to keep audiences on the edge of their seats.
Vidya was recently honoured with a retrospective of her work by Australia's Indian film festival, Bollywood & Beyond.
Her makeup in the film accentuates the Bengali look.

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$B\'wood report card: Small films boost box office$

A still from the movie 'Kahaani'

Except 'Ishaqzaade', which was made at a budget of Rs 25 crore, the other three were made within Rs 10 crore. The total cost of 'Kahaani' was Rs 8 crore, 'Vicky Donor' Rs 5 crore, and 'Paan Singh Tomar' Rs 4.5 crore.

Thadani added that the "satellite rights of these small-budget films have also been sold on high rate. The films have garnered profit from the satellite rights as well".

Both filmmakers and the audiences have evolved and, thanks to that, non-mainstream cinemas' box-office returns have been overwhelming.

Pramod Arora, CEO of PVR Cinemas, explained the phenomenon, told IANS: "This is the process of evolution. A lot of non-mainstream cinema happened to be mainstream, including 'Vicky Donor', 'Kahaani', 'Paan Singh...' among others. Had 'Vicky Donor' released two years back, it may not have worked. Two years ago 'Vicky Donor' would have been taken as a taboo."

Sanjay Ghai of Mukta Arts said that "as far as small-budget films are concerned, films like 'Kahaani', 'Vicky Donor', 'Paan Singh Tomar' and 'Isahqzaade' have not just recovered the money but have also earned decent profits at various circuits."

The year 2011 helped Hindi cinema break the gloom of 2009 and 2010, with several films crossing the Rs.100 crore mark.

This year, about 45 films have come out so far and some big-budget films among them crossed the net Rs.100 crore mark. Trade analysts call it a very positive sign.

"Three big films including 'Agneepath', 'Housefull 2' and 'Rowdy Rathore' have crossed the net Rs 100 crore mark," said Sanjay Ghai.

Giving the box office figures, Thadani said: "These big-budget films have marked a record this year. 'Agneepath' has collected around Rs 120 crore, 'Rowdy Rathore' Rs 105 crore so far, and 'Housefull 2' Rs 110 crore."

Most importantly, filmmakers didn't hesitate in releasing movies during Indian Premier League matches and enjoyed good business.

"Films have done very well at the box office; in fact it has been better than last year. This year's collection was superior to last year's. There was not a single fall during the IPL. The fear factor of releasing your film during IPL was not there," Arora said.

Trade Analyst Amod Mehra summed it up, saying: "This year, some films have done exceptionally well and some have not, but so far the collections at the box office have been satisfactory."

Then came a rider: "No big films like a Salman Khan or a Shah Rukh Khan or an Aamir Khan film has released yet. The real picture is yet to come in the second half of the year."

Salman's "Ek Tha Tiger", Shah Rukh's film with Yash Chopra and Aamir's "Talaash" are scheduled for release later this year.

But trade analyst Vinod Mirani feels filmmakers should focus on content and not on the Khans.

"We don't need Khans to run a film...we didn't have any Khan in 'Kahaani' and 'Vicky Donor'; still they did well. It all depends on the content. You might get initial opening, but the script should be strong enough to survive," he said.