Khatta Meetha Economics

Budget – 30 cr Total Investment(including print and publicity) ~ 45 cr

Satellites rights – 12 cr Overseas distribution rights – 5 cr Music rights – 4 cr Home video rights – 2 cr Domestic distribution rights – 25 cr … Read More

3 Idiots Breaks All Records On Idiot Box

The television premiere of blockbuster gives Sony 800% jump in rating, 239% of increased time spent and 135% jump in reach.

This movie didn’t only break all records at the box office but also devastated every possible rating a movie got on any TV channel.

And what else could be better for a TV channel who’s fighting back to make it into the big league again. Sony had its evening on Sunday when TV premier of Blockbuster ‘3 Idiots’ on the channels scored highest rating ever in the history.

3 Idiots is the highest rated movie television premiere with average rating of 5 according to the overnight television rating agency aMap (NWE India| C&S4+| 25th July 2010| 20:00-00:00). Prior to this premiere, ‘Ajab Prem ki Ghazab Kahani’ on Colors last year (27.12.2009) garnered a highest rating of 4.0.

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Masand: ‘Khatta Meetha’ is a schizophrenic film

Whatever else you do, don’t forget to carry cotton for your ears when you’re heading off to watch Khatta Meetha, director Priyadarshan’s loud and outrageously insensitive new film.

To give credit where it’s due, Akshay Kumar is the film’s only bright spot. He throws himself sincerely into the movie’s slapstick gags and makes even the most predictable pratfalls amusing.

I’m going with a generous one out of five for Priyadarshan’s Khatta Meetha; this is cinema at its most tasteless.

The movie ends with a music video in which Akshay Kumar dances to a song titled I’m allergic to bullshit. If indeed those words were true, we wouldn’t have to watch this film!

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Komal Nahta reviews Khatta Meetha

On the whole, Khatta Meetha has masala for the single-screen audience and small centres but not enough for the multiplex viewers and the public in the big cities. Its theatrical business will be disappointing and, therefore, those distributors who’ve paid … Read More

Filmfare 2010 Top Actress List

1) Kareena Kapoor 2) Katrina Kaif 3) Priyanka Chopra 4) Aishwarya Rai 5) Deepika Padukone 6) Kajol 7) Vidya Balan 8) Bipasha Basu 9) Sonam Kapoor 10) Genelia

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Filmfare 2010 Top Actors List

1) Aamir Khan 2) Shah Rukh Khan 3) Hrithik Roshan 4) Salman Khan 5) Ranbir Kapoor 6) Akshay Kumar 7) Amitabh Bachchan 8) Saif Ali Khan 9) Abhishek Bachchan 10) Shahid Kapoor

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Aamir tops Filmfare Power List again!

In what has become a pattern of sorts, Aamir Khan, whose last three films Taare Zameen Par, Ghajini and 3-Idiots have earned around Rs 825 crore, has managed to retain his position at No 1 on the 2009 Filmfare Power List. His December 2009 release Rajkumar Hirani’s 3-Idiots is the biggest hit in Bollywood history, having grossed over Rs 375 crore.

The actor beat his arch rival Shah Rukh Khan who has been at the No 2 slot for the third time running. However, the fact is that Shah Rukh virtually sat the year out and had nothing to show since Billu(2009) and a cameo in a dud called Dulha Mil Gaya(2009).

However, it can be clearly seen that a bad year now and then doesn’t alter Shah Rukh’s overall standing at the hustings. Even at his inactive best, he continues to give his rivals a tough fight.

Hirani, who scored a hat trick with his two Munnabhai films and 3 Idiots is definitely on top of his game. Considered the maker with the Midas touch, Hirani is considered Bollywood’s most influential film-maker. It is hardly surprising then that he beat box-office pashas like Karan Johar as well as Yash & Aditya Chopra to make it to the No 3 position.

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A Note on Critic’s Reviews, WOM, Trending and BO

4 categories of movies considered (according to my personal opinion).

Note 1: Critic’s Reviews Aggregate from allbollywood.com (default choice as no other website does this):

Poor Commercial Movies
Housefull – 47%
DDD – 43%
Blue – 42%
KI – 38%
Tasveer 40%
CCTC – 40%
Tashan – 36%
Range: 35~45%

Good STAR-centric Hit Commercial Movies
SIK – 60%
Fanaa – 60%
Ghajini – 68%
Rnbdj – 59%
Dhoom 2 – 64%
Krrish – 66%
Don – 56%
KANK – 65%
OSO – 65%
Range: 55~65%

Failed Commercial Experiments
Saawariya – 46%
Kites – 52%
Raavan – 52%
Delhi 6 – 53%
Range: 45~55%

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Abid interviews Rahman

A.R. Rahman is an internationally renowned, Grammy and Academy award winning musician and composer. The first Asian artist to be signed by Sony Music, Rahman has sold over 200 million records worldwide, making him one of the world’s top selling recording artists.

His recent and prominent rise in the west came through his work on the film score for Danny Boyle’s SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE which included the international hit ‘Jai Ho’. Other popular and renowned work includes tracks featured in the Hollywood movies ELIZABETH, THE ACCIDENTAL HUSBAND, WARRIORS OF HEAVEN AND EARTH and the number one box office hit COUPLES RETREAT.

A R Rahman performed at The White House for the first state visit for Prime Minister Singh, hosted by President Barack Obama. Rahman was also featured in the re-make of ‘We Are The World’ alongside Wyclef Jean, Jennifer Hudson, Barbara Streisand and Celine Dion.

We bring you the legend and his thoughts on some issues and projects that are not usually talked about in an exclusive two part feature!

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Film Information: Year 2004

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Yash Chopra wants Aamir

When veteran filmmaker Yash Chopra and his wife Pamela attended Aamir Khan’s party for international musician Gustavo Santaolalla, they weren’t just socialising with the Bollywood superstar. Their visit also had a serious business connotation to it. Chopra has reportedly left behind a script for Aamir to leaf through for his next directorial venture. And Aamir is likely to start reading it in August after he finishes with the Peepli Live promotions.

The meeting between Yash and Aamir is causing quite a flutter, and in the corridors of Naaz Building (Bollywood’s stock exchange) there is a lot of gossip floating around. Some naive, wet-behind-the-ears brokers are even insinuating that Yash wants Aamir to play a role in Dhoom-3 which will have Abhishek Bachchan, Uday Chopra and Hrithik Roshan as the baddie.

The trade-sorts seem to think that only Yash can try and get Aamir and Hrithik together in a project. But sources close to Aamir veto the Dhoom-3 angle completely. In fact, no official quotes are available on this meeting between Bollywood’s most powerful actor and the veteran filmmaker.

The other buzz doing the rounds is that Aamir and the long-haired current craze, Imtiaz Ali, are in talks for a project. And knowing how fastidious these two are, the project may not take off before 2012.

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Box office bombs: Bollywood half-year report

It was a disappointing first half of the year 2010 for Bollywood as far as collection at the box office is concerned.

The half-yearly report card is out. While 125 movies were released in the last six months, only veteran director Prakash Jha’s “Raajneeti” was declared a blockbuster with a net gross of over Rs 77 crore. Big-budget movies like “Kites,” starring Hrithik Roshan, “Veer” featuring Salman Khan and “Raavan” with Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai in the cast failed.

According to Bollywood trade analyst Amod Mehra, the industry lost Rs 500 crore in the first six months of the year.

He feels “Raajneeti,” starring Ranbir Kapoor, Ajay Devgan and Katrina Kaif worked because of the casting of Ranbir and Katrina in the political drama. “Many people underestimated Ranbir’s charisma. It is the youth which matter at the box office as an audience. But for these two, the youngsters would not have gone to see a political film.”

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Mani Ratnam returns to city based romance

CHENNAI: The media was full of stories of ‘Raavan’s dismal performance at the box office, but nothing much is known about how ‘Raavanan’, the Tamil version of the film, had fared. But fact remains that the film’s satellite release rights … Read More

Deccan Herald Mid-year BO report: Damp beginnings

So far, Bollywood’s 2010 report card has seen a spate of flops, including highly anticipated, big budget movies. What went wrong? asks Rajiv Vijayakar.

It’s official. No year in the Hindi film industry’s history has had such a poor first half as 2010. Consider these facts — only Raajneeti and Housefull, just two from the 70 odd films released between January 1 and June 30 have done decent business. Raavan, which released on June 18 is the latest (and some say the biggest) of the major calamities that struck Bollywood this year, including My Name Is Khan and Kites.

Let us now look at the trade side too. A film’s box-office success is always ascertained by the money it recovers on a film distributor’s investment on it (purchase price plus publicity and marketing expenses). Recovery of twice the investment makes the film a hit, thrice or more a super-hit and less than twice a success. This is irrespective of the actual figures, i.e. whether it is a 5-crore acquisition or a 50-crore one.

Sadly, 2010 has not tasted much success, with no movies declared as super hits. The picture last year was equally bleak, but as Bollywood experienced the two-month face-off between producers and exhibitors, the controversy proved to be a boon for both New York and Raaz – The Mystery Continues while Dev D too made money in Mumbai.

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FilmStreetJournal: 2010 Half-Yearly Report

Ishqiya – 3 cr profit Veer – 20-25 cr loss Prince – 15 cr loss Housefull – 15 cr profit MNIK – 15 cr loss ATKJ – 5 cr profit Raajneeti – 10 cr profit LSD – 4 cr profit … Read More

MNIK lost 15-20 cr in totality

MNIK Box-office:

India gross – 23.1 M USD ~ 106 cr inr
India nett – 69 cr (@ 0.65 conversion rate which is the maximum possible conversion factor)
India DS – 34.5 cr (@ 50% conversion rate for a multiplex movie)

Worldwide gross – 40.8 M USD (may end at 41 M USD)
Overseas gross – 40.8 – 23.1 = 17.7 M USD ~ 81.5 cr
Overseas DS – 36.5 cr (@ 45% std industry conversion)

Worldwide DS – 34.5+36.5 = 71 cr
Satellite rights – 15 cr
Video rights – 4 cr (industry estimate for video rights are usually 3-4 cr as best)

Total Recovery for Fox = 71+15+4 = 90 cr
Total Investment for Fox = 105-110cr
Loss = 15-20 cr

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Is Bollywood out-pricing itself?

Of the 70-odd films that released over the last six months, barely a handful managed to scrape through and only a couple entered the ‘hit’ category. While last year’s dry run in the first half could be attributed to the multiplex strike, trade pundits say 2010’s flop show is due to bad content and over-pricing.

Listing Love Sex Aur Dhoka, Housefull, Badmaash Company and Raajneeti as the only ‘gainers’, trade analyst Komal Nahta admits that he doesn’t expect the scenario to change in the second half. Reason: “People are still ready to buy movies at exorbitant prices though there is no guarantee that they will work.”

Vinod Mirani berates the corporates for their ignorance that prods them into cracking such expensive deals with production houses. Reiterating the oft-repeated mantra that ‘content is king’, Mirani asserts that if the script is flawed, no amount of marketing and promotion can save the film. It’s more money gone down the drain, he warns.

Marching over Amod Mehra, another trade analyst, points out that exams in February, IPL in March-April, summer holidays in May and rains and sporting events in June, means that it has become routine to be content with only a couple of hits in the first six months. He is surprised that buffoonery scored over experimental twists in the oft-repeated tale this year, with Housefull stealing a march over Kites and Raavan.

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Mid-Year Report: No show for Bollywood in first half

Bigger the hype, bigger the disappointment of audience and this seemed to be the general trend at the box office in the first half of 2010 as several biggies namely Kites, Raavan and Veer fared miserably.

While 125 movies were released in the last six months, only Prakash Jha’s Raajneeti was declared a blockbuster with total net gross of over Rs 77 crore.

Trade analyst Amod Mehra feels Raajneeti worked because of the casting of Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif in political drama.

“Many people underestimated Ranbir’s charisma. It is the youth which matter at the box office as an audience. If not for these two, the youngsters would not have gone to see a political film. Besides, the film had an interesting ensemble cast and was mounted well,” he said.

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Raavan vs Raavanan

Raavan and Raavanan, like many other Mani Ratnam films, will be forever entrenched in the history of Indian cinema. It marks new heights for all those involved and raises the bar of expectations from Indian cinema by audiences worldwide. The bilingual saga has finally reached verdict day. The good, bad and the ugly has all been said and written about both versions. However, the prevailing opinion amongst critics and audiences, who have witnessed both Raavan and its Tamil counterpart, is that the latter triumphs over the former and impresses far more. At first, it’s rather mind boggling to contemplate how a bilingual film, shot simultaneously, be differentiated to such an extent as to demand two very different reviews from both audiences and critics alike. However, as you continue to read this piece the ‘how’ will become very much apparent.

Dev vs Dev

Comparing the two portrayals of Dev Pratap Sharma is rather difficult because the two portrayals have been absolutely customized by the individual actors, namely Vikram in the Hindi version and Prithviraj in the Tamil version. To some extent you can explain the difference as intentional because the team openly spoke about the need to maintain some contrasts between Raavan and Raavanan as the audiences of each are rather unique. However, this explanation has its limits and the other possible explanation is that Vikram’s portrayal of Dev had a bit too much of ‘Beera’ in it than intended.

The aim of Mani Ratnam’s storyline is to portray that there is no black and white in this world. People often fall into the grey area, and Dev and Beera are perfect examples of such grey-shaded people. So yes, there was an extent of Beera that was to be reflected in Dev, however not to the extent we saw in the Hindi version. The simple explanation to this is that Vikram has also essayed the role of Veera (Beera in Hindi) in the Tamil version, and as the movie was shot simultaneously it’s rather plausible that he let in a bit too much of Veera into Dev.

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Is 2010 a repeat of 2000?

Flashback 2000

Two big budget high priced movies released within 4 weeks gap – Mela (Aamir with the director of Raja Hindustaani) and PBDHH (SRK in his home production). Both flopped. In between released KNPH which became a blockbuster making Hrithik a superstar and contender to next #1.

Present 2010

Two big budget high priced movies released within 4 weeks gap – Kites (Hrithik in his home production) and Raavan (Abhishek with Guru director). Both flopped. In between released Raajneeti which became a blockbuster making Ranbir a superstar and contender to next #1.

Flashback 2000

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Stardust: RAAVAN, KITES loss Rs 100 crore, RAAJNEETI profit Rs 10 crores!!

The poor showing of Abhishek Bachchan-Aishwarya Rai starrer mega- budget flick ‘Raavan’ and Hrithik Roshan- Barbara Mori starrer ‘Kites’ at the box office has made film corporations of bollywood lose around Rs 100 crores, while the hit ‘Raajneeti’ starring Ranbir Kapoor-Katrina Kaif could bring a meager Rs 10 crore in profit.

Industry sources reveal that though Hrithik Roshan’s ‘Kites’ could not do any wonder at the box office, but it still managed to collect Rs 30 crore in its opening weekend, unlike Abhishek Bachchan’s ‘Raavan’, where the corresponding figure was almost half of that.

In fact, the economy of filmmaking in bollywood has gone haywire with big corporations likely to lose around Rs 250 crore in the second quarter of this year (the corresponding figure for the first quarter was Rs 200 crore).

The only two hits so far have been Akshay Kumar’s ‘Housefull’ and Ranbir Kapoor’s ‘Raajneeti’. Even of these two, Akki’s ‘Housefull’ could just scrape through and ‘Raajneeti’ earned only Rs 10 crore in nett.

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Vikram scores better than Abhishek Bachchan

Stories about Mani Ratnam’s Raavan a.ka. Raavanan are far from over. Even though it has got moderate response, still the movie is making news. Now, critics have started scanning Abhishek Bachchan’s and Vikram’s performances about who has portrayed the lead role better?

It is understood that Tamil audience will rate Vikram acting
as a best and Hindi audience will give thumbs-up to Abhishek’s role. But the fact is, the fans who have seen both the version can only answer this question. Film critics have rated Abhishek’s acting and dialogue delivery in the Raavan have not reached the expectations of the audience.

To add salt to the injury, Abhishek’s diving stunt in the film was caught in the controversy, when the stuntman Balaram stated that it was performed by him and not by Abhishek. Whereas his counterpart Vikram performance has been appreciated in both the version and critics has rated his acting as outstanding.

Whom do you rate as a better, Vikram or Abhishek? drop your comments below.

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Abhishek the cause of Raavan’s failure

There has to be something really flawed about a film which is based on Ramayana, has Mani Ratnam at the helm of affairs, stars the Bachchan couple, boasts of music by A.R. Rahman and has the who’s who from the technical department. Still, Raavan hasn’t worked with the audience. We analyse why!

Boring narrative?
Everyone understands that Ramayana was about the triumph of good over evil. As an audience you are prepared to see what is going to unfold. But pray, why make it all so boring? This is where Raavan falters because a one-dimensional storyline just doesn’t translate into a two hour film, which could hold your attention. All one gets to see is every actor in the film getting wet in the jungle and slipping or running through the rough terrain.

Abhishek’s character – The weak link?
As for the lead actors, Abhishek Bachchan has definitely tried hard. In fact one can clearly sense that he has followed Mani’s directions to the T and done whatever was asked of him. However, if the attempt was to bring the split personality side of his persona out, than sadly, it fails totally. It’s the character which fails here, not Abhishek as an actor.

Aishwarya’s character – Contradictory?
Aishwarya Bachchan’s character is full of contradictions. Does she wish to end her life? Or does she not? Is the Stockholm’s syndrome catching up with her? Is she falling for Raavan? Does she really get to her husband in the end? Well, you don’t quite get it.

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Raavan even worse than Kites

Till just a few days back, the industry was smiling with the blockbuster success of Raajneeti. However, the smiles have vanished all over again with Raavan turning out to be disaster at the box office. Wait, before we delve into the box office fate of the film, let’s also talk about the film by itself. The fact remains that this Mani Ratnam directed film is disastrous even from the content and execution perspective. Certain films have good content but get marred by poor execution. Some films have a decent execution but the script doesn’t contain much meat to take them through. However, when the combination of both these factors turns out to be poor, there is nothing that can salvage the situation.

This is what happened in case of Raavan where the coming together of names like Mani Ratnam, Aishwarya Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, A.R. Rahman, Gulzar and Big Pictures just couldn’t help the cause. The film received poor all around response. Audience, industry folks, trade and critics – there was just no liking for this extravagant affair that was strong only from its technical perspective. Worse, for all its claims of originality, Raavan was nothing but the coming together of Subhash Ghai’s Khalnayak and Ram Gopal Varma’s Jungle. Though both these films were entertaining, Raavan wasn’t and it showed in the box office collections.

As predicted last week, a good opening was never on the cards for Raavan. It was stated that the film would require at least 70% opening and sustained word of mouth to do anything worthwhile at the box office. However, as it turned out, Raavan had a below average opening of 50% across the country and that is now staring at the bottom of the barrel due to an out and out negative word of mouth. Few lovers of art can still be seen patronising the film, but sadly such numbers are miniscule.

The way Raavan is currently performing, it is all set to score far less than the last big budgeted disaster – Kites. The Hrithik Roshan starrer had managed a very good opening weekend (30 crores) for itself despite poor word of mouth and reviews. However, for Raavan it would indeed be a task to reach the 30 crores mark even after the completion of one full week, with less than 20 crores coming in after the closure of first weekend. Moreover, from second week onwards it is only expected to go further downhill despite no competition.

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BOC: Raavan collections slump, Monday 2 cr

It was all the way downhill for Mani Ratnam’s Raavan on Monday at the box office.

The movie did net collections of approximately Rs 20 million (Rs 2 crore) in India on Monday. As was reported earlier by Businessofcinema.com, the movie’s opening weekend collections were Rs 170 million (Rs 17 crore). Raavan’s India net collections after four days stand at Rs 190 million (Rs 19 crore).

OVERSEAS BOX OFFICE

On the other hand, in the overseas the Raavanan (Tamil) performed comparatively better than Raavan (Hindi).

In the UK, Raavan collected £122,284 in its opening weekend on 55 screens, whereas Raavanan collected £66,317 on 14 screens.

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