Bollywood’s first quarter report card: Films fail to recover the base cost; Pathaan saves the day

After a mediocre 2022, there were high expectations from the first quarter of 2023. But, the box-office collections in the first three months of 2023 were rather disappointing, as most films failed to recover even the base cost of making, barring the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Pathaan.

STRING OF FLOPS

Actor Kartik Aaryan’s Shehzada, made at a cost of ₹140 crore earned only ₹32.2 crore (lifetime collection). Similarly, Akshay Kumar-starrer Selfiee, made at a budget of ₹175 crore, only collected ₹16.85 crore (lifetime collection). “Both the films were disasters and had a run of 2 week max,” points out Trade Analyst Komal Nahta.

Director Vishal Bhardwaj’s Kuttey, made at a budget of ₹30 crore, fizzled out without any buzz and collected ₹4.65 crore. Other movies that failed to get the cash registers ringing were Zwigato, Bheed, Lakadbaggha, Almost Pyaar with Dj Mohabbat and Gandhi Godse: Ek Yudh, among others. “Bad content and remake fatigue resulted in the failure of two of the biggest films, Shehzada and Selfiee,” says trade analyst Taran Adarsh.

“These films not working was a combination of many factors. Bad content and remake fatigue resulted in the failure of two of the biggest films – Shehzada and Selfiee, which were expected to do well,” says Taran Adarsh. Komal Nahta also agrees and says, “Reason for failure is always bad content, nothing more nothing less. Shehzada did not deserve to do well and it flopped but having said that, it couldn’t have flopped so badly…it could have taken a better opening…but it did not because people are now reluctant to go to cinemas because of OTT. Audience have got used to consuming content on web.”

Experts also point out how Pathaan’s successful run didn’t allow other films to get eyeballs.

PATHAAN : THE SAVIOUR

Made at the cost of ₹250 crores (approx), Pathaan managed to earn ₹542 crores in the domestic market and crossed ₹1000 cr mark globally. At many locations, theatres ran early morning shows of the film to balance out the record-setting advance sales of its tickets, which was very unusual for a Hindi movie.

Earning ₹57 crore on its first day, Pathaan recorded the biggest opening for any Hindi release in India, and the weekend numbers rose to ₹280.75 cr. End of week 1 recorded ₹378.15 cr followed by ₹458.90 in week 2, ₹505.85 in week 3 and ₹542.75 by end of week 8. The film broke several records were broken including becoming the fastest Hindi film to hit ₹100 cr, ₹200 cr and ₹300 crore mark. Not just within the country, the SRK-starrer had the highest-grossing opening day, single day and weekend for any Indian film in the UK so far.

Even though trade experts argue that it didn’t have any “out-of-the-box content or mind-blowing VFX”, they insist it was due to “an emotional connection with the audience”, as Khan had a release after five years. Trade analyst Atul Mohan says, “People watched the film twice or thrice only for Shah Rukh as if they were trying to take revenge for everything he went through in the past months – from Aaryan Khan’s case to campaigns to boycott the film.”

Ray of hope

Amid a string of flops, Rani Mukerji-starrer Mrs Chatterjee VS Norway (MCVN) and rom-com Tu Jhoothi Main Makkar (TJMM) starring Ranbir Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor somewhat managed to pull audiences to the theatres. Made at a budget of ₹30 cr, MCVN has so far earned ₹17.05 cr and the performance outside the country isn’t bad either. Director Luv Ranjan’s TJMM collected ₹139 cr though its budget exceeds the total profit made so far, so technically, it can’t be called a commercial hit.

“People would never pay to watch a Kapil Sharma film or something as sad as Bheed, over Shah Rukh’s comeback project. Audiences likes to watch films that are high on action, give them a theatrical experience and are paisa vasool,” say Mohan and Adarsh.

“Films such as such as Mrs Chatterjee VS Norway and Selfiee could have done well, had they been promoted well,” points out Mohan, adding, “”But they might make up for the losses through digital rights later. We can be hopeful.”

THE LAST STRIKE

After Pathaan, all eyes were on actor Ajay Devgn’s Bholaa that released on March 30. Made at a budget of ₹100 crore, the actioner has already earned ₹40 crore in four days since its release. “It will do a business of ₹80- ₹90 crore (approximately). The film won’t face any losses as they have already earned so much from satellite and digital rights,” Nahta says.