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Cricket vs films
The World Cup cricket and the forthcoming IPL ARE no 'match' for content-oriented films, say filmmakers. A REPORT.
India has always been crazy about cricket and the game has managed to hold on even after the major match-fixing controversy that was an eye-opener to many, some years back. Yet every time a cricket match is played, the stakes are high and this year several bookies have already been arrested since the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 began on February 19. The cricket madness will continue till April 2 when the final T20 match will be played. Six days later, on April 8, the fourth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will commence in Chennai and conclude on May 28.
As the game of cricket gets rolling, a pertinent question that arises is what happens to films in the coming weeks? Only Tanu Weds Manu that released on February 25 has clicked at the box-office dismissing fears that cricket affects films.
The period from February 19 to May 28 is crucial as it takes a lot of planning to release a film as people are glued to their television sets.
This year, however, there is an equal balance of big-budget as well as small films that are hitting the screens. The Anupam Kher-starrer Yeh Faasley did average business when released on February 25. Satrangee Parachute came on March 4. Monica: The Politics Of Murder revolves around the corporate-political nexus in the telecom sector and Divya Dutta who plays Monica has shades of both Shivani Bhatnagar and Nira Radia. This will hit the theatres on March 25.
Two big-budget films release on April 1. They are Abhinay Deo's ambitious debut directorial Game starring Abhishek Bachchan, Kangna Ranaut, Sarah Jane Dias, Jimmy Sheirgill, Boman Irani and Anupam Kher and choreographer Remo D'Souza's debut directorial F.A.L.T.U with Jackky Bhagnani, Puja Gupta, Arshad Warsi and Riteish Deshmukh in the lead. One is an action thriller while the other is a campus caper.
Anees Bazmee's Thank You, a comedy with Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol, Suniel Shetty, Irrfan, Sonam Kapoor and Celina Jaitly is another biggie that releases on April 8. The following week has Mrigdeep Singh Lamba's Teen Thay Bhai starring Om Puri, Shreyas Talpade, Deepak Dobriyal and Ragini Khanna hitting the screens as also Bhavna Talwar's comedy Happi with Pankaj Kapur. Director Bijoy Nambiar brings in Shaitan on April 22. Dum Maaro Dum will be Abhishek Bachchan's second film in the month of April. Rohan Sippy's thriller also starring Bipasha Basu, Pratik Babbar and Rana Daggubati also comes to the theatres on April 22 along with Onir's I Am starring an ensemble cast. Chalo Dilli, Lara Dutta's debut production with her and Vinay Pathak in the lead will release on April 29 along with producer Ekta Kapoor's thriller Shor - In The City starring Tusshar Kapoor and Sendhil Ramamurthy.
The month of May will have Haunted, Vikram Bhatt's horror film starring Mahakshay and Tia Bajpai. The Ekta Kapoor-produced romantic thriller, Ragini MMS, is a Hindi and Telugu bilingual set to release on May 13. It is a co-production between Balaji Alt Entertainment and iRock Films. Another film releasing that day is Love U...Mr. Kalakaar! by debutant director S Mansavi, an alumnus of FTII, with Tusshar Kapoor and Amrita Rao pairing for the first time.
Though the cricket fever is increasing as examinations are getting over, filmmakers are positive that their films will not be neglected. Bijoy Nambiar, whose Shaitan stars Rajeev Khandelwal and Kalki Koechlin, stated that though he had never frozen the release date, he has now opted for April 22. He is of the opinion that small-budget films are devoid of any 'noise' while big films have heavy- duty PR machinery. Agreeing that cricket is a national level addiction with even the newspapers and TV channels focussing on the game, he says, "If your content is good, people will go to watch it, irrespective of whether is a big or a small film."
Bhavna Talwar, who earlier made Dharm with Pankaj Kapur, is ready to release Happi on April 15 to "coincide with the birth anniversary of Charlie Chaplin. Happi is a tribute to Chaplin on whom Kapoor's character is modelled." Talwar says that despite the World Cup, there is a market for film lovers. "How much TV can a person watch? A family needs to take a break, go out and enjoy. Moreover it is the people to choose whether to watch cricket or enjoy a good film in the theatre," she says. Made at a budget of 5 crore, the maker is certain of recovering the cost. Another filmmaker who is certain of reaching out to the audience is Onir. Cricket will be on for months, he says, but that should not affect the business of films. "The hype is only in the beginning and towards the end of the matches. Fatigue does set in. Moreover, last year Love Sex Aur Dhokha came during the matches but found its audience." I Am is made within three crore and Onir confesses that making a film at this cost today is unthinkable but "I did it with the backing of some good friends."
"The audience is very unpredictable. People who want to see a film will go for it. There are a lot of small-budget films releasing this month, and the films that are good will stay," adds Divya Dutta.
"On April 1, when we release Game, there is no match and then on April 2 are the World Cup finals. By then, one will be drained of cricket and be ready for Game," beamed producer Ritesh Sidhwani at a press conference. Like him, his actor Abhishek Bachchan does not agree that the cricket season is an 'off-season' for film releases. "Who says it's a risky time? I believe that if you make a quality product, no matter what period of the year it is, people will go and watch it. In India, audiences are passionate about films. A good film is almost part of their daily life, which is very hard for them to resist." He also shared that on the day India played England, the channels got the highest TRPs ever for any sporting event and at the same time Tanu Weds Manu also got the highest weekday collections. "Also, when the first IPL came nobody released films, then Race came and became a major grosser. We have 1.2 billion people and everybody is not going to watch cricket... even if half of them watch cricket, the other half will come and watch the movie, which is more than enough for us," he reasoned.
Trade analyst Komal Nahata says that generally producers have this feeling that they should avoid releasing their films during the World Cup and the IPL. There are no major releases in March, he adds, saying that cricket cannot be a competition for good films. "Did cricket affect the prospects of Tanu Weds Manu? It went on to become a hit and is still doing well," he points out. Agrees Tigmanshu Dhulia, "Good business happens when the content is good, be it in the multiplexes or single-screens." Dhulia, who is releasing Shagird starring Nana Patekar, Anurag Kashyap and Mohit Ahlawat on May 6 all over, says that people watch only the important matches and the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals. "I would like to know how many people watched the Kenya playing Canada. The interest is more when India is on the field. Moreover, immediately after the World Cup is the IPL. So viewership automatically declines as people get bored by then," he points out. Dhulia is confident about recovering 100 per cent of the seven crore spent on the film as Reliance Big Pictures is backing it.
Nambiar says that the cost recovery depends from movie to movie and its connect with the audience. Talking about the multiplexes keeping heavy ticket rates (Rs 150) for small-budget films, Nahata states, "The multiplexes do not really alter their ticket rates. That is one major reason why small-budget films get killed."
Nambiar feels that there should be a clear demarcation between big and small films. "If the government gives a subsidy for small films it would be a big support for small filmmakers like me," he says. "It is time the film industry does something about it," agrees Talwar. Nodding in the affirmative, Onir is of the opinion that the ticketing system needs to be regulated. "People cannot spent exorbitantly on small-budget films," he points out. The remedy to this, he says, is that anywhere in the world, good cinema has the support of the government and once tax benefit is implemented, automatically content- oriented films get noticed.
This only shows that finally it is content that matters, cricket or no cricket.
source:screenindia
The World Cup cricket and the forthcoming IPL ARE no 'match' for content-oriented films, say filmmakers. A REPORT.
India has always been crazy about cricket and the game has managed to hold on even after the major match-fixing controversy that was an eye-opener to many, some years back. Yet every time a cricket match is played, the stakes are high and this year several bookies have already been arrested since the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 began on February 19. The cricket madness will continue till April 2 when the final T20 match will be played. Six days later, on April 8, the fourth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will commence in Chennai and conclude on May 28.
As the game of cricket gets rolling, a pertinent question that arises is what happens to films in the coming weeks? Only Tanu Weds Manu that released on February 25 has clicked at the box-office dismissing fears that cricket affects films.
The period from February 19 to May 28 is crucial as it takes a lot of planning to release a film as people are glued to their television sets.
This year, however, there is an equal balance of big-budget as well as small films that are hitting the screens. The Anupam Kher-starrer Yeh Faasley did average business when released on February 25. Satrangee Parachute came on March 4. Monica: The Politics Of Murder revolves around the corporate-political nexus in the telecom sector and Divya Dutta who plays Monica has shades of both Shivani Bhatnagar and Nira Radia. This will hit the theatres on March 25.
Two big-budget films release on April 1. They are Abhinay Deo's ambitious debut directorial Game starring Abhishek Bachchan, Kangna Ranaut, Sarah Jane Dias, Jimmy Sheirgill, Boman Irani and Anupam Kher and choreographer Remo D'Souza's debut directorial F.A.L.T.U with Jackky Bhagnani, Puja Gupta, Arshad Warsi and Riteish Deshmukh in the lead. One is an action thriller while the other is a campus caper.
Anees Bazmee's Thank You, a comedy with Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol, Suniel Shetty, Irrfan, Sonam Kapoor and Celina Jaitly is another biggie that releases on April 8. The following week has Mrigdeep Singh Lamba's Teen Thay Bhai starring Om Puri, Shreyas Talpade, Deepak Dobriyal and Ragini Khanna hitting the screens as also Bhavna Talwar's comedy Happi with Pankaj Kapur. Director Bijoy Nambiar brings in Shaitan on April 22. Dum Maaro Dum will be Abhishek Bachchan's second film in the month of April. Rohan Sippy's thriller also starring Bipasha Basu, Pratik Babbar and Rana Daggubati also comes to the theatres on April 22 along with Onir's I Am starring an ensemble cast. Chalo Dilli, Lara Dutta's debut production with her and Vinay Pathak in the lead will release on April 29 along with producer Ekta Kapoor's thriller Shor - In The City starring Tusshar Kapoor and Sendhil Ramamurthy.
The month of May will have Haunted, Vikram Bhatt's horror film starring Mahakshay and Tia Bajpai. The Ekta Kapoor-produced romantic thriller, Ragini MMS, is a Hindi and Telugu bilingual set to release on May 13. It is a co-production between Balaji Alt Entertainment and iRock Films. Another film releasing that day is Love U...Mr. Kalakaar! by debutant director S Mansavi, an alumnus of FTII, with Tusshar Kapoor and Amrita Rao pairing for the first time.
Though the cricket fever is increasing as examinations are getting over, filmmakers are positive that their films will not be neglected. Bijoy Nambiar, whose Shaitan stars Rajeev Khandelwal and Kalki Koechlin, stated that though he had never frozen the release date, he has now opted for April 22. He is of the opinion that small-budget films are devoid of any 'noise' while big films have heavy- duty PR machinery. Agreeing that cricket is a national level addiction with even the newspapers and TV channels focussing on the game, he says, "If your content is good, people will go to watch it, irrespective of whether is a big or a small film."
Bhavna Talwar, who earlier made Dharm with Pankaj Kapur, is ready to release Happi on April 15 to "coincide with the birth anniversary of Charlie Chaplin. Happi is a tribute to Chaplin on whom Kapoor's character is modelled." Talwar says that despite the World Cup, there is a market for film lovers. "How much TV can a person watch? A family needs to take a break, go out and enjoy. Moreover it is the people to choose whether to watch cricket or enjoy a good film in the theatre," she says. Made at a budget of 5 crore, the maker is certain of recovering the cost. Another filmmaker who is certain of reaching out to the audience is Onir. Cricket will be on for months, he says, but that should not affect the business of films. "The hype is only in the beginning and towards the end of the matches. Fatigue does set in. Moreover, last year Love Sex Aur Dhokha came during the matches but found its audience." I Am is made within three crore and Onir confesses that making a film at this cost today is unthinkable but "I did it with the backing of some good friends."
"The audience is very unpredictable. People who want to see a film will go for it. There are a lot of small-budget films releasing this month, and the films that are good will stay," adds Divya Dutta.
"On April 1, when we release Game, there is no match and then on April 2 are the World Cup finals. By then, one will be drained of cricket and be ready for Game," beamed producer Ritesh Sidhwani at a press conference. Like him, his actor Abhishek Bachchan does not agree that the cricket season is an 'off-season' for film releases. "Who says it's a risky time? I believe that if you make a quality product, no matter what period of the year it is, people will go and watch it. In India, audiences are passionate about films. A good film is almost part of their daily life, which is very hard for them to resist." He also shared that on the day India played England, the channels got the highest TRPs ever for any sporting event and at the same time Tanu Weds Manu also got the highest weekday collections. "Also, when the first IPL came nobody released films, then Race came and became a major grosser. We have 1.2 billion people and everybody is not going to watch cricket... even if half of them watch cricket, the other half will come and watch the movie, which is more than enough for us," he reasoned.
Trade analyst Komal Nahata says that generally producers have this feeling that they should avoid releasing their films during the World Cup and the IPL. There are no major releases in March, he adds, saying that cricket cannot be a competition for good films. "Did cricket affect the prospects of Tanu Weds Manu? It went on to become a hit and is still doing well," he points out. Agrees Tigmanshu Dhulia, "Good business happens when the content is good, be it in the multiplexes or single-screens." Dhulia, who is releasing Shagird starring Nana Patekar, Anurag Kashyap and Mohit Ahlawat on May 6 all over, says that people watch only the important matches and the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals. "I would like to know how many people watched the Kenya playing Canada. The interest is more when India is on the field. Moreover, immediately after the World Cup is the IPL. So viewership automatically declines as people get bored by then," he points out. Dhulia is confident about recovering 100 per cent of the seven crore spent on the film as Reliance Big Pictures is backing it.
Nambiar says that the cost recovery depends from movie to movie and its connect with the audience. Talking about the multiplexes keeping heavy ticket rates (Rs 150) for small-budget films, Nahata states, "The multiplexes do not really alter their ticket rates. That is one major reason why small-budget films get killed."
Nambiar feels that there should be a clear demarcation between big and small films. "If the government gives a subsidy for small films it would be a big support for small filmmakers like me," he says. "It is time the film industry does something about it," agrees Talwar. Nodding in the affirmative, Onir is of the opinion that the ticketing system needs to be regulated. "People cannot spent exorbitantly on small-budget films," he points out. The remedy to this, he says, is that anywhere in the world, good cinema has the support of the government and once tax benefit is implemented, automatically content- oriented films get noticed.
This only shows that finally it is content that matters, cricket or no cricket.
source:screenindia
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