A few facts every industrywallah must've learnt/memorised/discovered yet again last Friday...
- Never under-estimate the power of a Hollywood biggie.
- Never under-estimate the power of a low cost film that's high on content.
- Never under-estimate the power of promotion and marketing. In today's times, every film-maker should set aside a substantial amount to promote his film.
- Never under-estimate the power of youth. They call the shots today!
UDAAN and TERE BIN LADEN were low cost films that grew with a strong word of mouth. The films picked up dramatically during the course of the weekend, only because they had a lot to offer in terms of content. Both TERE BIN LADEN and UDAAN shouldn't have a problem recovering their [low] costs. While the recovery should be decent from domestic theatrical rights, the Satellite and Home Video rights, I am sure, will fetch better revenue since the films have found tremendous acceptance on the big screen, besides winning incredible critical acclaim.
LAMHAA is a complete loss, as far as the economics are concerned. The film was launched during the boom phase, but has released during the correction phase, when prices are being revised and deals are being re-negotiated. Its domestic theatrical business has been below the mark and since the Overseas territory isn't contributing much either, the makers will have to rely on non-theatrical avenues to recover a chunk of their investment. However, let's not forget that the Satellite and Home Video prices also depend on how the film fares at the box-office.
That brings me to INCEPTION, which is the flavour of the season. Even the dubbed Hindi version of this film has fetched handsome figures. There are innumerable instances of Hollywood films overpowering the Hindi counterparts at the box-office, but it doesn't mean that all Hollywood films will be embraced warmly in the future. It all depends on how popular the star is in India, the genre of the film, the local films it is competing with and how youth-friendly it is.
This Friday, Ms. Jolie's SALT [she's extremely popular in India as well] will compete with Akshay Kumar's KHATTA MEETHA at the domestic box-office. Let's hope it's a meetha-meetha week for both!
