The celebrations continue! India's euphoric win in the World Cup 2011 cannot be described in mere words. The battle of the Titans saw the film business getting plummeted to an all-time low, with several cineplexes screening the Battle Royale between India and Sri Lanka. Of course, World Cup strikes once in four years, but India being a cricket crazy nation, one can't underestimate the impact it creates on a film's business, especially when crucial matches are being played. The one question that resonates in my mind is, will IPL affect film business equally hard?
I did pose this question on my Twitter and Facebook ids and the response I received was in affirmative. While strolling down the tweets/comments of the aam junta, I realized that, perhaps, our worst fears may come true this summer when IPL matches dominate the entire two months. Of course, there's a section of the movie-going audience that feels that since there has been an overdose of cricket, the impact wouldn't be as strong.
The summer vacations are the most conducive period for film business. April, May, till mid-June [before schools and colleges re-open] are considered the most lucrative months, with the youth [this segment of movie-going audience contributes the maximum] chilling out in the cool confines of their homes, in plexes, in coffee shops, in shopping malls… No wonder, Hindi film producers have always felt that timing their films during this period would only enhance their films' business prospects. Let's hope IPL doesn't spoil the party.
Party se yaad aaya, the 'Chaar Baj Gaye Lekin Party Abhi Baaki Hain' track, besides other songs of F.A.L.T.U., has done the trick. Like I pointed out in the 'Business Update' on Friday, F.A.L.T.U. fetched an electrifying start from the morning shows itself, overtaking its bigger-in-budget opponent GAME by leaps and bounds. Frankly speaking, before this song became the anthem for the youth, not many distributors were keen to even discuss the film, forget enquire whether it was sold or not or what price was Vashu demanding for their respective territory. Even after the song became hugely popular, the distributors weren't too excited by the overall package of a new director, a new composer duo and four relative newcomers heading the cast. That explains why Vashu decided to release the film himself and fortunately for him, his gamble seems to have paid off.
Vashu is always known as one producer who goes all out when it comes to promoting his films. I distinctly remember, most film-makers were surprised looking at the promotional budget of his first film COOLIE NO. 1. And when it comes to matters of heart - his son Jackky - Vashu would go that extra mile to ensure that his son got nothing but the best. KAL KISSNE DEKHA was extremely well publicized and so is F.A.L.T.U. now.
The magical combination of a smash hit musical score coupled with the fantastic pre-release promotion have done the trick. Of course, the youth - the target audience of F.A.L.T.U. - seems to have given its mandate as well, given the fact that the film grew manifold [business-wise] by Friday evening. Saturday was expected to hit a low [World Cup finals], but the Sunday and Monday [Gudi Padwa and Ugadi] figures of F.A.L.T.U. only reiterate the fact that F.A.L.T.U. is in safe waters already. Add to it the revenue generated from the non-theatrical avenues and Vashu will only be smiling from ear to ear. Most importantly, the father in Vashu would be jumping with joy since Jackky has tasted success.
On the other hand, GAME has proved to be an unmitigated disaster at the box-office. The pre-release buzz was low, which means that the film was never expected to start with a bang. Despite names such as Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar as producers. Plus, it's a suspense-action genre, which generally attracts more footfalls than socials or dramas. But no one expected the film to open lower than KHELEIN HUM JEE JAAN SEY at places, which ranks amongst Abhishek Bachchan's lowest opener to date. In fact, a debacle like DRONA had fetched a much better start than these two films.
With a disastrous start on hand, the losses to Eros, the distributors of GAME, will be huge. In fact, at the rate the film is faring, forget the principal cost, even the P & A expenses would be difficult to recover. Game over!
