MxMIndia

Tag: Salaar

  • In the short-term future, we can expect franchises to dominate Hindi cinema and OTT, writes Shailesh Kapoor

    All eyes on the franchise

     

     

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    Shailesh KapoorIn context of a report Ormax Media is publishing next week, a staggering data point was brought to my attention. Forty-five per cent of Hindi theatrical business in 2023 till the weekend of December 3 has come from franchise films, i.e., films that were already a part of a franchise or a franchise universe at the time of their release.

     

    With Animal and Dunki being non-franchise films, and Salaar: Part 1 being the first of its franchise, this proportion will drop to 35-40% by the end of the year. But the staggering-ness is not in the 45% itself. It’s in the year-on-year comparison.

     

    Proportion of Hindi box-office from franchise films was only 19% in 2019, and increased to 31% in 2022 (the interim years were pandemic-disrupted). Within two full years, the contribution of franchise films to the Hindi box-office has doubled.

     

    The equivalent number in Hollywood has been in the high 70s or 80s for a while now, depending on the year we look at. Clearly, Hindi cinema is moving in that direction. It could be a matter of another couple of years that we hit 60%, if not even higher.

     

    Even on OTT, franchises are beginning to dominate, now that the category is somewhat settled in India. Amazon Prime Video has done a particularly good job of building strong franchises, none less than The Family Man and Panchayat. The latter is produced by TVF, which is a franchise factory of sorts, with a long list of illustrious web original franchises, such as Kota Factory, Gullak, Aspirants, Permanent Roommates, Pitchers, Hostel Daze, etc.

     

    Linear television’s attempts with franchise creation have been less emphatic, but that’s only because the approach to having seasons does not exist, and it’s impossible to do a Season 2 if Season 1 is the ever-running season anyway. Yet, Zee TV has managed to create some sort of a quasi-franchise, which some young audiences even have a name for: The Bhagya Universe. It has three largely-unconnected shows in it: Kumkum Bhagya (2014), Kundali Bhagya (2017) and Bhagya Lakshmi (2021), all three produced by Balaji Telefilms.

     

    The rise of franchise content is an interesting phenomenon. At one end, audiences crave for new stories and characters, because fresh and imaginative ideas is generally a strong driver of content consumption. But at the other end is the comfort in watching something familiar. This continuum of original to familiar is a compelling one, because both ends of it are strong on intrinsic benefits related to why content is watched to begin with.

     

    There are franchise films and shows that manage to re-imagine their world, and provide freshness within the familiar. Some of the early Marvel films, leading up to Avengers: Endgame, managed to do this very well. But those are far and few in between, and in general, franchise content willingly lets go of new imagination, and focuses on the familiarity factor.

     

    So, if franchise content is becoming stronger than before, does it mean that audiences prefer comfort of the familiar to the excitement of something original and imaginative? That’s not an evident piece of truth. The real difference lies in the differing risk levels. Franchise properties are significantly safer than non-franchise ones. The latter must get the idea, however original it maybe, right. In the former, that’s already been tested.

     

    But we need a healthy mix, because if franchises begin to dominate to the extent of 70-80%, which is a real possibility soon, the originality will get sucked out of the content ecosystem, leading to a decline in business at some stage in the cycle.

     

    Be that as it may, in the short-term future, we can expect franchises to dominate Hindi cinema and OTT categories, in a way India may have never seen before.

     

  • If the three big films live up to their expectations, 2023 has more than a real chance of becoming the best ever year at the box-office, with a gross business of Rs 12kcr, writes Shailesh Kapoor

    One-worded Box-office Beasts

     

     

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    Shailesh KapoorIt’s a huge Friday at the box office today. Ranbir Kapoor starrer Animal, directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, releases today, and is set to witness one of the highest openings in Hindi cinema, with even a shot at the 50 Cr first-day box-office, a mark that only four Hindi films have ever achieved.

     

    2023 has been an interesting year at the Indian box-office. A series of non-performing films have been punctuated by mammoth blockbusters. In the Hindi language, it started with Pathaan in Jaunary, post which we saw a long period of flops, with an occasional hit like Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani. August saw positive momentum shift, with Gadar 2 emerging as a huge blockbuster. And then, Jawan followed it up early September, recording the highest-ever lifetime box-office for a Hindi film at the domestic box-office.

     

    In the Tamil market too, Jailer (Rajinikanth) and Leo (Vijay) have done great numbers, and are a part of the list of top 5 grossers of the year, after Jawan, Pathaan and Gadar 2. Animal would be challenging to enter this list, as will Dunki, the third Shah Rukh Khan release this year.

     

    What’s with film with one-word names, most of which are names or descriptors of their lead characters, doing well? Perhaps there’s more than a coincidence at play here. It could be a sign that audiences are gravitating towards superstardom and larger-than-life hero characters again. While this factor always existed, the pre-pandemic period in Hindi cinema saw a slew of thematic and genre-led films do very well. With OTT around, theatre-going is about scale today, more than ever before. But it need not be the conventional definition of “scale”, which comes with elements like large sets (Bhansali) or VFX (Marvel). It’s about bold-stroke, larger-than-life storytelling too, led by protagonists with an unmistakable swagger.

     

    If the three big films of December (Animal, Salaar and Dunki) live up to their expectations, 2023 has more than a real chance of becoming the best-ever year at the India box-office, with a gross business of 12,000 Cr in India.

     

    Animal, however, won’t be the only media highlight of this weekend. We have important elections results coming up this Sunday, when votes for legislative elections in five states will be counted. These results can have a significant influence on how the national politics will look like in 2024, in the lead up to the General Elections.

     

    Irrespective of how the film fares or what the election results are, one thing is certain: There won’t be a dull moment for media & entertainment observers this weekend.

     

  • For all the naysayers of the cinema medium, it’s time to wake up and smell the popcorn, writes Shailesh Kapoor

    The Box-office Boom: Gadar 2 & Co

     

     

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    Shailesh KapoorThe Indian box-office is minting money. After an extended lull that stretched 3.5 years, punctuated by an odd film here and there, like RRR, K.G.F: Chapter and Pathaan, there is an unmistakable buzz at the ticket windows. The weekend of August 11-13 grossed nearly Rs 400 crore at the domestic box-office. To put this number in perspective, films releasing across the entire month of February 2023 grossed a similar amount (Rs 396 cr). August 2023 is in the reckoning to become the first-ever month ever to achieve the Rs 2,000 crore gross mark. It’s a long shot, but not out of bounds as of today.

     

    The boom has been ably supported by Rajinikanth’s Jailer, and the franchise social comedy OMG 2. But it’s Gadar 2, a sequel to the blockbuster 2001 film Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, that is headlining the windfall. The film is on its way to challenging Pathaan, released just earlier this year, to become the highest-grossing Hindi film of all time at the domestic box office.

     

    In September, Shah Rukh Khan will have a shot at breaking his own record, and Gadar 2’s, with Jawan. Later that month, Prabhas’ pan-India film Salaar – Part 1: The Ceasefire releases, and is expected to gross 100+ cr all India on its first day itself. 2023 is now well on course to become the highest-grossing year of all time, at the Indian box-office.

     

    It’s a narrative Indian cinema needed desperately. Knives have been out, targeting the cinema medium and its relevance in today’s streaming-centric entertainment ecosystem, since the pandemic set in, in the first half of 2020. Lack of solid films from the Hindi film industry, barring the odd one every 4-5 months, have not helped matters. But all that is a thing of the past, with Gadar 2, OMG 2, and Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani delivering within two weeks of each other, after the Hollywood-led boost in the Barbenheimer week.

     

    Outdoor entertainment options are scant in India, and movie-going remains the only inclusive one. It takes a film like Gadar 2 for the inclusivity to realise its true potential. The contrast between the urban, multiplex-centric audience profile of Oppenheimer and Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, and the wide, all-in audience profile of Gadar 2 is a healthy sign for the medium, and its robust growth in the coming years.

     

    The success of Gadar 2 is also a validation that the star system has been re-imagined. In Pathaan or Jailer, we see conventional stardom at work, in its full glory. In Oppenheimer, it’s a director’s fan base at work. In Gadar 2, it’s the enormous equity of the original film and its characters, rather than that of its lead star, who hasn’t exactly been active or successful in recent years. This multiplicity of factors that can take audiences to the theatre allow for different types of content models to co-exist, and for the cinema medium to prosper.

     

    For all the naysayers of the cinema medium, who were eager to record its obituary in 2020/21, it’s time to wake up and smell the popcorn.