Big-ticket Bollywood films look to set silver screen on fire

MUMBAI: The success of movies like Housefull 2, Vicky Donor , Jannat 2 and Ishaqzaade during the IPL season goes on to show how films and cricket can co-exist. However, the best phase for cinema this year has just begun with the first weekend opening of Rowdy Rathore touching Rs 48 crore and nearly half-a-dozen films set to hit the silver screen in the following weeks. Trade analyst Amod Mehra said, “It is going to be a mixed bag with nearly Rs 500 crore riding on films that will be releasing in June and July.”

An interesting feature of the films that are set to release this season is the variety that the audience will get. A full masala film like Rowdy Rathore will be followed by a political-thriller that will target primarily the multiplex audiences. That is followed by a comedy, Ferrari Ki Sawari, which has been in news for various reasons, including Sachin Tendulkar’s rumoured guest appearance.

A gritty revenge drama set in the coal city of Dhanbad, Gangs of Wasseypur will make it to the theatres on the following Friday. July would begin with Rohit Shetty’s comedy Bol Bachchan. After that, Cocktail, a complicated tale of friendship and love, starring Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone, will hit the theatres. The season that started off with Rowdy Rathore will be culminating effectively with one of the biggest films of the year, Ek Tha Tiger, hitting the screens on the occasion of Eid.

With five films performing well during the IPL season, the Bollywood myth that cricket and cinema cannot co-exist has been busted. Of late, the notion that female-oriented films do not work at the box office has also been shattered.
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh said, “This has never happened before. The industry is jumping with joy and the forthcoming releases look even better.”

For the exhibitors too, the IPL season has been impressive . Operations head of Fun Cinema Vishal Anand said, “The beginning of this financial year—April and May—has been very good. We did 20 per cent better than our targets. Also, this April was the best in the last five years.”

“The first week of June with Rowdy Rathore has been better than average, with our cinemas clocking 60 per cent occupancy on the opening weekend. The film opened extremely well in all single-screen theatres ,” he adds.

With the IPL season getting more lucrative for cinema and the audience developing an appetite for various genres of movies , film-makers and theatre owners are finding themselves on a good wicket.