Trade Tattle

Small rules the roost
The business of Hindi films has changed drastically. Hardly 10 big films run at the box-office leaving a clear field for other films, to feed the theatres. This vacuum is being filled today by low-budget films which constitute a major portion of film-related activity. Which means, all films being made today are either ‘A’ grade or ‘C’ grade ones. There’s no such thing as a ‘B’ grade film any more. 90 per cent of the films are low-budget ones. These offer better profit margins than most big budget films.

According to Manoj Munot, who not only produces small budget films but also distributes them in CPCI and Mumbai territories, films which cost hardly Rs 20 lakh to make have generated business worth Rs 3 crore all over India. Films like Murda and Maut, which were made on shoestring budgets (Rs 10 lakh) were sold for Rs 1 lakh per territory and fetched upwards of Rs 50 lakh each. The latest ‘hit’ is Johrabhai, which is likely to do a business of Rs 1.5 crore.

Munot further observes that with the failure of big budget films at the box-office, exhibitors all over India find it impossible to feed their theatres with more big films, which are no longer available. ‘A’ grade cinemas get ‘A’ grade films but ‘B’ and ‘C’ grade cinemas, which are in the majority, have had to feed their theatres with small-budget films. Predictably, the production of ‘C’ grade films has increased. Out of 200 films on the floor, 90 per cent belonged to the ‘C’ grade films. The producers make films at the cost of Rs 10, and if they generate business worth Rs 12 lakh from all territories, he’s happy with the Rs 2 lakh he’s made in three months.

In the business of small budget films, it is the distributor and exhibitor who make a killing. They earn four to ten times their investments. If a film is sold to East Punjab, for say Rs 1 lakh, it costs the distributor Rs 2 lakh with print and publicity. But he can earn Rs 2 lakh from one theatre in Ludhiyana alone, which means the rest is profit.
However, most ‘C’ grade flicks are sold on an outright basis. Munot says there is a good market for small budget films in Delhi-UP, CPCI, Rajasthan, East Punjab and Bihar.

And ‘big’ still hurts
Noted Delhi distributor, Mayawala, says cable piracy of films is rampant. Prices of films have been shooting up, while the success ratio has come down to 5 per cent. It has become difficult for distributors to take big budget films because of the high prices. Since there is a craze for acquiring good films, distributors have no option but to pay high prices for them. Unfortunately, the producers no longer promote their films under production in a big way. Today, publicity costs big money. And Mayawala says the distributor has to spend as much as Rs 6 crore on the publicity, not only for print advertising, but also for hoardings and posters, in order to attract the audience. Therefore, it is necessary that producers centralise publicity expenditure to promote their films. About stars turning distributors, Mayawala says it is a welcome sign because once they market films on their own, they will understand the difficulties of distributors.

Lean month ahead
Prominent distributor Balkrishna Shroff says the film market is still down. There has been no encouraging sign for the trade in recent times. “Hera Pheri has done well, but other films did not do well,” he says. Shroff foresees no improvement in the market condition in May. He is releasing Kunwara, starring Govinda and Urmila in June.

ABC Film distributors are not happy with the outcome of Dahshaat, the film they released last week. They have pinned all their hopes on Hum To Mohabbat Karega, now. The Karisma Kapoor, Bobby Deol movie carries good reports, especially, its music.

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