The Rise Of The Mid-Range Movie Hit


While
big
hits
like

Jawaan

are
missing
this
year,
it
has
been
filled
with
a
range
of
medium-range
hits
such
as

Crew
,

Teri
Baaton
Ne
Uljhaa
Diya

and

Guntur
Kaaram
,
observes
Vanita
Kohli-Khandekar.

IMAGE:
Fahadh
Faasil
as
Ranga
in

Aavesham
.

The
Fahadh
Faasil
starrer

Aavesham
,
the
story
of
an
eccentric
gangster,
is
among
the
top
ten
hits
of
2024.

Siddharth
Malhotra’s

Fighter
,
Chidambaram’s

Manjummel
Boys
,
Prasanth
Varma’s

Hanu-Man

and
Vikas
Bahl’s

Shaitaan

are
among
the
others,
says
Ormax
Media’s
Box-Office
report
for
the
first
four
months
of
2024.

The
cumulative
gross
(money
collected
in
theatres
including
taxes
and
trade
share)
for
all
Indian
films
released
between
January
and
April
this
year
stands
at
Rs
3,071
crore
(Rs
30.71
billion).

That
is
completely
in
line
with
the
first
four
months
of
2023,
a
record
year
for
Indian
cinema.

However,
if
you
read
the
news,
it
would
seem
like
2024
has
been
a
bad
year;
that
films
are
not
working
and
OTT
(over-the-top)
is
killing
cinema.

Why?
Because
three
things
that
have
happened
over
the
last
2-3
years
haven’t
got
internalised
in
our
understanding
and
writing
around
films.

IMAGE:
Ajay
Devgn
and
Jyotika
in

Shaitaan
.

One,
that
‘mid-range
hits’
are
here
to
stay.
The
‘big
hits’
of
last
year,

Jawaan

and

Pathaan
,
collected
over
Rs
1,000
crore
(Rs
10
billion)
each
at
the
box-office.

That
is
over
twice
the
amount
that
a
normal
‘big
hit’
does.
Most
of
the
hits
this
year
are
in
the
Rs
50
crore
(Rs
500
million)
to
Rs
200
crore
(Rs
2
billion)
range.

Given
their
budgets
and
other
revenue
streams,
almost
all
these
films
are
profitable.
However,
without
figures
like
Rs
500
crore
(Rs
5
billion)
or
Rs
700
crore
(Rs
7
billion)
nbeing
brandished
around,
it
seems
that
films
are
not
doing
well.

The
rise
of
the
‘mid-range
hit’
is,
in
fact,
one
of
the
most
heartening
things
to
happen
to
the
business
of
cinema.

Between

Pathaan

and
the
next
blockbuster,
you
need
medium-budget
hits
like

Ponniyin
Selvan
2

or

OMG
2

(both
2023)
to
keep
people
coming
back
to
the
theatres.

While
the
big
budget
ones
like

Jailer

or

Jawaan

are
missing
this
year,
it
has
been
filled
with
a
range
of
medium-range
hits
such
as

Crew
,

Teri
Baaton
Ne
Uljhaa
Diya

and

Guntur
Kaaram
,
thanks
to
the
domestic
crossovers
or
the
pan-Indian
film.

That
is
the
second
thing
that
needs
to
be
recognised.
Many
of
the
top
hits
are
non-Hindi,
non-Hollywood
films
which
worked
across
their
core
markets.

For
instance,
Malayalam
cinema
is
having
an
extraordinarily
good
time
grossing
Rs
558
crore
(Rs
5.58
billion)
at
the
box-office
in
the
first
four
months
this
year.

Roughly
one-third
of
this
came
from
markets
other
than
Kerala.
Marathi
cinema
has
had
a
great
2023
with

Baipan
Bhari
Deva

and

Jhimma
.
So
has
Punjabi
with
the
third
film
in
the

Carry
on
Jatta

series.

On
the
other
hand,
Hollywood,
with
the
exception
of

Barbie

and

Oppenheimer
,
had
a
bad
2023
and
continues
to
disappoint.

Many
reporters
simply
don’t
factor
in
cinemas
other
than
Hindi,
Hollywood
and
probably
Telugu
while
commenting
on
the
movie
business.

IMAGE:
Deepa
Parab,
Sukanya
Kulkarni,
Suchitra
Bandekar,
Vandana
Gupte,
Rohini
Hattangadi
and
Shilpa
Navalkar
in

Baipan
Bhari
Deva
.

More
than
any
other
business
perhaps,
cinema
goes
through
seasonal
cycles
driven
by
lack
of
success
due
to
bad
films,
vacations,
major
cricket
tournaments,
or
elections
dominating
media
consumption.

That
is
the
third
factor
that
needs
to
be
recognised.

Does
that
mean
streaming
is
having
no
effect
on
the
theatrical
business?
Of
course
not.
But
the
nature
of
its
impact
differs
hugely
from
popular
perception.

Theatres
bring
in
anywhere
from
60
to
70
per
cent
of
the
total
revenue
for
any
cinema,
anywhere
in
the
world.

Knock
it
out
of
the
equation
and
that
cinema
suffers
creatively
and
commercially.
Malayalam
cinema
is
a
great
case
in
point.

In
2010,
Kerala
had
about
a
thousand,
steadily
declining
screens.
In
2016,
streaming
brought
succour
to
producers.

For
6
to
7
years
ending
in
2023,
most
were
making
films
only
for
OTTs.
This
ended
up
making
the
market
more
business-to-business
instead
of
a
consumer
facing
one.

In
January
2023,
streaming
services
cut
back
on
programming
spends
focussing
on
buying
films
only
if
they
had
worked
theatrically.

This
forced
the
whole
film
ecosystem
in
Kerala
to
pivot
back
to
the
theatres,
which
invested
in
renovation
and
more
screens.

The
current
boom
in
Malayalam
cinema
is
completely
led
by
people
walking
back
into
the
theatres.

However,
there
are
films
that
work
better
on
OTT.
I
saw

Laapata
Ladies
,
Kiran
Rao’s
witty
ode
to
womanhood
in
an
almost
empty
theatre.
On
OTT,
it
has
raced
through
the
charts
and
is
getting
global
love
on
Netflix.

The
fact
is,
much
like
television,
streaming
is
another
revenue
stream,
another
platform
for
the
Rs
19,700
crore
(Rs
197
billion)
Indian
movie
business.

It
cannot
replace
the
money,
influence
and
the
audience
love
that
theatres
bring
for
a
film.
What
films
work
there,
however,
is
something
no
one
can
predict.


Disclaimer:
These
are
Vanita
Kohli-Khandekar’s
personal
views.


Feature
Presentation:
Rajesh
Alva/Rediff.com