The trade is in a state of shock. Reason: Reliance Entertainment’s 83 did not open to bumper houses on Friday (December 24). Not only was the initial of the film way below the mark but collections on Saturday and Sunday also did not pick up as much as was expected. So what was the reason for the ‘dull’ opening?
Actually, there were several reasons for the opening being below the mark and also for the lukewarm pick-up thereafter. For one, the producers erred miserably in the film’s promotion. The undue delay in the film’s release (due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns) must have taken a toll on the film’s budget, no doubt, but to release such a big-budget film without proper promotion proved to be catastrophic for the film. Reliance failed to appreciate the fact that although the film was about cricket which is like religion in India, it was not about a contemporary hero. Kapil Dev was the cricketing hero of the 1980s. There’s an entire new generation for whom the heroes of the sport are MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli. To expect that those youngsters would make a beeline for the cinema halls to see a film merely because it was based on the game of cricket was a terrible mistake which Reliance made. Yes, even the young generation may have rushed to the cinema halls to catch the sports film but that would’ve happened if they were prodded on to do so. Promotion could’ve helped the producers achieve that target. But the marketing and promotion of 83 were so lacklustre that the producers seem to have lost out on the youth audience. How important the youth’s patronage is for a film’s success today doesn’t need to be emphasised.
Kapil Dev was the cricketing hero of the 1980s. There’s an entire new generation for whom the heroes of the sport are MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli.
Another major reason for a large section of the public keeping away from the film was the ticket pricing. The producers committed a blunder in increasing the ticket rates to prohibitive levels. And there are two reasons for terming the rates prohibitive: firstly, after the poor marketing and promotion, the high ticket prices for 83 seem like a bad joke, and secondly, coming as it did after the stupendous success of Spider-Man: No Way Home and Pushpa (dubbed), Reliance should have refrained from pricing the tickets so high because people had already spent heavily on the two super-hit films. One is apt to ask the question that if people can pay a high price for Spider-Man, why not for 83? The answer is simple: Spider-Man is a huge brand among the Indian audience, 83 isn’t. Children are forcing their parents to take them to Spider-Man: No Way Home whereas that isn’t happening in the case of Reliance’s film. Just one example of how wrong the ticket pricing of 83 was is the case of Bikaner. The ticket rates ranged from Rs. 260 to 280, which are unthinkable in a city like Bikaner. Compare this with Rs. 200 for Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Rs. 150 for Pushpa (dubbed).
After the poor marketing and promotion, the high ticket prices for 83 seem like a bad joke.
In fact, if the collections did not pick up to the desired extent on the second and third days (despite the Christmas festivities), it was largely because of the crazy ticket pricing.
It may sound unbelievable but I had exhibitors of non-metro towns calling me on Saturday and telling me that there were several people coming to their cinemas and asking the person on the ticket counter, after watching the publicities of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Pushpa (dubbed) and 83, what 83 was! This means that not only was there less awareness about the release of 83 on Friday last but also of the fact that a film titled 83 existed.
The four-week exclusive theatrical window, instead of eight weeks, is also telling on the box-office collections of films. There are many among the public, who’d rather wait for four weeks to watch a new film on an OTT platform, in the comforts of their homes than risk it out to the theatres. The new curfews imposed from and after Friday, December 24 in view of the growing Omicron variant fear has also taken its toll. Shows have had to be reduced… that’s the direct effect. There’s also the indirect effect of the public psychology: if new restrictions have been imposed by the government, it means that the new Coronavirus variant is spreading fast. Many people are, therefore, refraining from venturing out to the cinemas because of the renewed fear.
The four-week exclusive theatrical window, instead of eight weeks, is also telling on the box-office collections of films.
There are occasional films which may not realise their potential at the box-office because some people like them but others don’t like them or like them less. But in the case of 83, the reports have been almost unanimous. A lot of people — repeat, a lot of people — are going into ecstasy after watching the film, promising to watch it again. When such a film does not collect Rs. 60-65 crore in the first weekend and stops at under Rs. 50 crore, despite a Ranveer Singh in its cast, it comes as a rude shock to the industry.
A lot of people — repeat, a lot of people — are going into ecstasy after watching the film, promising to watch it again.