In the ever-dynamic film industry, nothing is permanent. Old rules are broken on Fridays, and for every rule broken, there’s a new rule that’s made on that Friday. The new rule that emerges may take weeks, months or even years to be broken. Sometimes, rules become so permanent that it may appear that those will never be destroyed. But as in life, so also in the realm of film business, never say never!
Believe it or not but three cardinal myths have been busted in the last five weeks. Don’t believe us? Read on.
MYTH 1: CAR RACING FILMS DON’T WORK IN INDIA
On June 27, Hollywood film F1: The Movie hit the Indian screens. The sports drama is about Formula One car racing. In the film, hero Brad Pitt plays an F1 racing driver. It was felt that since car racing as a sport was not very popular among the Indian public, a film based on that sport would never resonate with people in India and, therefore, would not win the box-office race. But what actually happened? The film is racing ahead at the box-office even in its sixth week! No doubt, more than 85-90% of the business is coming from the original English version because the Hindi dubbed version is not scoring too well at the box-office, but did anyone expect even the English version to find so much acceptance and love? Believe it or not, the fifth week’s net all-India collection of F1: The Movie, which ended on July 31, was Rs. 4.25 crore whereas the 4th week’s collection of Jurassic World: Rebirth, which ended on the same day (July 31) was Rs. 3.93 crore. And mind you, Jurassic World: Rebirth is also a box-office hit — and not just because it belongs to the super-popular Jurassic Park franchise. The four weeks’ total in India for Jurassic World: Rebirth is Rs. 97.95 crore. Compare this with the five weeks’ net all-India total for F1: The Movie (Rs. 88.18 crore). Both super-hits! The myth which F1: The Movie, therefore, shattered was that car racing films don’t work at the Indian ticket counters.
MYTH 2: AT A TIME WHEN FOOTFALLS IN CINEMAS ARE AT ALL-TIME LOW, IT’S SUICIDAL TO ATTEMPT A LOVE STORY WITH NEWCOMERS
Saiyaara, a love story with new faces, hit the screens on July 18. While the craze for the romantic saga was slowly but surely building up among the public, the film trade was in denial — and this, only because the trade people relied more on a myth than on the madness that the film’s music, teaser, trailer and the newcomers were generating. What myth? That a film starring a debut-making hero and an almost-debut-making leading lady cannot work at the box-office, more so in the post-COVID-19 scenario when the cinema-going habit is dying. What added to the trade’s belief was that films with established stars were flopping with alarming regularity. Even if some did have confidence in Saiyaara because of what was in the public domain (songs, teaser, trailer), nobody in his wildest of dreams expected the love story to open so huge! Not even the producers because, after all, they are also part of the trade which treats myths as sacrosanct. But what happened on Friday, the 18th? The love story opened huge — so huge that people had to pinch themselves to believe that it was true. Not just in the big cities, collections of Mohit Suri’s romantic drama even in ‘B’ class centres were historic. As an aside, the myth that business these days happens in major centres only while smaller centres are as good as dead for films starring new faces, was also demolished with Saiyaara.
MYTH 3: ANIMATION FILMS ARE A STRICT NO-NO FOR INDIAN AUDIENCE
Think animation films and the image that conjures up is one of empty cinema halls. Falling footfalls and dwindling box-office collections can scare the daylights out of the most seasoned exhibitor when he is confronted with the prospect of screening an animation film at his cinema. Add to that, an animation film made in India! Gosh, anyone can break into a cold sweat. But on July 25 came Indian animation film Mahavatar Narsimha and what an earthquake that was! It started slow — when compared to what was to follow in the days to come, otherwise, collections even on the Friday of release were quite alright — but nobody, repeat, nobody was prepared for the tsunami that was ahead. Collections didn’t just increase on Saturday and Sunday, they actually multiplied. After an astounding first weekend, collections of the animation Hindu mythological drama during the weekdays were historic. Each of the four weekdays was better than the previous day — and collections on each of the weekdays were more than the collections of Friday and Saturday! The myth which Mahavatar Narsimha smashed was that animation films don’t work at the Indian box-office, more so, if the animation is done in India.
This is the charm and thrill of the film industry and film business. It is so uncertain that the only factor that’s certain is the uncertainty. Rules constantly get broken and new rules get made. Anything — yes, anything — can happen on a Friday! Filmmakers, writers, producers, stars… they all have to give their film their best shot. They have to make their film with all the conviction at their command. And then leave the rest to God… or rather, to the public, who are actually the God for producers and filmmakers, stars and writers.