CINEMA FACES SHRINKING SALES, NEW CHALLENGES

THERE may be an occasional boost in box office collections for recent releases like 'Singham Again' and 'Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3'. Both made ₹260 crore each for the first 20 days. But the overall picture in recent years and months is that the Indian film industry is crawling.

- GURBIR SINGH

There is an obvious crisis of content – again something Bollywood pundits have been wailing about for years. That it has taken two 'follow-on' movies of previous hits to save the day speaks volumes for intellectual bankruptcy.

The figures say it all: Box office collections from January to October this year dropped 7 percent to ₹8,951 crore compared to ₹9,521 crore for the same 10-month period last year, says a report of Ormax Media. The box office collections for October this year at ₹994 crore was marginally better than for last October's Rs812 crore; but it was Tamil films – 'Amaran' and 'Vettaiyan' – that contributed over 50 percent of the sales.

SLOW GROWTH

Ten years ago, with no Covid-19 to factor in, the story was the same. A KPMG report produced for the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry's (FICCI) annual Jamboree – 'Frames 2015' – said the industry's revenues grew just 0.9 percent from 2013 to 2014.

Theatrical and ancillary revenues for the film industry rose marginally from $2 billion to $2.02 billion (₹13,300 crore) as opposed to the projected $2.21 billion (₹14,500 crore) in the 2014 report. This was mainly due to weak box office returns. The saving grace then was the Christmas 2014 release of "P.K." that grossed more than $100 million worldwide.