Dangal and Baahubali 2 have changed the dynamics of Box Office in India. While Baahubali: The Conclusion has become the first movie to earn Rs 1000 crore worldwide, Aamir Khan starrer Dangal might soon give it company in the club owing to its tremendous run at the Chinese Box Office. These two movies have redefined Box Office success for the country but it might be too early for us to celebrate.
The achievements of Dangal and Baahubali: The Conclusion are definitely worth our applause. After all, they have put Indian cinema on the global map and that too in a good light! They are also the examples of how good storytelling attracts cinema goers to theatres. What was common in both the movies was that their stories were deeply rooted in India. While one told the story of a father from a small village who fought against societal norms to make his daughters wrestlers, the other narrated an epic tale in an a never-told-before manner.
A still from Dangal (Courtesy: YouTube/Zee Music Company)
There is no shred of doubt that both these movies are fantastic and rich in content and it cannot be questioned that they have got immense worldwide love. However, when it comes to Box office figures they lag behind by a huge margin as compared to the movies in the West. Baahubali and Dangal are not even close to the biggest blockbusters of Hollywood.
A still from Baahubali: The Conclusion trailer (Courtesy: YouTube/ Dharma Productions)
While the highest earning movies of Hollywood include classics like Gone With The Wind and Titanic, I would not go that far to make a point and will mention about recent times.
This year, the highest grossing movie of Hollywood was Beauty and the Beast starring Emma Watson. The movie’s worldwide collections are said to be over Rs 7000 crore ($1.1 billion approximately). It became the 11th highest grossing movie of all times. The second movie in this list Fate of the Furious also earned over $1.1 billion since its release this year. The superhero movie Logan, which was the last flick in which Hugh Jackman played the role of Wolverine, earned over Rs 3000 crore ($606 million said reports). One might argue that these movies got rave reviews and were made on a large budget that enabled them to earn so much. An argument that these franchisees are quite famous might also be given. But this is not the case always.
Take for example The Boss Baby or Fifty Shades Darker. The former movie did not create quite a buzz, was not religiously promoted and did not belong to any renowned series of films. Yet it earned around Rs 2800 crore. The movie starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan which is based on EL James’ book by the same name was slammed by critics. Despite this, the movie went on to earn Rs 2400 crore.
Also read: Why Rana Daggubati’s Bhallala Deva is the real but misunderstood hero of Baahubali
These aforementioned movies are only a few names in the really long list of films that took Box Office by storm. But as we know, the same cannot be said about Bollywood movies with the same confidence. In India, a movie entering a Rs 100 crore club is still a big deal and a benchmark of success. When in reality, that is too small an amount if compared to the success of the West.
So where are we going wrong? It would definitely be incorrect to say that Indians are not a cinema-loving lot. While no one can possibly give the answer to this question, there can be many reasons for this. Piracy is definitely one of them. Seeing a movie a day after it releases on the mobile or the laptop seems more convenient to Indians. While we complain about not being offered quality cinema, we are equally responsible for it.
Another reason is that Indian movie industry is still superstar driven. The thought that an established star would attract footfalls is deeply embedded in our minds. Baahubali was a gamble that paid off well to the makers but that might not always hold true. Thirdly, makers of Indian movies don’t seem too willing to experiment with genres. All they seem to care about is making a movie that recovers its cost and not more. This has left a little window for experimentation and makers tend to stick to tried and tested formulae. Adding to all this, the government too is to be blamed for all this. The film industry is always neglected during budget sessions despite the fact that it generates a lot of revenue and comprises of the highest tax payers in the country. The film industry is not seen as a sector in the nation and hence doesn’t get as much attention as it should. The entertainment tax on tickets adds to the woes of makers and cinema goers. In South India, where entertainment tax is exempted, the price of tickets obviously falls down, shooting the footfalls up.
The aforementioned reasons might explain why Indian cinema fails as an industry. However, the success of Dangal and Baahubali: The Conclusion, have lit a flame in dark times and we hope it remains ignited for quite some time now.
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