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If the unprecedented TRP of 17.5 that the recent India-England match garnered is any indication, Bollywood is justified in pushing its big releases until after the World Cup.
Deepa Karmalkar finds that Bollywood is watching the World Cup with a bated breath and is waiting for April to exhale IN a country where cricket is religion and Sachin Tendulkar the God, the four-yearly Cricket World Cup is nothing short of Kumbh Mela to which cricket worshippers submit completely. Such is the muscle power of the game that even the traditional super power of Bollywood takes a bow before it. As film trade analyst N. P. Yadav concedes, "Oh yes, the World Cup definitely affects film attendance. Big banners have planned their releases accordingly after the mega event. They dare not mess with cricket." Film analysts peg the loss of film business due to the World Cup at 70 per cent. "It will be suicidal to the release big films during this period. Since cricket matches snatch away the audiences of all three shows at 3 pm, 6 pm and 9 pm. And if India were playing — the theatres are bound to go empty," veteran film trade expert Vinod Mirani points out.
The recent Team India — England cliffhanger match garnered a historic TRP of 17.2. Now compare that with the telecast of Dabangg, which grossed a rating of 9 and 3 Idiots of 7. The figures say it all! Not surprising then that Bollywood has graciously made way for the World Cup to conclude peacefully before they can sink their fangs back into the public again. Come April and the theatres will be deluged with big releases. However, fact remains that March is considered to be the lean month in Bollywood owing to school examinations that keep students and parents away from the theatres. Coupled with Cricket World Cup, there really isn’t much hope in sight for film releases. But trade pundit Amod Mehra argues, "It is only when Team India is playing that people will remain glued to the television; otherwise they are game for films. Small-budget films like Tanu Weds Manu could find a footing because of that. Although the film took a great opening but on the day India played England, their box office collections dropped by 50 per cent," he adds. So there is always a dark horse in the race. "Well, small films like Tanu Weds Manu wouldn’t get the right theatre chains for release otherwise. Such films often sneak in and with the right ingredients, get lucky too. Furthermore, Tanu Weds Manu enjoyed an unopposed run as the only big films running in the theatres currently are Patiala House and 7 Khoon Maaf, which have already had their run," observes Yadav. Never mind the cricket mania, theatres have to run and theatre owners must find new ways to lure in the viewers. Girish Wankhede, Deputy GM Corporate Communications, Cinemax theatres informs, "The whole of March has Cinemax Movie Marathon wherein we have organised regional film festivals at our properties in four cities — Mumbai, Hyderabad, Cochin and Siliguri. We are screening seven best regional films daily at 8 pm at an affordable range of Rs 50-110." The movie marathon includes, first English Sci-Fi film festival, first Rajnikant Film Festival, National Regional Film Fest (Marathi, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali) and Multi-Lingual Film Festival. Likewise, the PVR chain of theatres is running Oscar-winning films while single screen theatres are bringing back old hits like Yamla Pagla Deewana and Band Baaja Baraat in a bid to woo the audience. But come April and the floodgates will open showering us with star-studded bonanzas. But Game and Faltu releasing just a day before the World Cup finals are counting on the mania to subside quickly. "Also, if Team India doesn’t make it to the finals — their chances will be still brighter," says Amod Mehra, at the risk of being bludgeoned by cricket crazy fans. But as Mirani says, films manage to overcome all hurdles — first it was TV, then the video, the DVD, the net and now cricket. But Bollywood shall prevail, is his prophecy.
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