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Shama Rana

Small-budget films with an unusual storyline and no big names to count on are raking in the moolah at the boxoffice

Anurag Kashyap’s tale Gangs of Wasseypur registered a collection of Rs 21 crore in 10 days of its release

Monsoons are right here but it’s already raining small budget movies in Bollywood. Thanks equally to the movie makers and cinema goers, these movies with unusual subjects and no big names to count are raking in the big moolah at the boxoffice. With the biggies like Salman’s Ek Tha Tiger, Aamir Talaash booked for the second half of the year 2012; small budget movies took the cake in the first half. Hits like Kahaani, Paan Singh Tomar, Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya and Vicky Donor, Ishaqzaade all had offbeat themes but managed to keep the cash flowing at the ticket windows.

Rajesh Mapuskar has all reasons to grin from ear to ear as his debutant directorial flick Ferrari Ki Sawaari made at Rs 10 crore crossed Rs 24 crore mark. Similarly, Sujoy Ghosh’s woman-centric saga Kahaani, which saw Vidya Balan running around the streets of Kolkata to trace her husband created waves sans any typical Bollywood masala surprisingly went on to gather Rs 104 crore at the boxoffice. The movie was made at a budget of Rs 8 crore. For Kahaani, Ghosh shot the film on the streets of Kolkata and chose to market the film through social networking media, thus saving on the expenses. Likewise, the Rs 9-crore flick Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya generated boxoffice revenues to the tune of Rs 24 crore.

The small budget movies have indeed revived the Hindi film industry and more and more banners are joining the league. The formula is simple — if the story line is good, sign in a newbie actor and actress, throw in a song or two, stick to local shoots, and your movie is ready to sell without having to worry about the tantrums from big stars and expensive overseas shoots sending production costs skyrocketing.

(Left) Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi pairs together unusual lovers; and (right) Vicky Donor, based on an offbeat theme, found favour with the cinegoers

Irrfan Khan’s portrayal of Army man-cum-athlete turned dacoit in the movie Paan Singh Tomar drew good response and earned Rs 31 crore, which is far more than Rs 3 crore production costs that went into making the movie. Vicky Donor, too, saved on expenses since it featured fresh faces and was filmed in a month. The movie with an atypical theme and budget as low as Rs 5 crore not only delighted audiences with stunning performances by newbies — Yami Gautam and Ayushmann Khurana but also did brisk business of Rs 60 crore at the boxoffice. Shooojit Sircar’s Rs 19 crore political thriller Shanghai based on Greek Novel Z by Vassilis Vassilikos and starring Kalki, Imraan and Abhay Deol earned Rs 23 crore in two weeks of opening, and also won critical acclaim.

A pregnant Vidya Balan won many hearts in Sujoy Ghosh’s woman-centric saga Kahaani

Director Anurag Kashyap’s tale of feud wars over coal mines in Dhanbad in Jharkhand, Gangs of Wasseypur registered a collection of Rs 21 crore in just 10 days, which is overwhelmingly good considering Rs 9.2 crore budget of movie. Small films earn a bulk of their revenue from boxoffice sales unlike big film-makers, who solely depend on satellite and overseas rights. Also satellite rights of these small-budget movies have been sold at high rates that upped their profits. Timing of release also played an important factor for small films to make it big at the boxoffice. All successful budget films this year ensured that their release didn’t clash with any big banner film. However, John Abraham, actor and co-producer of Vicky Donor, went on to release his film during the IPL season and this he says was done deliberately. As other filmmakers had decided against any big releases during IPL, he took a calculated risk, which proved to be a lucrative one too.

But there is more to watch out for. The ticket window is gearing up for a torrent of small budget movies. Kabeer Kaushik's Maximum featuring Sonu Sood, Naseeruddin Shah, Neha Dhupia is an interplay of politics, land deals, fake shootouts and money. The item number from the movie "Aa Ante Amalapuram" is already topping the musical charts. On the other hand 3 Bachelors is a humorous take on young generation’s love life. Anand Kumar’s flick Zila Ghaziabad is said to be based on real life personalities and will set forth the nexus between the powers that be, cops and industrialists. Next in the pipeline is Vikram Bhatt’s Raaz 3. The upcoming movie Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi stars veteran comedian Boman Irani and introduces director-choreographer Farah Khan as an actor has been made at a budget of Rs 15 crore. The movie is slated for release on August 24 and marks the directorial debut of Bela Bhansali Sehgal. Another movie in the fray for taking big projects head on is Aiyya co-produced by Anurag Kashyap at a budget of Rs 15 crore. The movie is scheduled for release on September 28 and features Malayalam superstar Prithviraj's pairing with Rani Mukerji who is playing a Marathi girl.

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