IPL frenzy may hurt Bollywood box office

MUMBAI: IPL’s overwhelming response in terms of ratings may hurt Yashraj Films, considering it’s next big release Tashan, releasing 25 April will be pitted against this newly-popular form of cricket. The estimated Rs 30-crore movie, trade analysts and leading multiplex operators feel, may struggle to garner a big audience due to matches scheduled in the afternoon and prime time. This will have an impact on the 3 pm, 6 pm and 9 pm shows, which are the key drivers at the box office. Also with Friday, Saturday and Sunday becoming critical in terms of revenue exploitation, distributors are tense considering the cricket frenzy. Last weekend, while no major films were released, Ajay Devgun’s directoral debut U Me aur Hum fell to the 15-20% occupancy level, resulting in the trade branding it a flop. It had witnessed a poor opening at 30-35%. The Rs 25-crore film may bring in only Rs 9 crore through ticket sales. If one accounts for all the other exploitation rights, the film is expected to make a loss of Rs 8-9 crore. On the other hand, Krazzy 4 which opened with a 70% occupancy level, fell drastically to 20-25% in terms of collections towards the end of its first week. The grand IPL launch also did not help, despite no new release this week. The Rs 10 crore film is expected to make close to Rs 7-8 crore at the box office and a further Rs 5 crore via other rights such as satellite, music and the home market, resulting in a small profit of Rs 3-4 crore. The negative rub off on revenues of movies at the box office may extend to the Big B-starrer Bhootnath releasing on 9 May, which is the next big ticket movie in the offing. In the overseas market, U Me Aur Hum has beaten Krazzy 4, unlike the domestic box office. Krazzy 4 grossed close to Rs 3 crore in 3 days in the overseas markets as opposed to U Me Aur Hum clocking Rs 6 crore in the same period. The majority of these revenues came in from North America and UK. According to Tam Media Research the inaugural match in Bangalore between Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders and Vijay Mallya’s Bangalore Royal Challengers on Friday fetched a rating of 8.21, with 12.5-million people tuning in to watch the match. The following two matches played between Chennai Super Kings Vs Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals Vs Delhi Daredevils, clocked 4.97 TRP and 5.58 TRP, respectively. As the matches move into the second stage shortly, Bollywood is indeed going to face stiff competition from the cricket-cum-entertainment bonanza that IPL seems to offer. The year has been dry for Bollywood, with only the Saif Ali Khan-Bipasha starrer Race putting up a good show. Bollywood has yet to see a mega blockbuster film at the box office in 2008.