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FACTORS AFFECTING THE BOX-OFFICE RETURNS IN BOLLYWOOD

AADIL MAJEED ABSTRACT: The objective of this research paper is to analyse various factors that directly or indirectly influences the box office collections in Bollywood. The research tries to classify the movies taken up for the sample study released during 2010 to 2012 based on their box office returns and other strategies used during the prerelease, release date and post-release period. The research paper analysis the data of 360 movies released from 2010 to 2012. The data has been collected from various trusted and reliable sources like IMBD and Ormax media website. Based on analysis and findings the appropriate conclusion has been drawn at the end of the research.

KEYWORDS: Star power, Box office collections, WOM, Opening weekend.

INTRODUCTION As many as 360 movies released from 2010 to 2012, some of them were commercial successes and some critically acclaimed. Many films entered the 100 crore club and touched new milestones every year. Many records were made and many were broken and the industry business hit the new heights every year. The concept of movie making and growth of cine goers in India has

really brought a revelation in box office returns in Bollywood during the past few years. The growth in the box office collections has been stupendous post the release of Ghajini (2008) as the movie was the first to cross the 100 crores in Bollywood. Today it is all about the good opening and the first weekend or week collections which decide the fate of the movie. The opening weekend serves as an important and strong predicator to overall financial performance at the domestic box office, foreign box office, video sales, and video rental revenue (Caroline Elliott, Rob Simmons, 2008). Star power, release dates, promotions, Word of mouth (WOM), holiday weekends, online promotions, festive season, controversies and critical reviews are important factors which has a huge impact on the box office returns in Bollywood. Cinema watching has never been the same. Gone are the days when a good movie was made, it was the content and story line, the strong performances which automatically drew the audience to the cinema theatres. The option of entertainment for the theatre-goers of the 1970s and the 1980s was relatively less. It was cinema which offered a valuable three-hour entertainment. The number of movies that were churned out of film factories were also comparatively less than the present era. Hence, the success of a movie purely depended on the content of the cinema (P Prasada Rao and Karthik Kannan, 2008). Nowadays, more movies are made on the real life stories and that has also created curiosity among the audience and eventually affected the box office collections. HYPOTHESIS: H1: The opening weekend has a huge impact on the box office collections of the movie.

H2: Star power has a huge impact on the opening and box office collections.

LITERATURE REVIEW In Bollywood, the star power has redefined the collections at the ticket widow from 2008 and other factors have also contributed significantly to box office collections. Nowadays, every product or commodity which can be sold in the market needs marketing so that it reaches to the target customers. Cinema has also felt this need to change with the changing environment and the movie can be classified into pre-release, release date and post-release period. This period includes different promotion starting from newspapers in the form of pictures, interviews, gossips, to televisions, trailers, playing songs, making of the movie, interviews by the cast of the movie, and other activities which creates a buzz about the movie and is more than just awareness (P Prasada Rao and Karthik Kannan, 2008). The critical reviews has also become such an important part as viewers use to see is the movie worth a watch or not. Another important factor is Word of mouth (WOM) that has become a powerful tool and is more credible and trustworthy for the viewers these days The WOM is very active during the prerelease period and spreads like virus after the movie gets reviewed and release. (Yong Liu, 2006). Today, there are movie critics appearing on almost every TV channel. For example, people like Rajeev Masand definitely create an impact on the minds of the viewers when they give a verdict on channels like CNN-IBN. It is important that movie makers take these mega mavens into confidence. However, this is

not to be done by buying or recruiting them as such. If done so, these professionals might lose their own credibility (P Prasada Rao and Karthik Kannan, 2008). Other reviewers like Taran Adarsh (Bollywood Hungama), Anupama chopra (star world) are credible reviewers and they have huge fan following on social networks so, their review do influence their fan base whether to watch a movie or not.

Filmmakers are also using blogging and social media as an effective tool to promote their movies. Getting a good review from known critics has a huge impact on the prospects of a movie. The concept of blogging sites have also helped the movies which were high on content but were not promoted effectively like BLACK and GURU. Technology has also changed the very form of entertainmentvideo games to computers, cable television to video players, CDs to DVDs, I-pod to video mobile phones. The list is bound to become wider in the years to come. Grey market has also expanded and eroded into the profits of producers and distributors. This has added to the burden that a movie-maker has to face in order to earn revenue out of the movie that he/she produces (P Prasada Rao and Karthik Kannan, 2008).

AIM OF THE STUDY The objective of this study is as follows:

What

are the different factors that affect the box office returns in

Bollywood?

 How much do these factors influence the total revenue and the status of
the movie?

What are the current trend and the upcoming innovations that are going to
change the prospects of a movie business in Bollywood?

How

much growth Hindi movies have made from 2010-2012 in the

overall collections?

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This research is an exploratory research and is based on the secondary data.The sample of movies used for the study has been listed which, ranges from a period of 2010-2012. Specifically this period has been chosen, as any movie taken before this period would widely vary in terms of its promotion, collections primarily due to technology and other factors. The sample has been selected on the basis of top grosser, big flops, sleeper hits and surprise flops In 2010, as many as 100 movies released at the Bollywood box office. In 2011, 107 movies released at the box office. In 2012, 155 movies released at the box office the highest so far.
The table 1 shows how different factors have affected different movies and their affect on box office results:
MOVIES (YEAR) DABANGG HUGE HIGH HIGH POSITIVE STAR POWER ALL TIME BLOCKBUSTER STAR POWER PROMOTIONS CONTENT WOM EXTRA FACTOR BOXOFFICE RESULT

(2010) GOLMAAL 3(2010) VEER (2010) GUZAARISH(2 010) HUGE AVERAGE GOOD MIXED STARPOWER+ PERFORMAN CES AARAKSHAN(2 011) MURDER 2 (2011) OMG (2012) ROWDY RATHORE (2012) BARFII (2012) GOOD GOOD HIGH POSITIVE CONTENT+PE RFORMANCE S LOW AVERAGE HIGH POSITIVE CONTENT+PE RFORMANCE S HIT BLOCKBUSTER AVERAGE HUGE AVERAGE HUGE HIGH LOW POSITIVE MIXED AVERAGE AVERAGE AVERAGE POSITIVE MUSIC+SEQU EL CONTENT ACTION SUPERHIT BLOCKBUSTER SUPERHIT HUGE HIGH AVERAGE MIXED STAR POWER FLOP FLOP HUGE HIGH LOW NEGAVTIVE MUSIC+STAR POWER FLOP GOOD HIGH LOW MIXED SEQUEL BLOCKBUSTER

GANGS OF WASSYPUR(20 12)

Based on the above analysis we can find out that different factors can affect the movie at the box office. If we talk about Dabangg (2010), it literally shattered almost all the box office records that year. The reasons were many like it was backed by a huge star power, the action genre is very popular in India, the innovative promotions and positive word of mouth really helped it along. The other example of Aarakshan (2011) was also backed by huge star power,

aggressive promotions and the performances were quite good but it flopped at the box office. The reason was very evident as the mixed word of mouth spread and the content was also average. Other factors like music, critical reviews, production banner, remakes, and controversies directly or indirectly affect the movie. Times have changed a good movie is openly accepted but it should be promoted so that it attracts the target audience. The films based on real life stores like No One Killed Jessica (2011), Pan Sing Tomar (2012) has been appreciated widely and were winners at the box office as well. Unconventional movies like Peepli live (2010), Stanley Ka Dabba (2011), Barfii (2012) and Gangs of Wassypur (2012) have pushed the envelope as the content is out of box for the typical Bollywood audience and these movies did had the commercial success as well. Masala movies still do well today only because they are backed by huge star power and promotions. The other factor is Budget and the distributors share which is of prime importance and that is what matters at the end of the day. Ra.One (2011) had the best promotions ever in Bollywood, huge star power, super hit music, good performances, and Dewali release yet it did not manage to recover all its production budget of 150 crore from Indian market. The reason was huge budget and mixed word of mouth although the movie took an excellent opening both in India as well as overseas. The table 2 shows the movies that hit the 100 crore mark from 2010 to 2012:
YEAR 2010 2010 2011 MOVIE DABANGG GOLMAAL 3 READY STAR SALMAN KHAN AJAY DEVGAN SALMAN KHAN GENRE ACTION COMEDY ACTION/COMEDY RATINGS/10 6.3 5.1 CONTENT GOOD AVERAGE AVERAGE

4.5

2011 2011

BODYGUARD RA.ONE

SALMAN KHAN

ACTION

4.3 4.7

AVERAGE

SHAHRUKH KHAN

SCI FI

AVERAGE

2011

DON2

SHAHRUKH KHAN

ACTION

6.8

GOOD

2011 2012

SINGHAM HOUSEFULL2

AJAY DEVGAN AKSHAY KUMAR

ACTION COMEDY

6.6 5.0

GOOD AVERAGE

2012

AGNEEPATH

HRITHIK ROSHAN

ACTION

7.0

GOOD

2012

ROWDY RATHORE

AKSHAY KUMAR AJAY DEVGAN SALMAN KHAN

ACTION

5.5

AVERAGE

2012 2012

BOL BACHAN EK THA TIGER

COMEDY/ACTION ACTION/ROMANTIC

5.2 5.6

GOOD GOOD

2012

BARFII

RANBIR KAPOOR

ROMANTICCOMEDY-DRAMA ACTION

7.3

VERY GOOD

2012

SON SARDAR

OF

AJAY DEVGAN

4.7

AVERAGE

2012

JAB TAK HAI JAAN

SHAH KHAN

RUKH

ROMANTIC

6.2

GOOD

All these movies have crossed the 100crore figure and many things are common in these movies like huge star power, genre, sequels and remakes with only few exceptions. This shows the affect of star power in Bollywood movies irrespective of their content and ratings. All these movies had an excellent opening at the box office and the major chunk came in the first week only that

means the initial buzz does not last for too long and the advantages are also short lived.

FINDINGS:
The primary aim of this research has been to analyse the different factors that affect the box office returns in Bollywood. Over the past few years the star power has kept the cash registers ringing at the ticket window and from 2010 it has touched new heights. Actors like Salman khan has had a dream run at the box office from 2009 and his movies hit the 100 crore one after the other. However, good content, aggressive promotions and positive word of mouth (WOM) has also affected the box office collections. The path breaking storylines and unusual plots have been welcomed by the Indian audience appreciably. The unconventional cinemas like Barfii (2012), Peepli Live (2010), I am Kalam (2011), and Gangs of Wassypur (2012) have also tasted both commercial and critical success in India as well as overseas. Social media like Facebook, Twitter etc have become a new trend to promote and spread the word of mouth (WOM) quickly across the target market. New marketing techniques and innovations have also been used to attract the audience towards theatres. Accessibility has been a major change as new cinemas and multiplex chains are opening in every town and distribution of prints has become very effective these days. Being a growing economy India has shown good growth in different sectors and Cinema is definitely one of them. The business of Bollywood movies is growing leaps and bounds every year and it will keep growing in future as well.

REFERENCES AND WEBSITES:

Yong Liu, Word of Mouth for Movies: Its Dynamics and Impact on Box Office Revenue 2006. American Marketing Association ISSN: 0022-2429 (print), 1547-7185 (electronic) 7< Journal of Marketing Vol. 70 (July 2006), 74-89

Caroline Elliott Rob Simmons, Determinants of UK Box Office Success: The Impact of Quality Signals- Published online: 17 September 2008 Springer Science + Business Media, LLC. 2008 P Prasada Rao* and Karthik Kannan**, Marketing Strategies of Bollywood Movies in India and Overseas: An Empirical Study- The Icfai Journal of Business Strategy, Vol. V, No. 1, 2008 Neil Terry, DeArno DeArmond, Miles Zachary, West Texas A&M University, Canyon, Texas, USA - THE DETERMINANTS OF OPENING WEEKEND BOX OFFICE REVENUE FOR MOVIES JOURNAL OF ACADEMY OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS, Volume 9, Number 4, 2009 http://forbesindia.com/blog/business-strategy/journey-of-the-100-crorebollywood-film/ www.bollywoodhungama.com www.boxofficeindia.com www.hungama.com www.ibnlive.com

www.imdb.com

 www.forbesindia.com/blog/business-strategies