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Tiger Shroff: Another Action StarA few years ago, filmmakers were shying away from signing him but it was Sajid Nadiadwala who had…
Another Actor Turns ProducerIt’s a trend that’s turning into a tidal wave. We’re talking about actors turning producer.…
More On PK DealBox Office India was the first to tell you that Disney UTV had paid an astronomical price for Aamir…
Raj-DK To Launch Mahesh BabuThere was talk a few years ago that Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu would venture into Hindi filmdom…
“Today, I have to push much less to be appreciated”Guest Editor Deepika Padukone speaks to Box Office India about her upcoming release Yeh Jawaani Hai…
Awesome TwosomesAre hit actor-director pairings a commercial success or do they simply make for great…
Guns & PosesThere’s nothing funny about shooting in the scorching Rajasthan desert. But War Chhod Na Yaar…
The Reluctant FundamentalistWe’ve seen many films woven around the 9/11 terror attack in the US and the change in perception…
Take One
Content Matters
The audience is changing and cinema is changing too. It’s a little bit of both.
I think we’re fortunate to be living in a time when directors have to make different films to test the waters and see how far the audience is willing to go. And I think ...
Artificial Divide
There was a time not too long ago that there existed two distinct schools of filmmaking – one, the massively dominant mainstream or ‘commercial’ cinema; and second, the miniscule parallel movement with an emphasis on realism or ‘art’ films.
The latter drew sustenance largely from government grants and more ...
Posted in Take One
Tagged Ardh Satya, English Vinglish, Jolly LLB, Mohan Joshi Haazir Ho!, Singham, Vicky Donor, Zanjeer
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5 Action Points To Truly Mark 100 Years
As the fireworks take off to mark one hundred years of Hindi cinema, yes, let us all enjoy the moment and revel in mutual congratulations. But… can we also use this milestone event as a catalyst to do something we have not been very good at doing during the century ...
Centenary T20
As we, the trade, and the much larger community of Indian film loving audiences at home and abroad, gear up to celebrate the centenary of Indian cinema, here is a list of 20 facts that you may (or may not) know about the history of our films.
• First Indian ...
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Content Is King
In the last couple of weeks, we have looked at a sample selection of films to see how much the first weekend and the first week contributes to a film’s lifetime collections. For those who missed out, you can check previous edits online in the ‘Take One’ section of our ...
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Weekend or Strong-end?
In our edit note last week, Woh Saat Din… Week 1 Or Weak One?, we had underlined the fact that for many films, the first week’s collections can often comprise the vast majority of their lifetime business. For those who missed out on last week’s note, you can check it ...
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Woh Saat Din… Week 1 Or Weak One?
The Mayfly is an interesting insect. It may take as long as three years for its egg to metamorphose into an adult. However, once the literally shiny new adult emerges, its lifespan can last for as little as a few minutes and no longer than a day.
In case ...
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Q1, 2013… Looks Can Be Deceptive
Time sure flies, doesn’t it?! It seems like only yesterday that we were talking about ushering in the new year and hoping that the next 12 months would live up to a stellar 2012. And here we are, already through with the first quarter of the year.
So how ...
Wide Angle
As we all know, gone are the days when films celebrated golden and silver jubilees, and of films travelling to smaller centers weeks, if not months, after their release in the major ones.
A major reason for the shortening shelf life of films is the sheer numbers of films ...
Wanted: Heroes For A Cause
Let us not beat about the bush: it’s our leading men that lead not only popular interest in our film – and therefore determine the scale and viability of our projects – they are also the most dominant and powerful power centres in the filmmaking ecosystem.
In more cases ...
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Rabid, Gutsy, Visionary – The Importance Of Being RGV
You can love him or hate him but you just can’t ignore him… because he won’t allow you to! You only need to trawl through Ram Gopal Varma’s Twitter timeline to see for yourself that he quite revels in playing Agent Provocateur and doesn't need any outside help – the media, PR ...
Posted in Take One
Tagged Bhoot, Company, Department, Ram Gopal Varma, Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag, Rangeela, Sarkar, Satya, Shiva, Twitter
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Real To Reel
Last week’s international release, Lincoln, is the odds-on favourite to be the biggest winner in the upcoming Academy Awards aka the Oscars, having garnered as many as 12 nominations – including the big ones: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Actress in ...
Posted in Take One
Tagged A Beautiful Mind, A Mighty Heart, Aarakshan, American Gangster, Born On The Fourth Of July, Boys Don’t Cry, Bugsy, Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, Capone, Catch Me If You Can, Chaplin, Chariots of Fire, Charlie Wilson’s War, Dead Man Walking, Dog Day Afternoon, Elizabeth, Elvis, Erin Brockovich, Evita, Finding Neverland, Frost/Nixon, Goodfellas, Hoffa, Hotel Rwanda, Hugo, Invictus, J. Edgar, James Dean, JFK, Kennedy, MacArthur, Malcolm X, Man On The Moon, Mausam, Men Of Honor, Moneyball, My Left Foot, Nixon, Papillon, Patton, Raging Bull, Ray, Schindler’s List, Serpico, Son Of Sardaar, The Assassination Of Trotsky, The Aviator, The Doors, The Iron Lady, The King’s Speech, The Last King Of Scotland, The Pianist, The Queen, The Social Network, The Untouchables, Tropic Of Cancer, Truman, Vishwaroopam
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Location Matters?
When it comes to investing in property, it is said that three things are of utmost importance: location, location, location!
What role does location play when it comes to investing in intellectual properties like motion pictures? As all of us know, there are multiple implications of the location/s a film ...
Service Tax Bogey
A s Guest Editor of this issue of Box Office India, I want to use this note to register my very strong reservation about service tax, which is undoubtedly one of the gravest challenges for our industry.
We are paying so much service tax for so many different heads. ...
Posted in Take One
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Derail The Banned-Wagon
On Wednesday, the Tamil Nadu government empowered Collectors in the state to restrain cinema owners from exhibiting Kamal Haasan’s much-awaited Vishwaroopam, less than 48 hours before the film was scheduled to hit the screens yesterday (Friday). Accordingly, the police machinery swung into action and issued prohibitory orders against the film, ...
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First Among Sequels
If at first, you do succeed… Try, try and try again!
Hollywood has for long nurtured the concept of franchises/series, recognising their immense revenue potential. Every major studio has invested considerable financial and marketing muscle to create globally recognised properties/assets that, once established, can be exploited many times over ...
Posted in Take One
Tagged Batman, Die Hard, Harry Potter, Ice Age, Indiana Jones, James Bond, Mission Impossible, Pirates of the Caribbean, Rambo, Rocky, Shrek, Spiderman, Star Trek, Star Wars, Superman, The Fast And The Furious, The Lord Of The Rings, Toy Story, Transformers, Twilight, X Men
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Fastest Centuries
Quiz time: which batsmen have scored the fastest hundreds in test cricket, ODIs and international T20s, respectively? Given our national obsession with cricket statistics, I will not be surprised if many of you immediately answered some of the questions correctly, if not all.
Films, of course, are our country’s ...
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Looking Back, Looking Ahead
It is pertinent to note that around this time last year, we were wondering if the then new year would live up to 2011’s healthy box-office performance. Well, it certainly did, with as many as 9 films entering the ` 100-crore club as opposed to 5 films that did so ...
Posted in Take One
Tagged Aamir Khan – Dhoom 3; Ajay Devgn – Himmatwala and Satyagrah; Akshay Kumar – Special 26, Besharam; Saif Ali Khan – Race 2, Boss, Ghanchakkar and Ungli; Hrithik Roshan – Krrish 3; Ranbir Kapoor – Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai Again and the Thuppakki remake; Emraan Hashmi – Ek Thi Daayan
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’12s Baker’s Dozen
So here we are, bringing out our last issue of the year.
Quite appropriately, we head to press with the fabulous news that the year’s last major release, Dabangg 2, has literally rocked the box office, waltzing into the Rs 100-crore club in its very first week!
Dabangg ...
It’s A (Wo)Man’s World?
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
That could well summarise the situation our leading men have found themselves in over the nearly century-long history of our industry’s existence. And with every poor box-office performance that a star delivers, he finds himself subject to much theorising and many ...
Go Forth And Multiplex!
In our edit note last week, we had presented some numbers to analyse whether the recent consolidation in the exhibition sector signified over-capacity or market saturation in the segment.
To recap last week’s findings: as a country, India lags way behind many other mature film markets in the world ...
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Saturated Or Just Starting?
Last week, we carried an extensive data-driven piece on the implications of PVR taking over Cinemax, something that was then a subject of speculation but is now confirmed. With the PVR-Cinemax deal following up on the recent Inox-Fame merger, we are witnessing a phase of consolidation in the exhibition sector.
...
Look Before You Tweet!
“Twitter is not a technology. It’s a conversation. And it’s happening with or without you.” Charlene Li, Co-Author of Groundswell
A couple of days back, the social media networks were abuzz expressing condolences and paying tributes to our beloved Pran saab. While there is no denying that Pran saab ...
Not A Zero Sum Game
The week that went by saw the release of Jab Tak Hai Jaan (JTHJ) and Son Of Sardaar (SOS) on Tuesday to cash in on the extended Diwali weekend.
Of course, this wasn’t just any release of just any two films. While the combined on-screen running time of both ...
The Dating Game
As Guest Editor of Box Office India this week, I have been asked to share some thoughts on how much a holiday or a festival contributes to a film’s release. I am told that there is an exhaustive numbers-driven story on the subject in the pages that follow. I am ...
Progress… A Mixed Blessing
Having been in the industry as an actor for over two decades, and having followed it since even earlier thanks to my father, I can say quite categorically that the industry has changed quite massively from what it used to be.
And like every change, this change ...
Legends Never Die
I first met Yash Chopra in 1969 in Delhi. I was still in college but had started assisting Dev saab and it was a chance lunch at the Oberoi in Delhi during one of Dev saab’s visit that I met Yashji and JK Kapur (father of Copper Chimney owner Joy). ...
Posted in Take One
Tagged Amit Khanna, Dev Anand, Dharmputra, Dhool Ka Phool, Nitin Tej Ahuja, Yash Chopra
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Swiss Honour For Yash Chopra
Switzerland recently paid a tribute to filmmaker Y...
Switzerland recently paid a tribute to filmmaker Y...
Yash Chopra To Collaborate With A R Rahman
A R Rahman has been roped in to score the music fo...
A R Rahman has been roped in to score the music fo...
My Name Is G.One
Shah Rukh Khan discusses G.One, the name of hi...
Shah Rukh Khan discusses G.One, the name of hi...
Sridevi Is A English Teacher
We are aware that Sridevi is making her comeback i...
We are aware that Sridevi is making her comeback i...
Force Sustains On Day Two
Five films released this week – Nishikanth Kamat’s...
Five films released this week – Nishikanth Kamat’s...
No Kidding
On Monday, November 14, India will celebrate C...
On Monday, November 14, India will celebrate C...
The Wall And The Kisser
I really enjoyed reading two pieces in the last co...
I really enjoyed reading two pieces in the last co...
Only Big Directors For Katrina Kaif
Katrina Kaif who’s working with all the three Khan...
Katrina Kaif who’s working with all the three Khan...
Prayer Meet For Rajesh Khanna
The chautha ceremony of the late actor Rajesh Khan...
The chautha ceremony of the late actor Rajesh Khan...
Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet!
As we move forward, marketing of films takes centr...
As we move forward, marketing of films takes centr...
Arjun Kapoor Pays Tribute To Yash Chopra
Words cannot express what I have to say about Yash...
Words cannot express what I have to say about Yash...
“Har film ki aukaat hoti hai, uska ek darja hota hai”
Guest Editor Karan Johar in conversation with Box ...
Guest Editor Karan Johar in conversation with Box ...
