By Pratishtha Mahajan
The year 2013 has been a busy one, with as many as six movies making it to the 100 crore club, I wonder what determines the success of a film in our country?
Star cast : the biggest crowd puller in our films are the main actors and actresses. If a movie fails to cast the dominant actors and actresses as leads, there’s only a bleak chance that the film will work at the box office. The only saving grace for such a film would be the introduction of an extra ordinary element or concept.
Talking about the Kangana Ranaut and Raj Kumar Yadav starrer film QUEEN, in my opinion was far better than the third parts of both Dhoom and Koi Mil Gaya trilogy and also the SRK starrer Chennai Express. Kangana Ranaut portrayed the role of Rani, a young woman who learns how to live life independently and to validate her very existence without a male figure in her life. She sets for her honeymoon all by herself and in the period of a month she realises that she’s worth much more that what the guy who leaves her, did to her. On her journey she makes new friends, parties, even follow her passion to cook and also has her first kiss in the exotic land of Amsterdam. She comes back a changed and improved person, moreover a happier person who is self reliant and doesn’t need to be shackled in the world of marriage. Such a wonderfully directed film with such a brilliant performance by Kangana deserved a much better response from the audience than what it received. However good the film was, due to lack of big names, the film lost on audience’s attention. From this we can surely conclude not every good film is a hit and a mediocre film could be a hit too. Observing this it can be said that the charm that does work in bollywood is surely the tag : Khan’s, Kapoors and Kumars.
Apart from the star cast audience looks out for the music, if the music is soulful the movie can do wonders. The perfect example here would be the musical “Ashiqui 2”. The music itself pulled the crowd towards the film even when the star cast included debutants.
The banner and the producer or the director: some banners like Yash Raj Films, Dharma Productions, Vishesh Films have already established their names amongst the audience. So if a film is made under the particular banners, the viewership increases and people have a preconceived notion about the type they are expecting.
The directors inputs in the film can also change the total outlook of the film. Ram leela was a pure stroke of magic by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The intensity of the film was marvellous.
Besides these major reasons, Bollywood films can do extremely well if the publicity gimmicks are used to the fullest. Chennai Express winning the best marketed film in the year 2013, sets an example for other films as well. Another reason could be the release date, if the movie comes out at a time when there are already block busters running in cinema houses, the movie wont work. So strategic releasing of the film is also important. Like Queen extended its release date as earlier it was clashing with the Vidya Balan & Farhan Akhtar starrer “Shaadi ke side effects”.
In the end what matters is the success of the film and it being “HIT” on the box office because after all Bollywood is a means of livelihood for 1000’s of people linked to the film industry.
