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Monday, September 1, 2008

Bollywood crosses the Rs100 Cr barrier




THERE WAS a time when Hyderabad Blues, a film by Nagesh Kukunoor, was made on a shoe-string budget of less than Rs. 20 lakhs. That amount these days is just about what the choreographers charge. With big corporate houses joining the bandwagon of churning out movies, the money riding on these projects too has risen tremendously. Every song sequence is choreographed lavishly with many dancers in the background and the action sequences are shown with all the special effects possible. Clearly, the audience gets money’s worth every time it catches a Friday release at the box office. The days of the individual-producer are numbered as corporates are able to invest a lot more in the projects than individuals. The Rs 100 crore-mark has been breached by several films now.


Salman Khan’s Veer, which is due for release later this year, has fetched its producer Vijay Gilani an offer of Rs.150 crores for its worldwide rights. Vipul Shah’s project London Dreams starring Salman and Ajay Devgan has not even gone on the floors yet, but has been already sold for a staggering Rs. 120 crores to Studio 18. Clearly, for any big project in Bollywood, Rs.100 crores is now passé. Hrithik Roshan’s Kites directed by Anurag Basu and produced by Rakesh Roshan was to be sold to Eros International for Rs. 120 crores but the deal fell through as Rakesh thought a deal of such a magnitude was not good enough for the project.


Kites stars Barbara Mori and Kangana Ranaut along with Hrithik and was being shot on a budget of Rs. 60 crores. Akshay Kumar’s Singh is Kingg has earned more than Rs.120 crores in the initial weeks of its release. Aamir Khan’s soon-to-be-released Ghajini has been sold for Rs. 95 crores. Just last Diwali, Shahrukh Khan’s Om Shanti Om was sold for Rs. 73 crores, the biggest deal in Bollywood then. Not even a year has passed and we are already talking of Rs.120 crore plus deals. Indeed, the industry is witnessing sky-rocketing growth.


Apart from the movies doing great business, it is the actors who are turning heads charging astronomically. Aamir made the news for charging Rs seven crores for Mangal Pandey which was unheard of those days. Today, if reports are to be believed, Emraan Hashmi and Neil Nitin Mukesh are charging that amount. Salman was required to put on a lot of weight for his film Veer, for which he upped the price from Rs. 10 crores to Rs.20 crores and the producers gave in to his demand. Hrithik Roshan had a Rs. 35 crore-deal with Adlabs which didn’t quite work out in the end. But the price every actor in Bollywood quotes has suddenly shot up lately and no one is complaining.

It is even predicted that Bollywood would soon join the Hollywood industry in producing Rs. 100 crore plus projects. With the growth in multiplexes and increase in the average lifestyle of the Indians, the entertainment industry has become one of the fastest growing industries around. And with corporates ready to put in the megabucks, it is a win-win situation for all.

1 comments:

Unknown User said...

Blooywood...making more and more money but less and less substance

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