B’wood’s sweet success overseas
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The unconventional Ranbir Kapoor starrer’s exceptional business overseas is great news for filmmakers wanting to experiment
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The Ranbir Kapoor starrer Barfi! has done phenomenal
business in the overseas market, second only to Ek Tha Tiger. With
collections to the tune of `32 crore, the film has surpassed Agneepath and Housefull 2 (both `30
crore), according to distributors. Trade analysts agree that the film
has done exceptional business abroad, which so far has been the domain
of Khans and the regular masala entertainers.
“After a superb opening weekend, Barfi! has sustained its run in cinemas better than any other movie this year across all major markets like the US, UK, Middle East and Australia,” says Amrita Pandey, executive director - international distribution, Studios, Disney UTV. Though nowhere in the league of Barfi!, as far as collections go, Sridevi’s comeback and another hatke film, English Vinglish that released last week has also found favour with the NRI audiences. The film, over the last weekend, has done a business of `9.75 crore overseas and producers Eros International are looking at a `20 crore lifetime overseas business. Says Pranab Kapadia, president, marketing and distribution, Eros, “The fact that a film with no big face — it has Sridevi, but she is not a Rajnikant or a Salman Khan — and is not treated in the typical commercial style is doing well because it has a universal appeal!” The other non-starry mainstream films like Gangs of Wasseypur, Vicky Donor and Kahaani have also been released on foreign shores. While the numbers are way below the biggies, Vicky… according to Kapadia has turned in a lifetime business of about `4 crore. Kahaani too has generated over `4 crore overseas, says producer Jayantilal Gada. “Their costs of production were also less,” they point out. The foreign territories usually mean US, UK, UAE, Gulf countries, Netherlands, Fiji, Pakistan and Australia. Until a couple of years ago, distributors couldn’t think of releasing non-starry/offbeat films abroad because the cost of importing the print itself is a crore-and-a-half. “Given a choice between big names and one sans huge stars, people used to prefer the former. So there was no point releasing offbeat films. Still, since the last one-and-a-half year, films like Vicky Donor and Ferrari Ki Sawaari have been releasing abroad and this kind of business is definitely encouraging,” says Kapadia. As trade observer Vajir Singh says, “Indians abroad have realised that Bollywood films are not just about song and dance, they go much beyond.” |
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