Paresh Rawal’s Malamaal Weekly, released three weeks back, has busted the theory that films released during the examination period don’t score at the box office. For years, producers and distributors have been wary of releasing their films in March for this very reason. And, consequently, the public is invariably starved of star-studded fare in the first month of summer. But the producers of Malamaal Weekly took a risk ? and reaped the fruits.
Actually, Malamaal Weekly could afford to defy convention because it was a low-budget film. Generally, March, when schools and colleges have exams, sees the release of small and non-starcast films because they can at least avoid competition from big-budget films during this time. No star worth his salt would, if he can help it, permit his film to open during this month. In the case of Malamaal Weekly, it was different because Ritesh Deshmukh has not yet reached that stage of his career when he can dictate terms to his producers. In fact, Ritesh, who is the hero of the film, was paid barely Rs 10 lakhs for acting in the film. Of course, after Bluffmaster and now Malamaal Weekly, even Ritesh must be demanding Rs 1 crore!
Anyway, with the multiplex culture coming in, it is not wholly right to assume that people don’t frequent cinema theaters during exam time. No doubt, the youth comprises a good chunk of the audience today, but multiplexes are buzzing with crowds on the weekends, exams or no exams. Since 60-75 per cent of the business happens during the weekends, at least for small-budget films, it would make sense for film makers to reconsider the age-old practice of giving March a miss. It was this very logic that was applied by Percept, producers of the Rs 4-crore Malamaal Weekly. Its first weekend’s business was Rs 5 crore and the first week’s net collections (after deducting entertainment tax) were an impressive Rs 8 crore. Since there were no major releases for four weeks after Malamaal Weekly, the comedy was ensured an open field.
Despite the success story of Malamaal Weekly, not many producers would risk getting their films to the screens in March because, as they say, old habits die hard. Frankly, Malamaal Weekly may have struck gold after release but before that it was a small film. It may still not make sense for big-budget and multi-starcast films to make the scene during the examination period because in their case, it’s not just the weekend business that’s important but also weekday business, at least in the initial weeks.
The Saif Ali Khan-starrer Being Cyrus too has been released in March. But again, like Malamaal Weekly, this dark film was also a low-budget movie. The logic of Times Infotainment in releasing the 90-minute suspense murder drama during the killing month of March was also to avoid the opposition of the biggies which will make the mark from April onwards. Of course, Being Cyrus was not as lucky as Malamaal but it was not even expected to be so. For one, Being Cyrus is the kind that would appeal to a niche audience (and not just because it is in English, with Hindi filmdom’s actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Dimple Kapadia, Boman Irani, Simone Singh and Manoj Pahwa) while Malamaal is hardcore mass-appeal fare. Secondly, Being Cyrus is about a dysfunctional Parsi family and not many regular Hindi filmgoers would want to see a film in which almost every character is a Parsi. Still, the film has been appreciated in cities like Bombay. It’s quite paradoxical that the critics generally gave three and four stars to Cyrus while dismissing Malamaal with two stars or a one star. Two more bits of evidence that the box office is not in the least bit guided by what the critics have to say about films.
You may wonder why I described Being Cyrus as a low-budget film when it is a starry affair. Well, the fact is that the stars did not charge their market price for this film. In debut-making director Homi Adajania’s own words, “Saif charged peanuts!” And what exactly is peanuts? “Chana seengh,” he laughs. The peanuts couldn’t have been more than Rs 10 lakh. For a hardcore commercial film, he charges more than 25 times that amount.
If exam periods are taboo for producers, holiday times are always welcome. Next week’s releases, Subhash Ghai’s Shaadi Se Pehle and Pankuj Parashar’s Banaras ? A Mystic Love Story are likely to hit the screens on Thursday instead of Friday because of the Ram Navami holiday on April 6.
Komal Nahata is Editor, Film Information
