“It has been established ever since the days of Dhoom 2 (2006) that for over 90% of the films to succeed, it’s the first week (fast shrinking to first weekend) that brings in all the moolah. Fair enough, that’s the business model and so be it. However let’s bring in a few notable flicks in the last few years gone by, all of which have netted over 100 crores at the box office and hence stepping into that elusive club.
These are 3 Idiots, Bodyguard, Dabangg, Ready, Ra.One, Ghajini, Golmaal 3 and Singham.
Now the question which arises here is – ‘How many of these films have you watched more than once and that too in theatres?’ Of course the very collections indicate that 3 Idiots is the one at the top; after all, the sheer gap between the Raj Kumari Hirani flick and the second best paints a clear picture. Ok, so we do love 3 Idiots and would have watched it in theatres twice, perhaps even thrice or more. Great, so what else? Dabangg? Yes, may be, perhaps! Of course, at single screens there were repeat viewings but did multiplex goers also watch the film twice? I doubt!
As for Bodyguard, Ready, Singham and Ra.One, all of which joined the 100 crore club this year, chances are further remote that audience stepped in twice. May be a couple of these films found good appreciation while the rest settled down as average affairs. However, in the bigger scheme of things (and for a story to be told to future generation), these are the films that broke the Rs.100 crore mark, regardless of the fact that whether they fetched repeat audience or not. ”
“Once a biggie has been seen in theatre, chances are further dim that an individual actually has time and patience to watch it all over again on the telly, especially if he found it just about okay in the first viewing. This leads me to the point – ‘Are we making enough ‘memorable movies’ that go on to create records in theatres and then come back to regale you all over again even when they are available for free?’ I guess not, if one goes by the trend over the last few years.
Yes, there are movies that we like watching all over again but ironically, these are the ones that failed to create any records and were either just hits or perhaps even lower down. Guess what, a few of these were even commercial failures but more about that later.
Let’s pick up some of the recent examples of films that have continued to find repeat audience for themselves despite not belonging to the ‘100 crore’ club. Aamir Khan’s Taare Zameen Par, Shah Rukh Khan’s Chak De India, Akshay Kumar’s Welcome, Hrithik Roshan’s Koi Mil Gaya, Salman Khan’s No Entry and Sanjay Dutt’s Munnabhai series are some of the biggies that have enjoyed continued patronage from audience after they had already done so well in theatres. Sadly, most of these films were released at least 3-4 years ago.
Some films turned extraordinary after their theatrical run
Then there are films which were actually just about average in theatres but went on to be so huge due to word of mouth that if released today with the right kind of marketing and promotion, they could well have comfortably joined the ‘100 crore’ club on the sheer strength of audience base that has patronised them. The first film that comes to one’s mind is Shahid-Kareena’s Jab We Met. Today the film is so huge on satellite circuits; one can be rest assured that anyone and everyone watching it now is doing so for at least the second or the third time. ”
Tags: 3 Idiots Bodyguard Dabangg Ghajini Golmaal 3 Ra.One Ready Singham
