Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Home
Business
Business Home
Economy
Davos 2012
Technology
Media
Small Business
Legal
Deals
Earnings
Summits
Business Video
Markets
Markets Home
U.S. Markets
European Markets
Asian Markets
Global Market Data
Indices
M&A
Stocks
Bonds
Currencies
Commodities
Futures
Funds
peHUB
World
World Home
U.S.
Brazil
China
Euro Zone
Japan
Mexico
Russia
India Insight
World Video
Politics
Politics Home
Election 2012
Issues 2012
Candidates 2012
Tales from the Trail
Political Punchlines
Supreme Court
Politics Video
Tech
Technology Home
MediaFile
Science
Tech Video
Opinion
Opinion Home
Chrystia Freeland
John Lloyd
Felix Salmon
Jack Shafer
David Rohde
Bernd Debusmann
Gregg Easterbrook
Nader Mousavizadeh
James Saft
Lucy P. Marcus
David Cay Johnston
Bethany McLean
Edward Hadas
Hugo Dixon
Ian Bremmer
Mohamed El-Erian
Lawrence Summers
Susan Glasser
The Great Debate
Steven Brill
Breakingviews
Equities
Credit
Private Equity
M&A
Macro & Markets
Politics
Money
Money Home
Global Investing
MuniLand
Unstructured Finance
Linda Stern
Mark Miller
John Wasik
Analyst Research
Alerts
Watchlist
Portfolio
Stock Screener
Fund Screener
Personal Finance Video
Life & Culture
Health
Sports
Arts
Faithworld
Business Traveler
Entertainment
Oddly Enough
Lifestyle Video
Pictures
Pictures Home
Reuters Photographers
Full Focus
Video
Article
Comments (0)
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Web gambling gets boost from Obama administration
25 Dec 2011
Mel Gibson, wife finalize divorce
23 Dec 2011
Obamas go to church, dine in for Christmas in Hawaii
25 Dec 2011
Islamists kill dozens in Nigeria Christmas bombs
|
25 Dec 2011
Islamists kill dozens in Nigeria Christmas bombs
|
25 Dec 2011
Discussed
257
In ad for newsletter, Ron Paul forecast ”race war”
132
Slumping Gingrich promises sharper counter-punch
119
Gingrich questions Ron Paul on racist newsletters
Watched
Japan picks the F35 as regional uncertainty rises
Mon, Dec 19 2011
A royal hospital visit
Sun, Dec 25 2011
Tanks and protests in Syria
Sun, Dec 25 2011
Bollywood rediscovered heroes in 2011
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Related News
Vito Russo: from "Celluloid Closet" to cinema star
Fri, Dec 23 2011
"Hobbit" trailer has film fans buzzing
Thu, Dec 22 2011
A Minute With: Steven Spielberg on "Tintin" and "War Horse"
Wed, Dec 21 2011
"Sherlock Holmes" sequel leads slower box office
Sun, Dec 18 2011
"Artist" leads Golden Globes. Do Oscars await?
Thu, Dec 15 2011
Analysis & Opinion
India Markets Weekahead: Time to build a long-term portfolio
Don 2: Don’t expect too much
Related Topics
Entertainment »
Fashion »
Film »
Bollywood actor Salman Khan (R) reacts on the green carpet for the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards in Colombo June 5, 2010. Colombo is playing host to the annual awards which are held in a different city each year -- a sign of Bollywood's efforts to broaden its global appeal.
Credit: Reuters/Dinuka Liyanawatte
By Shilpa Jamkhandikar
MUMBAI |
Sun Dec 25, 2011 9:02pm EST
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Bollywood struck gold in 2011, revving up lacklustre box offices in India with help from its leading men who wooed audiences back to cinemas after a dismal 2010.
Domestic revenues hit 19.25 billion rupees ($363.2 million) this year, up from 14.5 billion rupees in 2010, and an unprecedented four films crossed the billion rupee milestone. Two of those blockbusters starred actor Salman Khan.
The solid performance contrasted sharply to the previous year when there were hardly any hits.
"Audiences and filmmakers have gone back and discovered stories that are close to our Indian roots," said Sanjeev Lamba, Chief executive of Reliance Entertainment, which produced two of the year's biggest blockbusters -- "Bodyguard" and "Singham".
"Bodyguard", in which Khan plays a personal security guard to a rich man's daughter and ends up falling in love with her, was the most successful Bollywood film, raking in more than 1.5 billion rupees ($28 million) at domestic box offices.
"Singham" told the story of a right-minded police officer who stands up to a corrupt politician and was accompanied by romance, drama and high-octane action.
Both "Bodyguard" and "Singham" were panned by critics but loved by audiences. And both featured strong central characters, harkening back to the 1980s and early '90s in Bollywood when films were centred on the hero and his defeat of a villain in a battle of good versus evil.
"Audiences have always loved the dilemmas of the hero, a little bit of action, some drama and some romance," Lamba said. "We had a lot of that this year."
Other themes were successful, too.
Offbeat films like "The Dirty Picture", based on the life of a soft-core porn star, proved to be sleeper hits and took industry analysts by surprise. Together with the likes of "Singham" and "Bodyguard", these smaller films proved audiences have an appetite for both mass market and niche-oriented work.
"It is not that more people are watching movies, but that the same audience is watching more movies," said Shailesh Kapoor of Ormax Media, a firm that specialises in film market research.
"HARRY POTTER" HOT; "RA.ONE" NOT
But widely-hyped movies like superhero film "Ra.One" were a let-down.
In spite of a publicity blitzkrieg, actor Shah Rukh Khan's film did not live up to expectations with around 1.2 billion rupees ($22 million) in net box office. That was just a bit more than its official budget of a billion rupees. Industry estimates put the film's cost at over 1.5 billion rupees.
Aside from that, for the most part, Bollywood managed to keep its purse strings in check, with production houses learning that budgeting a film right is half the battle.
"Balaji Motion Pictures made 'The Dirty Picture' at a budget of less than 300 million rupees but have chosen themes and subjects which are interesting, and (they) publicised their films so well that audiences have felt compelled to watch them," said industry analyst Vajir Singh.
Big studios like Reliance and UTV also have changed their business models, preferring to co-produce films rather than acquire them after completion. Last year, Reliance suffered losses after two big-ticket acquisitions, Mani Ratnam's "Raavan" and Hrithik Roshan-starrer "Kites" flopped at box offices.
"This year, all our films have been co-productions or our own productions and we have seen the successes," Lamba said.
"We prefer to be creatively involved from the beginning of the project rather than coming in at the end in an acquisition scenario."
Indian audiences also warmed up to Hollywood blockbusters including "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" and "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn" -- something that wasn't seen until just a few years ago due mainly to Bollywood's dominance of the box office.
"These days, the box office collections of good Hollywood films can rival those of a Bollywood film," said Sunil Punjabi, chief executive of the Cinemax chain of multiplexes.
"The Adventures of Tintin," which was released along with Ranbir Kapoor's "Rockstar" in November, made more than 70 million rupees its opening weekend
(Editing by Elaine Lies and Bob Tourtellotte)
Entertainment
Fashion
Film
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
Entertainment News From the Wrap
Donald Trump Leaves GOP, Registers as Independent
25 Dec 2011
Trump's dalliance with the 2012 presidential race continues
'Mission: Impossible' Tops a Soft Christmas Eve Box Office
25 Dec 2011
With Christmas Eve falling on a Saturday, moviegoing dipped -- but Hollywood expects audiences to return in strong numbers Christmas Day
SAG-PPHP Board Tells Members: 'Your Pension is Safe'
24 Dec 2011
The plans' trustees say that $2 million in misappropriated funds have been "substantially" recovered
TheWrap's 2011 Year in Review: From Moguls to ... WTF?!
25 Dec 2011
Winning -- and losing -- moguls, notable deaths, memorable TV and movie performances, more
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on reuters.com.
Add yours using the box above.
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Back to top
Reuters.com
Business
Markets
World
Politics
Technology
Opinion
Money
Pictures
Videos
Site Index
Legal
Bankruptcy Law
California Legal
New York Legal
Securities Law
Support & Contact
Support
Corrections
Advertise With Us
Connect with Reuters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
RSS
Podcast
Newsletters
Mobile
About
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider
An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution
A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance
Our next generation legal research platform
Our global tax workstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.