Blockbuster Bluster: Reality Belies The Hype

Thamma is not a hit. From Wednesday, theatres across India are offering a ‘Buy 1 Get 1 Free’ ticket scheme — and the film is just into its second week. Does that sound like a blockbuster? “No!” says Kumar Abhishek, manager, Connplex, Patna, who reluctantly agreed to go on record. “Everywhere they are celebrating the success of Thamma. The truth is, after a fairly good start, the collections have gone downhill. I would like to ask the producers in which part of the country Thamma is a success. Earlier, Kantara Chapter 1 was hailed as a blockbuster, but it did much less business than the first part. Jolly LLB 3 is a good film, but it was not a success, although Akshay Kumar’s fan club and the film’s producers wanted the public to believe otherwise. How do producers compute the profit margin and conclude that their film is a success?” Thamma has underperformed severely everywhere. It collected approximately `4 crore on the seventh day of its release. The movie has earned `96 crore in total in its first week, which is far below the expected numbers. But the perception of Thamma being a blockbuster is being created by bulk bookings, paid reviews and sponsored box office reports. A leading producer, known for a series of trendsetting films, admits to having “massive reservations” about the publicised commercial success of Thamma and Kantara. “The producers are creating the perception that Thamma is a nationwide rage when in fact the film’s collection has dipped drastically. This is a very alarming trend in the film industry: a perception of success is generated through sponsored hype and bulk bookings. How many films this year have actually attained blockbuster status? Chhaava and maybe a few more. Others are hits on paper only,” he says. Many prominent trade analysts declined to comment. One of them actually confessed they were “committed” to building up the film’s performance “beyond what it is.” “There are only two genuine hits in Hindi this year so far — Chhaava and Saiyaara. All the other so-called hits are just hype generated by paid reviews and sponsored trade analyses,” says Roshan Singh, a prominent film exhibitor in Bihar. It is no different in Telugu cinema. Pawan Kalyan’s Hari Hara Veera Mallu was an outright flop and his They Call Him OG is being touted as a success though the box office collection is way short of expectations. Vijay Devarakonda’s fans are “celebrating” the success of his Kingdom when in fact the film has lost serious money. Shekhar Kammula’s Kuberaa, another supposed hit, lost a huge amount of money in both Telugu and Tamil versions. Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Rajinikanth starrer, the ostensible money spinner Coolie, suffered such heavy losses that the proposed sequel was hastily dropped.