Diwali 06-07: Bollywood’s Top 10 films

MUMBAI: One saw yet another double bonanza at the box office this Diwali. While last year saw two movies – Don and Jaan-E-Mann releasing during Diwali, this year it was Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya and Farah Khan’s Om Shanti Om.

With the influx of multiplexes in the country, the bulk box office revenues of most movies come from multiplexes. In the case of major Bollywood films, multiplexes account for 60 – 65 per cent of the net theatrical realization and the remaining from single screens. On the other hand, for niche films, multiplexes garner 80 – 85 per cent collections.

In a scenario where business of films is highly dependent on multiplexes, Businessofcinema.com brings a special report on the Top 10 films from Diwali 2006 to Diwali 2007 across major multiplex chains in India.

The ranking is determined by overall business done by a particular movie, which is a determined by keeping in mind factors such as the number of screens, seating capacity, number of shows, the ticket prices etc.

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From the above chart one can conclude that the period from last Diwali to this Diwali saw various actors and mixed genre of films shine at the box office from the stylized action film Dhoom:2 to sports based inspirational film Chak De! India; comic films like Partner, Heyy Babyy and Dhamaal; comic thriller Bhool Bhulaiyaa and also a drama like Guru.

Four multiplex chains viz. Inox, Fun Cinemas, Cinemax and Fame unanimously saw two Yash Raj’s films Dhoom:2 and Chak De! India ace the top 10 list at the first and second position respectively. The two films raked in most moolah for the multiplexes.

The only exceptions were the PVR and Adlabs chain of multiplexes. PVR did not release Dhoom:2 at all and hence has Chak De! India as the numero uno movie at its plexes. At Adlabs, Dhoom:2 was the numero uno movie for a long time but the property additions of Adlabs in 2007 resulted in Dhoom:2 slipping to number five.

The other collective winners are films like Guru, Partner, Heyy Babyy, Dhamaal and Bhool Bhulaiyaa, which feature in top 10 at all the above listed multiplex chains. While Partner features among the top five at all the multiplex chains, the other movies have a varied ranking. For instance, Guru is at number two at PVR but at number six at Inox. Heyy Babyy is number 4 at Inox but number 7 at Fun Cinemas. Further, Bhool Bhulaiyaa is number 3 at Inox but number 10 at Fame.

Partial winners are movies like Don and Tara Rum Pum, which have faired well across the five multiplex chains. As a matter of fact, there is a stark difference in Don’s ranking. While Don stands at the third position at PVR and Fun Cinemas, it is at the seventh and eighth position at Fame and Cinemax, tenth position at Adlabs and does not even feature in Inox’s top 10 films.

One of the reasons for the film doing so well across PVR chain may be attributed to the fact that PVR distributed Don in Punjab, Mysore and Nizam and hence this may have resulted in maximum exploitation of content at PVR properties in those regions.

The other films that made it to the top 10 list include Namastey London, Shootout At Lokhandwala, Laaga Chunari Main Daag, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom and Spiderman 3. Namastey London faired well only across Inox properties. Incidentally Inox was also the distributor of Namastey London in Bengal and also owns four properties in Kolkata.

None of the niche films (read multiplex films) barring Cheeni Kum have featured in top 10 list. Bheja Fry does not feature in any list, which is contrary to the perception that the film faired extremely well at multiplexes.

Spiderman 3 is the only Hollywood film that entered the top 10 list of one multiplex chain. It stands at the ninth position at Adlabs. This despite the fact that the year gone by saw some of the biggest franchise movies release like Shrek 3, Die Hard 4.0, Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Harry Potter and the Order Of the Phoenix, Ocean’s Thirteen, The Bourne Ultimatum and Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer.

The year gone by also saw many multi-starrers and over hyped films bomb at the box office like Jaan-E-Mann, Salaam-e- Ishq, Eklavya: The royal Guard, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Awarapan, Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag and No Smoking.