On the other hand, I already know that Hancock and Kung Fu Panda are both mostly disappointing fare. How, you ask? Well, it's because I read the reviews (yes, I trust Roger Ebert and Rotten Tomatoes - they've yet to steer me wrong). You know, it's a good thing to do that in this day and age, when watching a film in a decent environment requires you to surrender your inheritance and your first-born. It helps when you get delayed releases like that; you can choose to watch only those movies which you find are worth the trouble (and money). On the other hand, most production houses depend on reviews not reaching their audiences. That way, even a crappy movie like Love Story: 2050 makes its money before word hits the street. It's a scam, and you're falling for it.
On the other hand, these movies that are currently losing out might actually be good (or just lucky and successful). In which case, the same exhibitors will then expand their screen and show allocations. All will then be well. There's a reason that a number of films are often released on limited release; it is to enable producers and distributors to gauge audience reaction before investing valuable resources on a film. Smaller production houses and independent filmmakers could actually benefit from this strategy. Parzania and Being Cyrus come to mind.
If one were to take this a step further (into the realm of probably-drug-induced fantasy), it could actually be an opportunity to create a parallel economy for art house or indie cinema. Maybe not in Mumbai, because the bloody real estate prices are set to kill, but surely there's a market for it outside. You can't make multiplex-level moolah, but that's not why you're doing it, right? Meanwhile, big production companies will revisit their strategies of market saturation as a means of making money from every production that their factories roll out. The number of films produced will decrease, while the potential of each film will be analysed with a keener eye. Production quality could improve. Audience interest will be retained. Shah Rukh Khan will only occupy 60% of Mumbai's advertising space. Pigs will fly.
But, hey, one can hope. Meanwhile, I think I'll wait for The Dark Knight before my next round of spending money at the movies.
Hi Sumant,
I am Richa from SiliconIndia. I am also an avid blogger for a while now and participating actively in Indian blogosphere. I read your blog posting and found them very interesting and informative. We would love to see a copy of your blogs posted here, whenever you are posting it on blogger.com. Here are some of the benefits of posting your blogs here:
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