ELECTION IMPACT: HOW POLL FEVER IS SHAKING UP FILM RELEASES AND BOX OFFICE
From box office numbers of films to the voters' percentage at the first phase of elections, dinner table conversations have changed in India over the last few days. With the General Election kicking off on April 19, the focus of media and marketers seems to have shifted, as there are not many film releases lined up till June, when the results will be announced.
'LSD 2' and 'Do Aur Do Pyaar' were released last Friday, while Aayush Sharma's 'Ruslaan' will hit theaters this week (April 26). Following that, Rajkummar Rao's 'Srikanth' will be released on May 10, and 'Mr and Mrs Mahi' on May 31. Manoj Bajpayee's 'Bhaiyya Ji' was scheduled for release on May 24, but there's hardly any buzz surrounding it. As for previously announced movies like 'Tehran', 'The Sabarmati Report', and the much-awaited 'Kalki', makers are silent and haven't shared any updates about the next release dates.
Discussing this sudden lull in the Hindi film industry, film distributor Akshaye Rathi said that the elections do affect the box office 'to a certain extent.' He also emphasised that given the challenging times the industry has seen in the last couple of years, there is no certainty about how a film would perform.
"Producers are a bit paranoid as there's a lot of money riding on these films. If postponing by a few weeks can help in getting more eyeballs and visibility, why not? As of now, news and media publications and even businesses are caught up with the election fervour and euphoria. It's understandable if any of these decisions give them confidence," Rathi told IndiaToday.in.
Last year, director Tushar Hiranandani had to postpone the release of 'Srikanth' as he did not want to clash with 'Jawan' in September. As the film is ready to hit cinemas in two weeks, he reflected upon whether it's an added stress for filmmakers today to find that 'correct window' for a film's release.
He replied, "Of course, it becomes worrying, especially for producers. As a director, my job is to make the best film and leave the rest to them. With 'Srikanth,' Bhushan Kumar, and Nidhi Hirananandi are the producers and they decided that this was the right time. And I completely trust them. I had to just deliver the film in time."
However, with most films being pushed, it's bound to create clutter in the latter half of the year. While right now, the audiences and even the cinema halls are starved for content, when the films do arrive, they won't get a breathing space to survive.
Industry experts feel that once all this dust settles down, they need to create a better ecosystem to have consistency and safeguard films while catering the best to the audiences.
Shrenik Gandhi, co-founder and CEO of White Rivers Media, further shared that movies reflect society's state of affairs, and hence the diversion at the moment mirrors the lack of big films on the screen.
"The mood of the nation during elections is politics, and hence during this season, there's a noticeable diversion of consumer attention towards political campaigns, debates, and related news coverage. This diversion often leads to a decrease in audience engagement with entertainment options, including film releases. People tend to be more focused on political developments rather than spending time and money and going to the cinema," Gandhi opined.
He also added that movies with politics as a boilerplate tend to have more footfall, but movies made purely for entertainment don't get as much attention.
Given that businesses are not doing well, the industry has been trying different means to get audiences to the theatres. Last week, many theatres announced 'buy one, get one' and 'Rs 99' offers to lure moviegoers. However, the government, allegedly, soon directed the plexes to withdraw the scheme as they felt it would interfere with elections.
Akshaye Rathi mentioned that these schemes could be a temporary relief to get openings and also spread word of mouth. However, he stressed the importance of having 'kick-ass promos' and creating 'FOMO' (fear of missing out) for people to scurry towards the theatres.
"None of the schemes can do wonders for films or cause a decline in voters. Honestly, the biggest of the blockbusters contribute to about 3.5 per cent of the population, and voters consist of around 65-70 per cent. Also, the election is in phases, so, universally, people going to theatres should not affect voting. It's too fractional to impact elections. Also, I really feel that producers should be allowed to breathe, given the turmoil they have faced when it comes to entertainment consumption in the last few years," the film distributor added.
Sharing insights on whether footfalls are affected during elections, Gautam Dutta, CEO of Revenue and Operations at PVR INOX Ltd, shared that elections are an extremely significant part of the country's democratic process and involve every adult in society. However, he added that the impact of elections on other discretionary transactions undertaken by the voters, like watching a movie, varies across geographies and markets.
"Considering a lot of organisations offer a full day leave for casting the vote, there's still a lot of time left during the day for social exchanges and spending time in a discretionary manner. Therefore, we believe that elections will not affect footfall. Footfall will forever remain the function of the content quality, regardless of external factors," Dutta said.
He added that while there are fewer tentpole releases in May, the lineup still holds tremendous promise: "Content and performance-driven movies like 'Ruslaan' and 'Srikanth' hold great potential to bring in audiences. The Hollywood lineup looks fascinating as well over the next month with movies like 'Challengers', 'Fall Guy', 'Kingdom of the Planet of Apes', 'The Strangers', 'The Garfield Movie', and 'Furiosa â A Mad Max Saga'."
The second phase of the Lok Sabha elections is scheduled for April 26.Â
2024-04-23T05:15:32Z dg43tfdfdgfd