2009 – Another Boring Year in Bollywood

I am so much missing my college days and first few years in corporate life. I never missed a movie, in fact I saw some of them as many as 10 times in a theatre. But, when I recall 2009 movies – though I didn’t see many, it’s as if I haven’t missed much.

While I have seen 3-idiots (which is undoubtedly the best offering of the year), I missed Wanted and Kaminey (which appear to be in the Top-10 for the year; at least as far as the box-office collection is considered). As a matter of fact, the year screened approx 75 movies; of which key ones were:

• Excellent: 3-idiots
• Good : Paa, Luck by Chance, Dev D
• Above Average: New York, Wake Up Sid, Rocket Singh, Raaz-2, Love Aaj Kal, Jail
• Average: Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, All The Best, Delhi-6, Life Partner, Dil Bole Hadippa

The worst shocks were ‘Chandni Chowk to China’ and ‘Blue’, not blaming Akshay Kumar though.

The first forecasts for Award Winners: 

• Entertainer of the Year: Ranbir Kapoor
• Best Actor (Male): Mr. Bachchan (Paa)
• Best Actor (Female): Priyanka Chopra (What’s your Rashee?)
• Best Supporting Actor (Male): R. Mahadhvan (3-idiots)
• Best Supporting Actor (Female): Giselli Monteiro
• Best Debutant: Giselli Monteiro
• Best Movie: 3-idiots

What led to such a poor year?

• Recession??? I doubt (If hollywood could manage spending $450mn on Avatar, we were surely in a better economic scenario)
• No Shahrukh Khan movie(s): Give me a break, when was the last time you REALLY liked his act? I don’t think I liked him ever after Chak De India. And if he is the key driver of Bollywood, let me tell you nothing interesting is coming in 2010 either
• Lack of promotion: for sure. Of the 75 movies (yes, approx), there were hardly any which had attractive promos (except for BLUE).
• The Producer-Multiplex war - This was the number 1 reason. It took away the key season (summers) from the industry.  I still take the multiplex-owner’s side in the case.
• Piracy - This is another solid reason which needs an immediate attention. You EASILY get the pirated DVDs (at Rs. 20/- to 50/-) on the day of the release. We get these if we walk 20 steps out of office when we go for a smoke/tea. No online booking or standing in queue required. I am not mentioning what we download free.  If you did not know, pirated CDs and DVDs take away more than Rs. 10 million from the industry’s accounting records.

In fact, for nearly four months in the year, many multiplexes in Gurgaon kept few of their screens shut. This wasn’t because people were not watching movies. This was because there weren’t even average movies being released during that time, accompanied by the producer-multiplex war.

As far as music goes, there surely were few good numbers but none extra-ordinary. My personal favorite album is:  3-idiots because it offers something very soothing and different. I have liked all five of them:  Aal Izz Well, Zoobi Doobi, Jaane Nahin Denge Tujhe, Give Me Some Sunshine, Behti Hawa Sa Tha Woh.

Lets look for a better 2010 – not only in terms of better film making (we already have world-class film makers), but in terms of industry revenues and bottom line as well. At least – you – who is reading this blog – stop buying pirated copies. Wait for the Moser bear DVD/CD or go to a single screen cinema hall. At least consider this as one of your resolutions (even if you keep it for the first few weeks/months, it’s a good start).

Tags: 2009, 3 idiots, movie, piracy, producer-multiplex