Comments
Riding high on the success of its recent productions such as ‘ The Dirty Picture’ and ‘ Kya Super Cool Hain Hum’ , Balaji Motion Pictures is planning a slew of releases in 2013. While sequels will be a key concept, the production company has lined up a series of film projects across other genres as well.
“We have planned six releases for next year. The board has earmarked Rs 150 crore for the film projects,” said Tanuj Garg, CEO, Balaji Motion Pictures.
The line-up starting with ‘ Kya Super Kool Hain Hum’ , which released in July this year, will be followed by movies such as ‘ Shootout at Wadala’ (a prequel to ‘ Shootout at Lokhandwala’ on the first ever police encounter in Mumbai) and sequels to the film division’s other successes such as ‘ Once Upon a Time in Mumbai’ (titled ‘ Once Upon a Time in Mumbai….Again’ ) and ‘ Raagini MMS’ .
The business model of franchisee films or sequels has been a great success in Hollywood, with movie franchises such as Harry Potter and Christopher Nolan’s Batman series .
SEQUEL SUCCESS
“Franchisee films have been major money-spinners in the West and the trend is getting popular in Bollywood as well,” said Garg. The company’s recent release was ‘ Kya Super Kool Hain Hum’ , which raked in Rs 45 crore in the domestic market. The cost of production was nearly Rs 25 crore.
Adult comedy model
“Balaji Motion Pictures was the first to get into adult comedy seven years ago with ‘ Kya Kool Hai Hum’ . This model has worked well for us,” added Garg.
While sequels of popular movies are a guaranteed business because of a strong chance of getting repeat audience, Garg says that there is no thumb-rule for the success of a sequel. “It is important to understand the concept of sequels. Not every film can lend itself to a sequel and some films such as ‘ Kya Super Cool Hai Hum’ do not require continuity in the stories of sequels,” he added.
Apart from sequels, next year will also see the release of the film ‘ Ek Thi Daayan’ , co-produced with Vishal Bharadwaj, ‘ Lootera ’, co-producted with Anurag Kashyap and directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, ‘ Milan Talkies’ and an untitled project co-produced with Bejoy Nambiar.
>nivedita.ganguly@thehindu.co.in
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.