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Trade Tutor: Alia Bhatt and Sanjay Leela Bhansali get the mature audiences back for Bollywood with Gangubai
Trade Tutor Vishek Chauhan discusses the reasons for the success of Gangubai Kathiawadi and emphasizes on how the movie brought in mature audiences
I called up my manager at 3:45pm to inquire about our first show of Gangubai Kathiawadi and was pleasantly surprised by the attendance. My manager also told me that 70% of the audience was female and skewing 25 years and older. Then the numbers started pouring in from all over the country and it was confirmed that the film embarked on the third best start for Bollywood post pandemic.
The genre that has suffered the most theatrically Post Covid is dramas. This genre has been finding the going very tough not only in India but internationally also. Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story could only manage to do $70million globally. Will Smith’s King Richard tanked at the box office notching up only $34million globally. The critically acclaimed The Green Knight starring Dev Patel could only score $18mn globally. Only House of Gucci managed to get some respect from the ticket buying folks and brought in $152million globally with production budget in excess of $75million.
A belief had set in that theatrically, dramas are dead and they are better suited for OTT platforms. Even back home, most dramas were sold to OTT platforms and the ones that did try their luck at the ticket counters, met with dismal fate.
On the other hand, Super Hero Genre films were running riot globally and back home, Sooryavanshi did fabulous business at the ticket counters. Even down south, star driven mass entertainers were performing fantastically putting up Pre Covid numbers or even doing better. Everything else wasn’t performing at the ticket counters as expected, the primary reason being that mature audiences were shying away from theatres as this section of the audience felt that it wasn’t safe to visit theatres during the pandemic. Two successive waves and specially the devastation caused by the Delta wave had made them very wary of stepping out. Lopsided Government policies did not help either as they closed cinemas at the drop of the hat without scientific backing. This solidified the perception among this discerning section of the audience that maybe Movie Theatres aren’t really safe. Plus, OTT platforms had exploded across the board and theatrical windows reduced to four weeks. This audience didn’t really feel the need to step out as its entertainment needs were being met during the pandemic and stepping out was an unnecessary risk that this demographic wasn’t ready to take. This section of the audience is often referred to as the class audience in trade parlance. As they patronize niche content and can drive them to super success. Bollywood of late, has been primarily driven by this urban, elite and rich section of the audience.
So what led this section of the audience to make a beeline for Gangubai Kathiwadi:
Alia Bhatt: The actress is in top form and has one of the best track records in Bollywood. She has delivered hits and successful films across genres. She has proven her mettle with many hits and is adored by all sections of the audience.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali: One of the finest filmmakers of India today. He has proven himself over and over again. He has been delivering successful films over the last two and a half decades. His forte has been drama and specially the kind that appeals to female audiences. His films have beautifully written female characters and the films are most often female centric. His films are often made from the female perspective, a rarity in today’s times. No wonder female audiences outnumbered from day one even in a massy circuit like Bihar for his latest outing.
Covid Restrictions: Lifting of the 50% capacity constraint and other restrictions has played a big psychological role in this audiences mind. Now, they are feeling absolutely safe to venture out to the movies.
Gangubai Kathiawadi took a Rs 35 crore plus weekend and that is an amazing feat. This is a signal to the trade that all sections of the audiences are back in full flow and it’s time to go all out.
ALSO READ: Trade Tutor: With Valimai, Bheemla Nayak & Gangubai, will cinema halls be third time lucky?
