Troubled Bollywood needs 'Brahmastra' to work

The year so far is one Bollywood would want to forget in a hurry. A spate of failures has been compounded by weak scripts and the audience showing a marked preference for the OTT route. For an industry, which more often than not, decided what content would work, things are a lot trickier today. The most recent flops – Laal Singh Chaddha and Raksha Bandhan – with two big stars of the day, made no difference whatsoever at the box-office.  

As the attention shifts to Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva, a Rs 450 crore mega project and the most expensive film to come out of Bollywood so far, and set to release on September 9, the criticality of its success can hardly be overstated. A fantasy adventure and in the making for over four years, it needs to bring the audience back to the theatres for everyone involved in it to make the money. The point to be considered is not really about big-budget films not working but rather why cost discipline is conspicuous by its absence. Right on top of this trend is the star fee or, as many would call it, the big elephant in the room.  

The average film, with a quality star, has a cost of production ranging from Rs 30 crore to Rs 100 crore. Believe it or not, the star fee is at least in that price bracket. Akshay Kumar is said to charge Rs 135 crore per film (it was Rs 60 crore till the OTT folks began cutting cheques for large amounts), while the likes of Shahid Kapoor take around Rs 35 crore. Aamir Khan makes his money through a generous chunk of the profits, while Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan are often producers or co-producers and always retain the upside.   

In that kind of equation, a film has to do remarkably well to just recover the costs, let alone making a profit. Cut to Brahmastra, which is primarily produced by Star Studios (now owned by Disney) that has put in at least Rs 300 crore. The other parts come from Prime Focus, which contributes to the estimated Rs 150 crore of VFX, Karan Johar, Ayan Mukerji and Ranbir Kapoor. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor (his recent release Shamshera was a disaster at the box-office), Alia Bhatt among others. The grand plan is to have a trilogy, but much will depend on the success of the first part.  

According to film producer and business analyst, Girish Johar, a good story means addressing 70 per cent of the problem. 

“If that is done, the audience will happily spend the money,” he said. Admitting that a course correction is necessary, his view is that if big-ticket films continue to underperform, costs at every level need to be reworked. 

“One hopes that Brahmastra, with a good cast, and music that is already working, a larger-than-life perception and good VFX, works,” he pointed out with cautious optimism. The digital rights for the film are with Hotstar as are the satellite rights and distribution. Speaking of box-office collections, the biggest ones in Hindi so far have been K.G.F: Chapter 2 and RRR. To recover the money, Brahmastra will need to better that. At high ticket prices (the average that a person pays in a multiplex housed in a metro is upwards of Rs 350 today barring the south where there is a Rs 200 cap), the pressure to deliver on content is high since the line dividing a hit from a flop is remarkably thin. 

Akshaye Rathi, a Nagpur-based distributor and Director of Aashirwad Theatres, is clear that Brahmastra gives Disney a great opportunity to use the IP route and monetise it over a long period of time. 

“They are investing in a universe of characters and the approach is no different from what they do well in Hollywood,” he said. The other rub is the limited window – 8-10 weeks – between the theatrical release and OTT. The pandemic brought that down to 3-4 weeks depending on how the film did commercially. 

“That has killed the mid-segment of films and, for consumers, they feel less inclined to watch it on the big screen. The content has to be worth his time and money,” maintained Rathi. 

Brahmastra needs to click for a healthy foundation to be laid for the festive season leading up to Christmas, where many a star including Salman Khan and Ajay Devgn, whose films will be out in the theatres. A lot has to be done well and quickly too. 

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