Flashback Through the Eyes of Bunny Reuben
Karan Johar on ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham’
Karan Johar’s mega-buck multi-starrer ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham’ is understood to have fetched almost Rs 40 crore through sale of satellite and overseas rights even before the film’s release. Johar, the man behind the runaway success story of ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’, has once again built so much hype around his next production that he has succeeded in marketing his product which is yet unfinished.
Add to this the several crores that he will fetch through sale of theatrical and audio rights, say Karan’s friends, and that gives the new formula of market economics which Karan has mastered, but which is yet to sink in the average Indian filmmaker’s psyche.
According to industry estimates, Karan’s magnum opus ‘Kabhi Khushi’ has cost him anywhere in the range of Rs. 25-30 crore. Therefore, going by the sale of his overseas and satellite rights, he has already started making profits even before the release of the film. Anything else will be a bonus. ‘KKKG’ has all the big names–Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Jaya Bachchan, Kajol and Kareena. It is a ‘family movie’ with the usual melodrama thrown in and is due for release by the end of this year.
Not many in the Bollywood industry, so famous for it enterprise, have yet learnt the rope-trick of this trade–to recover one’s investment ahead of the release of the film. Needless to add, the box-office situation has been poor in the last couple of years and has deteriorated further this year. So far, there is not a single box office hit. Therefore, it makes sense to make big budget films only if one is able to market them before release to the theatres.
The other film don, Subhash Ghai, known for his big-budget multi-starrers, has also perfected this unique marketing technique. Even before his Hrithik-Kareena starrer ‘Yaadein’ has been released, he has sold the theatrical rights of his film for a phenomenal Rs. 3.5 crore per territory. The word has also gone around that Tips has bought the audio rights for Rs.9.1 crore for India only. It is known that Ghai has also made an equal amount through the overseas audio rights.
‘Yaadein’ is a love story with Hrithik and Kareena in the romantic lead and Jackie Shroff in a stellar role. Although there is no dearth of love stories in today’s Hindi cinema, Ghai made ‘Yaadein’ ”different” by organizing a media blitzkrieg for his production. So much so that after the media hype came the mahurat which was a mega event held in London and attended by no less than the captains of Indian industry–the Hindujas, the Jains, the Mittals and many more. The British Commonwealth minister was present as well and it is well known that Ghai left no stones unturned to ensure that anybody who was somebody in Bollywood was present on the occasion. This was the first time that an Indian producer had chosen to hold his mahurat abroad and that too on such a grand scale.
A spokesperson for Ghai’s umbrella company, Mukta Arts, says that the event brought in its share of returns. The company made profits on the film even before the date of release was talked about. Citing another example, he points out that the film ‘Rahul’, despite the hype raised about it, did not meet with success at the box-office. However, Mukta Arts converted ‘Rahul’ into a winning proposition even before the fate of the film could be decided at the box-office. Its audio and satellite rights fetched Mukta Arts twice the money invested in the film. The theatrical rights were a bonus. Therefore, though the public perception about the film may be that it has not done well at the box-office, the producer was not a loser. On the contrary, he made a huge profit.
Each industry has its own market economics, say industry sources. The film industry for many years waited for the public response on the release to justify the investment made in the film. However, there was a difference then. The avenues of entertainment were not so diverse and the public often re-viewed each film. In cases where the film was a hit, like ‘Sholay’ and ‘Abhimaan’, people often saw a film 7 to 8 times even. Now the times have changed. Films are being constantly beamed by various channels to the middle class via cable TV, the price of seeing a film with the family in a theatre has gone up steeply and many more avenues of entertainment are now open to the public.
The film industry now need not work its economics on how the response in the theatres will be. It is all about the marketing mantra. A product that is well made and attractively packaged will definitely sell.