Hollywood will rise but Bollywood won't fall
- IndiaGlitz, [Tuesday,April 28 2015]
The performance of 'Fast and Furious 7' and 'Avengers Age of Ultron' has opened up the debate on India's growing market potential and Bollywood's capacity to cope with the change. Is it a curse or a boon? The 'Avengers Age Of Ultron' has pegged in 35.74 crore weekend. The most astonishing and underlining fact is the upsurge of audience from India's so called mass' centers like Bihar, Hindi belt etc where this Hollywood most anticipated franchise saw boards of Housefull' - a phenomena associated with Bollywood mass heroes and super stars.
American poplar franchises are now finding bigger and better say and stay in Indian markets. Previously 'Fast and Furious 7' got much better of the well promoted Yash Raj period detective thriller 'Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!' and it is claimed to have touched the 100 crore mark in India (a rare phenomenon for a Hollywood film).
Raking a fantabulous 12 crore moolah on day one, 'Fast and Furious 7' broke the record of 'The Amazing Spider Man 2' (7.50).
YRF Indian desi dhoti kurta clad tram traveler detective played by Sushant Singh Rajput and helmed by the national award winner Dibaker Banerjee was left behind in the race with James Wan and Neal Moritz designed super sleek wheels driven by the macho Americans Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. 'Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!' managed 4.20 crore on day one.
Anyhow nothing much was expected from the Indian releases - 'Ishq Ke Parindey', 'Jai Ho! Democracy' and 'Kaagaz Ke Fools' which came along with 'Avengers Age Of Ultron'. None of the three reached 1 crore as the audience flocked to Avengers third installment.
A certain section of the trade is biting it nails in anguish and worrying about the increasing audience base of Hollywood movies in India. Veteran trade experts where seen taking potshots at this development.
Amod Mehra twitted, "Success of #FF7 has encouraged Universal to make the next franchise edition in Hindi. As the hero they signed.. no not Salman.. his driver.."
Komal Nahata twitted, "Avengers: Age Of Ultron opens very big in India. What a terrific start. Bollywood needs to pull up its socks. First, Fast&Furious 7, now Avengers."
Prominent trade expert Vinod Mirani commented on this development, "If the audience would have had a better option they would have opted for the same. Detective Byomkesh Bakshi was for select audience and it had Sushant Singh Rajput in a period base detective drama. On the other hand Fast and Furious 7 had a popular branding associated with the youth appeal and a well planned release in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu'. Avengers : Age Of Ultron almost had a free run with unpopular Bollywood releases Ishq Ke Parindey, Jai Ho! Democracy and Kaagaz Ke Fools in competition'."
He further added that insisted of voicing concern the makers should take care of the content, price and costing. "A person will be willing to pay 250 for a 3D 'Furious 7' in multiplex, 100 rupees for 'Avengers' in 2D mass center for its Hindi version. Why will the audience pay the same for a Vinay Pathak, Om Puri or a new comer starrer? Look at the way Mr.X 3D was done... It wasn't necessary. We should be doing more and more properly planned products like Dum Laga ke Haishya' which was correct in its content, costing and pricing”.
"If we look at the perspective with an open mind, the Hollywood recent Dance of Joy is good music for Indian market and an indication of the growing confidence of Hollywood in India as an audience."
Girish Wankhede National Marketing Head - PVR Pictures Ltd, is glad by the scenario and says, "The overwhelming performance of Hollywood franchise Furious, Avengers, is a confirmation of the huge base and following of the popular series in India. The global branding of Furious and Avengers is tremendous and unbeatable. Universal and Disney have sense the following and release in good number of theatres giving the audience the entertainment and market the return of the investment."
On the voices of concern coming from certain section of the trade Girish explains, "Bollywood has great capability to entertain its audience by its good content, we are churning out good films and there is a scope for all and audience for every genre. There's no worry at all. In fact is good and encouraging to see Hollywood cinema finding more and more patronage thanks to the current generation who are more open and aware. Rise of Hollywood in no way indicates decline of Bollywood".
Girish is also upbeat about Akshay Kumar's Gabbar Is Back' and says, "The mass appeal of Gabbar and popularity of Akshay will bring in the expected numbers and this is a great positive sign for the market. On one hand we see Hollywood expanding its base amongst the Indian audience; while the massy' Bollywood masala lover waits for Friday to see his hero in action once again. Similarly the upcoming Hollywood, Bollywood releases - Spectrum, Jurassic Park, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo will see its audience without any disturbance."
Interestingly Hollywood's furious' have avenged recent Bollywood days of gloom making the audience choice and preference the winner once again.