RICH RETURNS - Slumdog Millionaire becomes the biggest Indian blockbuster
B Y S ANJUKTA S HARMA [email protected]
E ven before its release in In- dian theatres on 23 Janu- ary, Slumdog
Millionaire has become
the biggest film about India, to be filmed in In- diaand its early
international success has
emboldened its lo- cal distributor to plan a bigger release in India. As of 19
January, the
film was running in 601 theatres in the US, and had collected $42.7 million
(Rs207 crore to-
day) in gross box office earn- ings. Across the world, the film, made on a
budget of $15
million, has already earned $50.4 million, including £1.75 million (around
Rs12.65 crore) in
the UK in the first week of release there in January. In its ninth week in
America, its reach
is much wider than that of Warner Bros Entertain- ment Inc.s Chandni Chowk to
China, which is
the biggest In- dian film release worldwide, running in 125 screens across the
US and Canada.
Going by these figures, and following four awards at the Golden Globes given by
the Hollywood
Foreign Press Asso- ciation including one for A.R. Rahman (best music), its
India distributor,
Fox Star Studios India, decided to rethink its strategy in the last week.
Initially, it was
planned as a staple multiplex release with 250 prints across 50 or so cities in
two
versionsthe original English, and Slumdog Crorepa- ti in Hindi. Vijay Singh,
chief operating
officer, Fox Star Stu- dios India, said, We want to promote Slumdog
Millionaire as a
Bollywood/Indian film be- cause it deals with Indian peo- ple, it has great
Bollywood- style
music and drama. The initial plan was to have 250 prints out in 50-plus cities,
but considering
its new impor- tance, we are going with a little more than 400 prints in
80-plus cities across
India. Of 400, about 320 prints will be in Hindi. Singh says a series of paid
previews are
also sched- uled on Thursday in New Del- hi, Mumbai and Bangalore. But
considering the hype and
laurels that Slumdog Mil- lionaire has already received the world over, why
didnt the
distributors follow the prece- dent of Ghajini? The Aamir Khan starrer recently
broke new
release records for an In- dian film, with 1,550 prints worldwide; it had
grossed Rs227 crore
by 18 January. Singh says these two films cant be compared. In the US,
Slumdog worked largely
through word of mouth. With- in two weeks, it picked up mo- mentumits journey
has been similar
to that of Sideways (2004), Little Miss Sunshine (2006) and Juno (2007). It
comes to India
after being in the news, and theres no rea- son why 400-plus prints shoul-
dnt be enough for
it to be suc- cessful in India, Singh said. In October, Slumdog Mil- lionaire
almost became a
DVD-only film. Warner Inde- pendent, a part of Warner Brothers, which was
supposed to
distribute the film, was closed down. But later in the month, Fox Searchlight
picked it up and
it was released in the US on 12 November. Shekhar Kapur, director of Bandit
Queen (1994) and
Eliza- beth (1998), who has worked with both Hollywood and Brit- ish producers,
has keenly fol-
lowed the fortunes of Slumdog Millionaire ever since it was released in
November. Kapur speaks
highly of the films artistic merit, but says that its importance in India lies
elsewhere.
Whats most relevant is that Slumdog is the most successful Indian film
ever. The novel Q&A
on which it is based was written by an Indian diplomat. The cast is Indian as
is the style and
the story. It was directed by a Brit- ish director and funded by a European
company, but so
what? Chandni Chowk to Chi- na is also funded by Warner Brothers; Hrithik
Roshans forthcoming
Kites is going to be substantially in English; for- eign crews are very common
in Indian films
now, Kapur said. The film has surpassed the record held by Mira Nairs Monsoon
Wedding (2002)
as the highest grossing film shot in India. It made close to $35 million
worldwide. Earlier
Richard Attenboroughs Gand- hi (1982) grossed $52.7 mil- lion, which included
the cost of DVD
rights and television broadcast rights. Slumdog Millionaire is the story of
Jamal Malik, who
grows up in a slum in Juhu, Mumbai, and braves the worst kind of urban poverty
and ad- versity
to win the Indian ver- sion of the TV show Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Anil
Kapoor stars as
the shows host and Dev Patel, a UK-born Indi- an actor, and Freida Pinto, a
Mumbai-based
model, play the lead roles of Jamal and Lat- ika. With music by Rahman, and a
sensibility which
is very Indian and Bollywood, indus- try watchers predict it is going to be
received well at
the box office. People will be curious to see what the hype is all about, and
the first
weekend should reap good returns at the box office, says Komal Nahta, trade
analyst and editor
of The Film Street Journal. But even before its release, the film has also
already re- ceived
its share of brickbats in India, most notably from film star Amitabh Bachchan
who criticized
the film in his blog, saying it portrays India in a poor light. Bachchan wrote:
...if SM
projects India as [a] third-world, dirty, underbelly developing nation and
causes pain and
disgust among na- tionalists and patriots, let it be known that a murky
underbel- ly exists and
thrives even in the most developed nations. Given that everything that
Bachchan says makes
news in India, it will fuel curiosity about the film. The film pre- mieres in
India on 22
January. Major members of the films crew, including British direc- tor Danny
Boyle, who
received the Golden Globe for best di- rector, drama; writer Simon Beaufuoy;
music director
Rah- man and co-director, India, Delhi-based Loveleen Tandan, arrive in Mumbai
on Tuesday to
celebrate the premiere.
[Click To Enlarge]
E ven before its release in Indian theatres on 23 Janu ary, Slumdog Millionaire
has become the
biggest film about India, to be filmed in Indiaand its early international
success has
emboldened its local distributor to plan a bigger release in India.
As of 19 January, the film was running in 601 theatres in the US, and had
collected $42.7
million (Rs207 crore today) in gross box office earnings. Across the world, the
film, made on a
budget of $15 million, has already earned $50.4 million, including £1.75
million (around
Rs12.65 crore) in the UK in the first week of release there in January.
In its ninth week in America, its reach is much wider than that of Warner Bros
Entertainment
Inc.s Chandni Chowk to China, which is the biggest Indian film release
worldwide, running in
125 screens across the US and Canada.
Going by these figures, and following four awards at the Golden Globes given by
the Hollywood
Foreign Press Association including one for A.R.
Rahman (best music), its India distributor, Fox Star Studios India, decided to
rethink its
strategy in the last week.
Initially, it was planned as a staple multiplex release with 250 prints across
50 or so cities
in two versionsthe original English, and Slumdog Crorepati in Hindi. Vijay
Singh, chief
operating officer, Fox Star Studios India, said, We want to promote Slumdog
Millionaire as a
Bollywood/Indian film because it deals with Indian people, it has great
Bollywoodstyle music
and drama. The initial plan was to have 250 prints out in 50-plus cities, but
considering its
new importance, we are going with a little more than 400 prints in 80-plus
cities across
India. Of 400, about 320 prints will be in Hindi. Singh says a series of paid
previews are
also scheduled on Thursday in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.
But considering the hype and laurels that Slumdog Millionaire has already
received the world
over, why didnt the distributors follow the precedent of Ghajini? The Aamir
Khan starrer
recently broke new release records for an Indian film, with 1,550 prints
worldwide; it had
grossed Rs227 crore by 18 January.
Singh says these two films cant be compared. In the US, Slumdog worked
largely through word
of mouth. Within two weeks, it picked up momentumits journey has been similar
to that of
Sideways (2004), Little Miss Sunshine (2006) and Juno (2007). It comes to India
after being in
the news, and theres no reason why 400-plus prints shouldnt be enough for it
to be successful
in India, Singh said.
In October, Slumdog Millionaire almost became a DVD-only film. Warner
Independent, a part of
Warner Brothers, which was supposed to distribute the film, was closed down.
But later in the
month, Fox Searchlight picked it up and it was released in the US on 12
November.
Shekhar Kapur, director of Bandit Queen (1994) and Elizabeth (1998), who has
worked with both
Hollywood and British producers, has keenly followed the fortunes of Slumdog
Millionaire ever
since it was released in November.
Kapur speaks highly of the films artistic merit, but says that its importance
in India lies
elsewhere. Whats most relevant is that Slumdog is the most successful
Indian film ever. The
novel Q&A on which it is based was written by an Indian diplomat. The cast is
Indian as is the
style and the story. It was directed by a British director and funded by a
European company,
but so what? Chandni Chowk to China is also funded by Warner Brothers; Hrithik
Roshans
forthcoming Kites is going to be substantially in English; foreign crews are
very common in
Indian films now, Kapur said.
The film has surpassed the record held by Mira Nairs Monsoon Wedding (2002) as
the highest
grossing film shot in India. It made close to $35 million worldwide. Earlier
Richard
Attenboroughs Gandhi (1982) grossed $52.7 mil lion, which included the cost of
DVD rights and
television broadcast rights.
Slumdog Millionaire is the story of Jamal Malik, who grows up in a slum in
Juhu, Mumbai, and
braves the worst kind of urban poverty and adversity to win the Indian version
of the TV show
Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Anil Kapoor stars as the shows host and Dev
Patel, a UK-born
Indian actor, and Freida Pinto, a Mumbai-based model, play the lead roles of
Jamal and Latika.
With music by Rahman, and a sensibility which is very Indian and Bollywood,
industry watchers
predict it is going to be received well at the box office. People will be
curious to see what
the hype is all about, and the first weekend should reap good returns at the
box office, says
Komal Nahta, trade analyst and editor of The Film Street Journal.
But even before its release, the film has also already received its share of
brickbats in
India, most notably from film star Amitabh Bachchan who criticized the film in
his blog, saying
it portrays India in a poor light. Bachchan wrote: ...if SM projects India as
[a] third-world,
dirty, underbelly developing nation and causes pain and disgust among
nationalists and
patriots, let it be known that a murky underbelly exists and thrives even in
the most developed
nations. Given that everything that Bachchan says makes news in India, it will
fuel curiosity
about the film. The film premieres in India on 22 January.
Major members of the films crew, including British director Danny Boyle, who
received the
Golden Globe for best director, drama; writer Simon Beaufuoy; music director
Rahman and
co-director, India, Delhi-based Loveleen Tandan, arrive in Mumbai on Tuesday to
celebrate the
premiere.
