KOCHI: There was a time, not so long ago, when Malayalam movies used to celebrate 50 days and 100 days of running in theatres, as they formed the yardstick of box-office success. Maximum number of screens and utmost collection from them in the opening week, especially the first three days for a Friday-release movie, is the new success mantra. Producers/directors focus exactly on that.
Not just the big-budget movies, but the smaller ones too are eying maximum number. At present, even a small/medium budget movie without popular stars is released on a minimum of 80 screens. In case of biggies, the number can go up to 400, which means 1,600 shows on the first day.
"In the 80s, a much-hyped movie used to get upto 16 screens. This went up to 50 in the late 90s and 80 in 2010. Now there're nearly 100 releasing centres in Kerala with a minimum of four-five screens each," said Distributors Association president Ziyad Koker.
He said in the late 80s and early 90s, the distributors' share for a super hit movie after covering A, B and C centres was Rs 1.25 crore. Now it has gone up to Rs 3-5 crore from the release centres alone.
Kayamkulam Kochunni, a big-budget movie, was released last week on 358 screens in Kerala which is a ‘first-day’ record. Vijay’s new release Sarkar, to be released on November 6, is expected to get 300 screens. Another biggie, 2.0, is likely to be released on 400 screens in the state. However, industry experts said Mohanlal’s Odiyan, which is expected to hit screens by December, will boast 400 screens.
“Releasing in maximum screens will give producers of big-budget movies a tremendous return in the first week itself. Moreover, it’s also a marketing strategy. A film will stay in theatres for a fortnight only if the content is good. Otherwise, the collection will nosedive after the initial two/three days,” said Muhammed Adhil, who does online promotion of movies.