Best & Worst Of The 2012-2013 TV Season

By Anant Mathur (May 29, 2013)

Every year I look forward to the new American TV season and wonder which shows I will still be watching over the next few years. After a pretty good 2011-2012 season, which launched several good shows, the expectation for the 2012-2013 were raised once again. With the 2012-2013 season coming to an end, we can now separate the winners from the losers. Sadly, unlike last season, this year there were more losers than winners.  

Arrow was the surprise hit of the year, no one had any expectations from this comic book adaptation, but to everyone`s surprise it turned out one great episode after another until season end. Chicago Fire had a horrible pilot episode which looked like a poor rehash of the blockbuster film Backdraft - it waas sure to be cancelled - but I`m glad that I stuck with it because from episode 2 onwards Chicago Fire did a 180 degree turn for the better and there was no looking back. Zero Hour looked like a sure fire hit, but got cancelled after 3 episodes, proving how difficult it is to predict which show(s) will be loved the audience. Out of all the shows which debut in 2012-2013, below are the ones I watched 'till the end of the season (or 'till the show got cancelled) and feel are the best or worst of the year:


Best Concept of the year: 
1) Zero Hour (ABC) - Sadly it got cancelled
2) Arrow (CW)
3) Revolution (NBC)

Honorable Mention:
4) Chicago Fire (NBC)


 
Best New comedy (surprisingly none of the new sitcoms earned a second season):
1) Go On (NBC)
2) Guys With Kids (NBC)
3) How To Live With Your Parents For The Rest Of Your Life (ABC)


Worst New Shows of the year, so glad these got cancelled:
1) The New Normal (NBC)
2) Ben And Kate (FOX)
3) Do No Harm (NBC)


How did this get on television:
1) Family Tools (ABC)
2) Animal Practice (NBC)
3) Hannibal (NBC)
 

Shows with Promise but didn't get picked up or renewed by the network:
1) Vegas (CBS)
2) Zero Hour (ABC)
3) Deception (NBC)


Why is this still on (surprisingly these low rated shows earned a second season):
1) Nashville (ABC)
2) The Neighbors (ABC)
3) The Carrie Diaries (CW)


A Good Concept gone horribly wrong:
1) 1600 Penn (NBC)
2) Last Resort (ABC)
3) Red Widow (ABC)


The Worst Actor of the year:
1) Nat Faxon (Ben and Kate)
2) Andrew Rannells (The New Normal)


The Worst Actress of the year:
1) Georgia King (The New Normal)
2) Joanna García (Animal Practice)
 

Most Entertaining NEW Villain/Villainess on Television: 
1) Jason Beghe (Hank Voight, Chicago Fire)
2) Goran Visnjic (Nicholae Schiller, Red Widow)
3) Katherine LaNasa (Sophia Bowers, Deception)

Honorable Mention: 
4) Giancarlo Esposito (Major Tom Neville, Revolution)
5) Michael Chiklis (Vincent Savino, Vegas)
 

Best Actress in a New Comedy: 
1) Erinn Hayes (Sheila, Guys With Kids)
2) Sarah Chalke (Polly, How to Live with Your Parents For the Rest of Your Life)


Best Actor in a New Comedy: 
1) Matthew Perry (Go On)
2) Zach Cregger (Nick Theyer, Guys With Kids)


Best Actress in a Drama Series: 
1) Monica Raymund (Gabriela Dawson, Chicago Fire)
2) Tracy Spiridakos (Charlotte "Charlie" Matheson, Revolution)
2) Kristin Kreuk (Catherine Chandler, Beauty and the Beast)


Best Actor in a Drama Series: 
1) Stephen Amell (Oliver Queen, Arrow) 
2) Billy Burke (Miles Matheson, Revolution)
3) Jesse Spencer (Lieutenant Matthew Casey, Chicago Fire)

Best New Shows of the year:
1) Arrow (CW)
2) Revolution (NBC)
3) Chicago Fire (NBC)





DISCLAIMER:
Please remember these are TV show that I watched based on my personal preferences and this post should not be misinterpreted as official results or facts regarding TV shows released in the 2012-2013 season.

© Anant Mathur. All Rights Reserved.

2013 IPL CHAMPS!

By Anant Mathur (May 27, 2013)

Congratulations, to the Mumbai Indians for winning the 2013 IPL tournament.

 

© Anant Mathur. All Rights Reserved.

First Quarter Analysis of 2013...

By Anant Mathur (April 10, 2013)

Since the first weekend of January 2013 approximately 42 Hindi films have released in the first Quarter of 2013. Out of these 42 films 37 were flops, 4 were average (because they were barely able to recover their cost) and only 1 (Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns) can be considered a hit because it was made for a miniscule budget of Rs. 7 crore and made a profit of approximately Rs. 3.6 crores for its distributor. 

9 of the 42 films had a budget which equaled or exceeded Rs. 30 crores - out of these 9 only one (Special 26) managed a very tiny profit of Rs. 0.53 crores. Race 2 had the largest budget (Rs. 60 crores) of all the releases in the first quarter of 2013 and thus failed to recover its cost for the distributor even though it earned a colossal Rs. 96.34 crores in nett collections. Distributor's share of Race 2 was approximately Rs. 44.66 crores giving them a box office loss of Rs. 15.34 crores.
 
The biggest flop of the lot was DAVID - with a budget of Rs. 50 crores - it only managed Rs. 3.37 crores in nett collections providing a loss of Rs. 48.32 crores for its distributor. DAVID is directed by a fairly new director (Bejoy Nambiar) and has a cast of actors (Vikram, Tabu, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Vinay Virmani, Lara Dutta, Isha Sharvani, Monica Dogra) none of whom have had a movie earn Rs. 50 crores in nett collections for its distributor. Your guess is as good as mine as to why anyone would risk Rs. 50 crores on stars like these when PLAYERS and BLUE, which had much bigger box office stars, couldn't cross Rs. 30 crores in nett collection?

Three films which had budgets of less than Rs. 15 crores (ABCD - AnyBody Can Dance, Jolly LLB, Mere Dad Ki Maruti) managed to recover their cost and sadly were the only bright spots in a remarkably dull first quarter. With IPL 2013 taking over for the next two months, the outcome of the first half of 2013 looks extremely grim.
 
BELOW IS A LIST OF THE BIG BUDGET RELEASES OF THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2013 AND HOW THEY PERFORMED AT THE BOX OFFICE:

Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola (Budget Rs. 33 cr)
VERDICT: Flop
TOTAL NETT COLLECTIONS = Rs. 38.06 cr.
DISTRIBUTOR'S SHARE = Rs. 18.41 cr. 
DISTRIBUTOR'S LOSS = Rs. 14.59 cr.

Mumbai Mirror (Budget Rs. 35 cr)
VERDICT: Flop 
TOTAL NETT COLLECTIONS = Rs. 1.84 cr.
DISTRIBUTOR'S SHARE = Rs. 0.895 cr.
DISTRIBUTOR'S LOSS = Rs. 34.105 cr.

Race 2 (Budget Rs. 60 cr)
VERDICT: Flop 
TOTAL NETT COLLECTIONS = Rs. 96.34 cr. 
DISTRIBUTOR'S SHARE = Rs. 44.66 cr. 
DISTRIBUTOR'S LOSS = Rs. 15.34 cr.

David (Budget Rs. 50 cr)
VERDICT: Flop
TOTAL NETT COLLECTIONS = Rs. 3.37 cr. 
DISTRIBUTOR'S SHARE = Rs. 1.68 cr.
DISTRIBUTOR'S LOSS: Rs. 48.32 cr.

Special 26 (Budget Rs. 30 cr)
VERDICT: Average
TOTAL NETT COLLECTIONS = Rs. 66.79 cr.
DISTRIBUTOR'S SHARE = Rs. 30.53 cr.
DISTRIBUTOR'S PROFIT: Rs. 0.53 cr.

Kai Po Che (Budget Rs. 30 cr)
VERDICT: Flop
TOTAL NETT COLLECTIONS = Rs. 48.40 cr.
DISTRIBUTOR'S SHARE = Rs. 21.97 cr.
DISTRIBUTOR'S LOSS: Rs. 8.03 cr.

Zila Ghaziabad (Budget Rs. 36 cr) 
VERDICT: Flop 
TOTAL NETT COLLECTIONS = Rs. 15.73 cr.
DISTRIBUTOR'S SHARE = Rs. 7.66 cr.
DISTRIBUTOR'S LOSS: Rs. 28.34 cr.

The Attacks Of 26/11 (Budget Rs. 30 cr)
VERDICT: Flop 
TOTAL NETT COLLECTIONS = Rs. 13.60 cr.
DISTRIBUTOR'S SHARE = Rs. 6.46 cr.
DISTRIBUTOR'S LOSS: Rs. 23.54 cr.

Himmatwala (Budget Rs. 40 cr) 
VERDICT: Flop 
TOTAL NETT COLLECTIONS =  Rs. 40.53 cr.*
DISTRIBUTOR'S SHARE = Rs. 20.27 cr.*
DISTRIBUTOR'S LOSS: Rs. 19.73 cr.*

*Based on First week collections only.

© Anant Mathur. All Rights Reserved.

Tip # 10: Characters

By Anant Mathur (March 25, 2013)

When creating characters for your story you should think of yourself as Dr. Frankenstein. Just as Frankenstein brought a creature to life from the sum of various body parts, you too are giving life to a character that doesn't exist. And, in order to do that, you're taking different parts from your own imagination and experiences to create a being that your audience can believe is "Alive!".

Sometimes writers get so lost in the creation of the story that they forget that the characteristics they've implanted their character with won't allow them to do certain things. The psychological elements are usually missing altogether in most Bollywood films. For example, if you take a character like Chulbul Pandey from Dabangg, there are certain nuances and body language which the character resonates. Chulbul would never behave the way Prem from Hum Aapke Hain Kaun..! would, but that doesn't mean he can't have his own love story, it just has to be in his own style and must follow his mental state.

Having said that, this doesn't mean your character(s) can't do things which are out of character, but a situation has to present itself and it must be brilliantly written. For example, If the spouse of a lead characters were to die or be killed, there are different paths the character could take if it's a male who has suffered the loss; and if it's a female who has lost her husband her mental state would be entirely different.

I always recommend to new writers that they take Psychology courses or at the very least read a few books on the subject. It helps you as a writer to understand how a persons mind would react in any situation depending on their mood, situation and surroundings. For example, if your character is in a situation where he's being bullied, there are several scenarios that can come into play, depending on the type of character he is, he could 1) do nothing or 2) turn it into a humorous situation or 3) fight back, etc. it's important to know which one because it will define him to your audience. And if you choose the wrong scenario the audience will feel cheated and your character will become a farce.

It's not easy to write a brilliant story or screenplay but it does make it easier when you have a solid understanding of all the parts that make up your character(s). If you write ignorantly you risk facing the same fate as Dr. Frankenstein, in your case the monster will be your story or screenplay. But, if you can write brilliantly you will touch the height of success Dr. Frankenstein only dreamed of... 

© Anant Mathur. All Rights Reserved.

Presumed Guilty...

By Anant Mathur (March 10, 2013)

In most civilized nations on this planet the law states that a person is innocent until proven guilty. But for the last little while the media has been jumping on stories in such a way that it seems that a person is automatically guilty until his lawyers can prove otherwise. Don't get me wrong I'm not making an excuse for the guilty; I am just pointing out how the media misleads viewers into thinking only in one direction... theirs. It's sad that today we live in a world where people have stopped using their brains and believe every little thing they hear on TV or read online or in social media. 

If the media reports that Lindsay Lohan stole a bag of milk, everyone automatically assumes that she did it because that's how the media is projecting it. Where's the proof? What ever happened to a fair trial and innocent until proven guilty?

Media does not even believe in looking at evidence, all it believes in is getting the headline. If someone is suspected of something they spin it as if he/she belongs in jail. My personal favourite is when the media says a source has told them, who's this source, their imaginary friend. You can almost always bet there's no source when the media says a source has told them anything. It's no different than a Radio Jockey having their friends posing as listeners and calling-in to request a song. The best way to judge any case that's in the media is to read quotes. The media can't mis-quote people, so anything that is being quoted is true and everything else is likely untrue.

Evidence is not merely what a witness says. If a neighbor says he saw or heard a couple fighting, where's the proof. The neighbor could have a grudge against them and be lying - all that will come out when he's cross-examined by the defense counsel - but the media won't tell you that, to them the suspect is not a suspect, he/she is guilty until they proves their innocence. A person cannot be found guilty just because someone says they did it, there has to be motive and proof of murder. Witness testimony is not proof. Also, being a witness is different than being an eyewitness. An eyewitness is someone who was present when and where the crime was committed a witness doesn't have to be present at the crime scene. A guy saying he heard gunshots at 3 am is not evidence - first of all what was he doing awake at 3 am. And how do we know he didn't dream it or that it wasn't a car backfiring. If the police find incriminating letters/texts/e-mails or threatening phone calls... that's evidence.

The one thing the media can't tolerate is when a case doesn't go the way they predicted. Take the O.J. Simpson trial for instance. The media was dead sure he was guilty and would go to jail and couldn't believe it when the verdict was not guilty. I'm not saying that O.J. was innocent but the court needs solid proof before it can convict someone. If there's reasonable doubt, the defendant cannot be found guilty. A persons guilt or innocence is based on evidence and not on personal prejudices. Lots of guilty persons go free because of a lack of evidence and sometimes the innocent are sent to prison, it all depends on how incriminating the evidence is.

On Feb. 14, 2013, tragic events transpired at the home of the hugely admired, world-famous athlete Oscar Pistorius where he claims he accidentally shot and killed his girlfriend. Dubbed the Blade Runner, for his prosthetic legs, Pistorius faces a charge of premeditated murder in the Valentine's Day shooting.

Pistorius says he mistook his girlfriend for an intruder and shot her out of fear, while prosecutors say he planned the killing and attacked her as she cowered behind a locked bathroom door. The prosecution should have never charged Pistorius with pre-meditated murder; it's difficult to prove a murder is pre-meditated when it is a pre-meditated murder. In Pistorius' case it's near impossible.

From what I know of South Africa, break-ins are quite common and most people, even the well off, own guns. Many of the people in rural areas shoot first and ask questions after. Living in a gated community is no guarantee against intruders as security guards are often in on the crimes.

If it hasn't happened to you, you can't possibly imagine what it's like when someone breaks into your house. How violated you feel and how you keep wondering why me? It completely changes your mindset, every time you hear a sound you jump. If there are guns in the house you would probably grab one before you went to check what it was. Now imagine that this is how your life is every day. Each moment you fear that someone could break into your house again and hurt you.

Personally, I'm against guns, but the only way for guns to be out of everyone's life is if the government bans the manufacturing of them. There are so many things that can be used as weapons in a house in case of an intruder, you don't need a gun. Guns kill and usually they kill the innocent!

I'm not condoning Oscar Pistorius' actions, he killed someone regardless of whether he thought it was an intruder or not. I can certainly understand his mindset if there was an intruder, but to try him for pre-meditated murder is unheard of. If anything the prosecution should've tried for Culpable Homicide (the unlawful negligent killing of a human being). 

Forensics will play a big part in the Oscar Pistorius case. Chances are until the case is finally heard; it won't be known what exactly happened. We can speculate all we want but since we don't know what happened our own prejudices are what's dictating how we react every time we hear the name Oscar Pistorius. 

© Anant Mathur. All Rights Reserved.

Oscar Facts!

By Anant Mathur (February 22, 2013) 

The 85th Annual Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, take place this Sunday (Feb. 24, 2012). Most of us were not around when the first Oscar ceremony took place, so here are some fact and moments you may or may not know from the first Oscars till now.

-First oscar ceremony was on May 16, 1929. 1927 & 1928 films were nominated. The first pic to win was wings (1927). Wings was the most expansive film up to that time.

-In 1942, Walt Disney was awarded 3 Oscars. One for inventing Mickey Mouse; another for creating Snow White, the first feature length animated film (this came with seven little Oscars); but the third, The Irving G Thalberg Award, proved too much for the animation great and he spent most of the speech misty-eyed.

-Since the Academy Awards ceremonies began in 1929, 73 different people have hosted or co-hosted the event. Some have hosted multiple times, but none holds a candle to Bob Hope. The actor/comedian hosted the Oscars a record 18 different times, beginning in 1940.

-My generation most popular host was Billy Crystal who has hosted 8 times

-In 1942, Citizen Kane was beaten to Best Picture by How Green Was My Valley.

-When presenting the award for Best Visual Effects, in 2006, Ben Stiller arrived on stage clad in green unitard so that he might be digitally erased by the power of visual effects and have the award present itself.

-The first ceremony was televised in 1953. 

-Only three films (It Happened One Night, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and Silence Of The Lambs) have won all five major Oscars (Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Screenplay).  

-In 1943, when accepting Best Actress for Mrs Miniver, Greer Garson rambled on with thanks for over six minutes, reputedly the longest acceptance speech in Oscar history.

-In 2002, the audience had to wait over 4 hours and 17 minutes for A Beautiful Mind to be crowned Best Picture.

-The almost unthinkable happened in 1958 when the telecast actually ran short, forcing host Jerry Lewis to fill for twenty minutes.

-Marlon Brando won Best Actor for The Godfather in 1973, staying away from the ceremony himself, he sent a native American named Sacheen Littlefeather to announce that he could not accept the award due to the film industry's poor treatment of native Americans.

-Shirley Temple was given an Honorary Juvenile Award in 1934 "in grateful recognition for her contribution to screen entertainment". She was six.

-At the 1940 ceremony, Hattie McDaniel became the first black actor nominated and the first to win. It would be another 23 years before a black actor, Sidney Poitier, won in either of the leading categories and 62 years before Halle Berry won Best Actress.

-In 1992, Jack Palance won Best Supporting Actor for his role in City Slickers. After taking to the stage to accept his award and joking that he could "crap bigger" than co-star and host Billy Crystal, Palance dropped to the floor and did a series of one-handed press-ups. He was 73!  

-For the first and only time in Oscar history, two people won the award best supporting actress award in 1968 (Barbra Streisand and Katharine Hepburn).

-Sidney Poitier was the first black actor to win the award for a leading role when he won for Lilies of the Field at the 1963 Oscar ceremony.

-Martin Scorsese had been nominated in the directing category five times and lost every one. So, in 2007, when he was nominated a sixth time for The Departed, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola arrived on stage to present the award.

-After six nominations, Alfred Hitchcock never won a competitive Oscar. In 1967, the honorary Irving G. Thalberg award was bestow upon one of cinema's greatest. His entire acceptance speech amounted to a simple, "Thank you". 

-In 1972, Charlie Chaplin received the longest ovation in Oscar history, lasting over five minutes. 

-The greatest boxers of the movie world and the real world met on stage at the 1976 ceremony. As Sylvester Stallone, aka Rocky Balboa, prepared to present an award, Muhammad Ali snuck up behind him.

© Anant Mathur. All Rights Reserved.

Tip # 33: Writing

By Anant Mathur (February 4, 2013) 

Often I'm told by people that they're fed up of the run-of-the-mill stories they see in films and on television. My first response is that I agree with them but then as we converse further I explain why this exists today.

The film and television medium are not anything new; they've been around for many decades and generations. Hundreds of thousands of stories have been told over the years and as the audience watches more and more, they develop a better understanding of how stories are constructed and are able to figure out scenes and plot points before they are revealed to them; this makes the story dull and boring for them. The reason this happens is because over the years the people who first started in film and television have created formulas for writing for the big and small screens.

Today, we live in a world where filmmakers and television artist are trained from some school or the other, a place where they have learned these formulas. The problem is that these formulas don't work anymore. As mentioned earlier, people today have watched enough television and films to figure out the end of a story within the first 2 minutes. I can usually figure out the whole story from a trailer - that's how dull stories are today.

Love stories have been done to death, especially in India, and now whenever someone goes to see a love story they know that the couple is going to end up together even before they get into the theater, how the story gets there is irrelevant. 

Same is true for a murder mystery, you already know one of the characters has done it and chances are you'll know much before you're told who the killer is and won't enjoy the rest of the story. Gone are the days when you could stretch a storyline till the cows came home. Now people get bored. The audience is a little forgiving towards television programs because they don't cost all that much to watch, but films are expensive and if they disappoint they really turn an audience off.

So how do you write a story that keeps the interest of the audience? Glad you asked. For starters you can't just have one problem in your story. For example, you can't have a love story where the only issue is that the parents don't like the guy or girl and you spend the whole time trying to convince the parents that the guy or girl is the right choice. As a writer you need to give them more than one problem to deal with. One problem is solved and another one has to be solved then another two or three, each problem may only last 5, 10 or 15 minutes but it should keep the viewer glued to the screen. Similarly in a mystery, it's the opposite, you can't keep throwing twist after twist after twist into your story, it makes your story unreliable and very frustrating for the viewer to follow. The best mysteries are the ones which have one amazing twist at the end and the killer isn't one of the characters you've been following for the last 2-3 hrs. 

When films were first made there were no formulas or styles, people just told stories the best way they knew how. Today, filmmakers get so wrapped up in formulas, style and the technical aspects that they forget about telling a good story. Going to film school is not about learning the technical aspects of filmmaking - which you can learn while on the job. Film school is about learning how to tell a brilliant story that people will enjoy for generations. If you can't make a classic what's the point of being in this field? Stop thinking about it as a business/cash cow and start thinking about it as an opportunity, an opportunity to tell your audience a story they haven't seen before. Tell your story the way you think it should be told, forget formulas and style, each story should be a unique experience and not a factory product.

© Anant Mathur. All Rights Reserved.

Highest Grossing Bollywood Films of 2012

By Anant Mathur (January 17, 2013)

Now that the last year is done and gone the analysis can begin. 2012 has turned out to be a record breaking year for Bollywood, for the first time in history a record 9 films crossed the Rs. 100 crores mark in nett collection. In 2011, 5 films had joined the Rs. 100 crores club and prior to that 2010 saw two films and 2009 and 2008 had 1 film each which started this exclusive club.  

Salman Khan leads the way with 5 films in the top 7 of the 100 Crores club and Ajay Devgn is close behind with 4 films on this list. Asin, Sonakshi Sinha and Kareena Kapoor lead the way for women with 4 films each in this exclusive club. In total there are 18 films that have crossed the Rs. 100 crores mark and it looks like any list with the top 20 highest grossing Bollywood films will now most likely only feature films from 2008 onwards.

It's hard to believe but 2012 actually started of on a sour note with Players one of the biggest flops in Bollywood history. It wasn't until the final weekend of January when Agneepath was released and went on to be the first 100 crores earner of the year after that there was no turning back. March had trade analysts worried when Saif Ali Khan's Big budget Agent Vinod couldn't keep its head above water and was declared a disaster. April saw Housefull 2 reach 100 crores even though there was strong opposition from IPL5 in April and May.

What was even more shocking was the fact that Son of Sardaar and Jab Tak Hai Jaan were released in the same Diwali Weekend and both went on to cross 100 crores. In fact, from June onwards almost every month, except for October, had a 100 crores blockbuster (but 2 films in November made up for the October loss, methinks). June, July, August and September saw the release of Rowdy Rathore, Bol Bachchan, Ek Tha Tiger and Barfi, respectively - all of which went all to cross 100 crores, in fact, Ek Tha Tiger came close to the 200 crores mark ending its theatrical run at Rs. 199.30 crores. As mentioned above October was lul and November saw 2 films which were joined by Dabangg 2 in December to round out the year with 9 new film added to the 100 crores club.

Here are the top 10 films of 2012:

10. Talaash - 90.68 Crores 09. Bol Bachchan (2012) - 100.16 Crores 
08. Son of Sardaar (2012) - 105.73 Crores07. Barfi! (2012) - 106.14 Crores
06. Housefull 2 (2012) - 109.10 Crores 
05. Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012) - 121.58 Crores
04. Agneepath (2012) - 122.61 Crores 
03. Rowdy Rathore (2012) - 133.07 Crores 
02. Dabangg 2 (2012)* - 155.00 Crores
01. Ek Tha Tiger (2012) - 199.30 Crores 

What this means is that people are returning to the theaters, the demand for big screen entertainment is growing at a record pace, Now if Bollywood can just keep the content fresh and the budgets down films might just be able to recover cost from the theatrical run itself. If budgets are kept around 30-40 crores for most big budget blockbusters, not only will the investors be happy but the distributors can also make a profit.

Here is a list of the 18 films in the Rs. 100 crores club:

18. Bol Bachchan (2012) - 100.16 Crores 
17. Singham (2011) - 100.47 Crores
16. Golmaal 3 (2010) - 103.50 Crores
15. Son of Sardaar (2012) - 105.73 Crores
14. Barfi! (2012) - 106.14 Crores
13. Don 2 (2011) - 108.29 Crores
12. Housefull 2 (2012) - 109.10 Crores
11. Ra.One (2011) - 117.41 Crores 
10. Ghajini (2008) - 117.48 Crores
09. Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012) - 121.58 Crores
08. Agneepath (2012) - 122.61 Crores 
07. Ready (2011) - 130.00 Crores 
06. Rowdy Rathore (2012) - 133.07 Crores
05. Dabangg (2010) - 147.00 Crores
04. Bodyguard (2011) - 147.99 Crores
03. Dabangg 2 (2012)* - 155.00 Crores
02. Ek Tha Tiger (2012) - 199.30 Crores
01. 3 Idiots (2008) - 202.00 Crores

*4 Week domestic nett total 

© Anant Mathur. All Rights Reserved.

Dabangg 2: Week Two and Three

By Anant Mathur (January 12, 2013)

After writing history by breaking several records during its first week Dabangg 2 is now on its to becoming one of the highest grossing films in the history of Bollywood Cinema. The 2nd weekend collections were approximately Rs. 21 Crores (Fri - 5 cr, Sat - 6.75 cr, Sun - 9.25 cr) and the total 2nd week nett collections amounted to approximately Rs. 37.22 Crores. The first two weeks nett box office collections amount to Rs. 144 Crores.  

The third weekend accounted for approximately Rs. 8 crores and the total for week 3 added another 11 crores and brought the grand total to Rs. 155 crores. It looks like the theatrical run for Dabangg 2 will probably end at approximately Rs. 160-165 crores making it the second highest grossing film of the year and the third highest overall. The highest grossing film of 2012, also a Salman Khan starrer, is Ek Tha Tiger and the highest grossing film in history is still the 2008 blockbuster 3 Idiots. 

© Anant Mathur. All Rights Reserved.

Dabangg 2: First Week Nett Collections

By Anant Mathur (December 29, 2012)
 

Dabangg 2 marks the return of Salman Khan and Chulbul Pandey. Needless to say, the films has started off with a bang collecting Rs. 21.10 crores on Opening Day (Dec 21) and breaking all records for a non-holiday opening. On Saturday, Day 2, it collected Rs. 19.06 crores. And on Sunday the total for Day 3 was Rs. 25.00 crores, bringing the weekend total to Rs. 65.16 crores nett, a new record for a normal 3 day weekend and beating the previous 3 day weekend record set by Salman's own Ek Tha Tiger. During the next 4 days Dabangg 2 added another Rs. 41.62 crores (Mon 12 cr, Tue 15.5 cr, Wed 8.12 cr, Thu 6 cr) to its weekend total becoming the 5th Salman Khan starrer to join the Rs. 100 crores nett collection club. 

In total Dabangg 2 has collected Rs. 106.78 crores nett in the first week (a normal seven day week and not a extended week as films are accustomed to these days) and set a new record for a normal 7 day week.

© Anant Mathur. All Rights Reserved.

Dabangg 2 Shatters Opening Day Record!

By Anant Mathur (December 22, 2012)
 

Good new the world didn't end yesterday. But there is some earth shattering news... Salman Khan and Sonakshi Sinha starrer Dabangg 2 released yesterday and the opening day collections are earth shattering to say the least. Dabangg 2 opened on a non-holiday weekend and has shattered the record by collecting Rs. 21.10 crores on its first day of release. Rowdy Rathore held the record for non-holiday opening at Rs. 15.10 crores, Dabangg 2 has managed to surpass it by an incredible Rs. 6 crores. Earlier in the year Salman Khan starrer Ek Tha Tiger had the biggest holiday opening in history at Rs. 32.93 crores.

© Anant Mathur. All Rights Reserved.

The End of the World??

By Anant Mathur (December 16, 2012)

As you may have heard according to the Mayan calendar life on earth as we know it is supposed to end on 12.21.12 (December 21, 2012) - Hey, that's just next week. If you speak to people who believe in prophecies and world ending events - they're are convinced that the world will end next week. But speak to any scientist and people who are in the know and they will tell you nothing will happen. 

I am convinced that it will be exactly like the Y2K threat when nothing happened. I just feel sorry for the people who spent thousands of dollars buying things to protect themselves including survival shelters.

All you need to know is, in case of an apocalypse, the governments of the world probably have plans in place. If it were to ever happen I hope the government is going to save those who can help rebuild like scientists, doctors, architects, farmers, teachers, manual laborers and soldiers, etc. - we won't need to save politicians, actors, lawyers and entertainers or people from the service industry or anyone with a desk job.

Chances are the world won't end next week and I'll have to figure out a way to pay-off the Ferrari I bought knowing full well that I can't afford it - but if the world is ending I want to class-it-up and enjoy life as much as possible before I go. I'm fairly certain that, like me, most people will be with their family and closest friends on this day. And if you're really bored you can go and watch Dabanng 2 which releases on 12.21.12.

What I'm hoping for from the Mayan prediction is that there is sort of a cleansing of our mind, so that all evil is out of everyone's thinking and the world is a better place come December 22, 2012. And we'll live in a society where we don't have to worry about crime and everyone helps their fellow man/woman is kindness is the new religion. It's probably wishfull thinking but who knows that December 22 holds, chances are nothing will happen but if it does, wouldn't it be nice if things could improve instead of ending...

© Anant Mathur. All Rights Reserved.

DISCLAIMER: The above post is meant for entertainment purposes only; readers shouldn't take it seriously or interpret it as advice.

Tip # 41: Greed

By Anant Mathur (December 05, 2012)

Most young writers forget that the whole process of writing should be a learning experience. If you only write about what you know and your characters have the same characteristics and behavior patterns as yourself, you won't be able to write more than two screenplays in your life.

As a writer each character you create should be as different from you and as different from each other as apples are from zucchini. When you write a character you must know everything about him/her - where they were born, family history, illnesses in the family, scars, personality, education, etc. etc. Even if it's not part of the story you're writing, it is very important to know exactly where your character is coming from so they can relate better to each other and in case you write a sequel you have something to fall back on. As an example you can watch Back To The Future to see how characters were created with enough backstory so when it came time to do sequels (which there were no plans of making) they had no difficulty writing parts 2 and 3. If the writers didn't create solid characters with a rich background it would've been very difficult to write the sequels let alone tell a solid story.

In the relaunch of the Star Trek movie franchise, there is a large part of the plot which is based on the Kobayashi Maru test - for those of you who are unfamiliar with this test - it was actually first mentioned in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan in the original film series. The new Star Trek would've been a totally different film if there were no mention of Kobayashi Maru in the original series. The writers of the new film did their research and due to the efforts of the backstory put together by the writers of the previous series they were able to tell their own story and paid homage to the old one.

What I really notice with today's generation of writers, especially in Bollywood, is that they get very greedy with a joke. They're so busy trying to come up with the perfect punchline that they don't realize that they've revealed a part of the story during the joke which shouldn't be revealed 'till later on. I know it's the season of comedies in Bollywood, but one must remember that you can hit the punchline without revealing your story, the problem is no one seems to care and this is why a film fails to find an audience. The same is true for mysteries, writers are so greedy about adding twist after twist that the audience figures out the story in the first 10 minutes and the rest of the film is just dull and boring. The best mysteries are the ones which take you on a ride and have one twist at the end - no one likes to be on a journey with a thousand stops. A good example is the film Saw, while watching it you have no clue where it is headed, and then at the end... BOOM! There is a wicked twist which makes you say "that was incredible".

It's not difficult to write a story, but it is very difficult to write a great story, primarily because of the greed that most writers today suffer from. If a writer can put aside the idea of writing a hilarious comedy and just writer a story with funny situations and interesting characters he will find that he has, in fact, created a hilarious comedy. But when you set out to write a hilarious comedy you're so preoccupied with the perfect punchline that you forget about where the story is headed and end up with a horrible story. A great story can only go in a limited number of directions but when it gets pulled into unfathomable situations that's when you lose your audience. Your audience will forget and forgive a bad joke in a great story but they will never forgive or forget a bad story even if it had great punchlines...

© Anant Mathur. All Rights Reserved.

JTHJ and SOS Second Week Collections!

By Anant Mathur (November 27, 2012)

It's official! Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Son of Sardaar are both box office flops despite releasing on an extended 6 day Diwali weekend. As usual, it was the big budgets which did both these films in. Jab Tak Hai Jaan had a budget of 50 Crores and managed 92 Crores nett after 2 weeks - giving its distributors approx. 45 crores. Meanwhile, Son of Sardaar with a budget of 80 crores has earned approx. 80 Crores nett and managed a share of 39 Crores for its distributors and will likely generate huge losses for them. It is unlikely that either of these films will cross the 100 crores mark or earn enough revenue to be profitable in the coming weeks. JTHJ may recover some of its losses from satellite and music rights, but there's no hope of recovery for Son of Sardaar... it'll be sending out an SOS.

I have said it many times in previous posts, but I must repeat again... Bollywood cannot release two big budget films in the same week, they cut in on each other's business and if the reviews and word of mouth are not favourable both films suffer. If only JTHJ had released on the Diwali weekend it would have released on many of the screen which were taken by SOS, and with only one choice on Diwali weekend JTHJ would have taken a larger audience and earned more than what it did and perhaps even shattered records. But the coveted Diwali weekend - which is rarely ever profitable to distributors - does not deserve the attention it receives at least not 'till they stop releasing multiple films. For Diwali weekend to be profitable, Bollywood filmmakers need to be smarter (a long stretch I know) and release one film that day. But, as Forrest Gump says "stupid is as stupid does" and you have to be really stupid not to look at historical data which shows whenever 2 or more big budget films are released on Diwali weekend, they both suffer.

© Anant Mathur. All Rights Reserved. 

Six Day Diwali Weekend...

By Anant Mathur (November 19, 2012) 

After a long time a Yash Raj Film was released on the DIWALI WEEKEND. The one time of the year where records are expected to shatter more than any other, but it seems that expectations fall short when it's a Shahrukh Khan film releasing on the Diwali Weekend. The biggest weekend these days turns out to be anytime a Salman Khan or Aamir Khan film is releasing. Considering that Jab Tak Hai Jaan had a budget of 50 crores, it's disappointing that it has only managed to collect 73.68 crores in it's extended 6 day weekend, especially since it's Yash Copra's last film and last years Diwali release Ra.One (also a SRK film) managed to collect 80.97 crores in just 5 days.

The other Diwali release of 2012, Son of Sardaar managed to collect 57.94 crores in it's first 6 days. With a budget of 80 crores it's highly doubtful that the makers will earn any profit from its theatrical run. 

After the first weekend, a big release usually runs out of steam, although by some miracle JTHJ might cross the 100 crores in nett collections mark, it's looking very doubtful that either of these films will reach that goal. 

© Anant Mathur. All Rights Reserved.

This Diwali...Mixed Reviews!

By Anant Mathur (November 15, 2012)



Hello movie fans... As you know, this Diwali week, 2 Bollywood movies were released and will enjoy an extended 6 day weekend as both were released on November 13th. Of course the films I'm talking about are the much awaited Yash Chopra swan song Jab Tak Hai Jaan and the Ajay Devgn produced comedy Son of Sardaar. The starcast for Jab Tak Hai Jaan includes Shahrukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma while Son of Sardaar stars Ajay Devgn, Sonakshi Sinha, Sanjay Dutt and Juhi Chawala.

The house was not full for either film on opening day due largely to the fact that people were too busy with Diwali puja and festivities. Overall, in most places occupancy was only 70-80% for JTHJ and about 60-65% for SOS. Although SOS received bad reviews and negative feedback from critics and cinemagoers, JTHJ is another story, literally (LOL), it's garnering mixed reviews and mixed feedback - people either love it or hate it. 

As expected, collections did pickup on day 2 - approximately 50% for JTHJ and an incredible 70% for SOS. The two days collection for both films are 32 Crores [12.5 Cr. (day 1) + 19.5 Cr. (day 2)] for JTHJ and 23 Crores [8.5 Cr. (day 1) + 14.5 Cr. (day 2)] for SOS.

It's difficult to predict where the films will end up on the highest grossing list, but it does look like JTHJ has the possibility of joining the 100 crores club and SOS will certainly come close to it. The extended weekend will help both films and by the end of the first weekend we should get a clearer picture of where the films stand.

© Anant Mathur. All Rights Reserved.