Bollywood gears up for post-IPL releases

Jun 1, 2008

Bollywood is looking to take over from where IPL ends.

The post-IPL period will see a flurry of big releases with ‘Sarkar Raj’, which marks the coming together of the three Bachchans, seeking to initiate box-office hungama. The industry has seen a lull in the recent past, which has coincided with the cricket extravaganza, and only one film (‘Jannat’) has managed to buck the trend as films of various budgets have kept bombing at the box office during the 40-day IPL fever.

But Bollywood is gearing up to take its revenge. ‘Sarkar Raj’, a sequel to the 2005 hit ‘Sarkar’, is the first biggie (lined up for release this Friday); the film stars the three Bs (Amitabh, Abhishek and Aishwarya). The other big films slated for a June release are Priyadarshan’s ‘Mere Baap Pehle Aap’ and Yash Raj Films’ ‘Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic’.

July 4 is likely to be another big Friday for Bollywood with ‘Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na’ and ‘Love Story 2050’ releasing that day.

Some smaller-budget but thematically interesting films like ‘Aamir’, ‘Via Darjeeling’ and ‘Mukhbir’ are also releasing during this period.

Producer-director Vipul Shah said: “The IPL period has certainly been one of low returns for films. The industry will take this into account from next year.”

A trade expert concurred: “The IPL has certainly eaten into our revenues. One long-time fear is that the summer vacation, usually a good one for films because of holidays, will become unproductive for Bollywood every year because of IPL.”

Film broker Dilip Soni said film-makers would plan release dates keeping IPL matches in mind from next year.Soni felt the industry would not openly object to IPL because a lot of Bollywood stars are involved.