Bollywood's Rs 100 crore club: A look at the factors that helped movies ace the elite list

While 2017 did not do much to improve the Indian film industry's fortunes, it still had the highest number of movies that touched the Rs 100 crore mark in last 10 years.

About 10 films last year crossed Rs 100 crore including films like Golmaal Again, magnum opus Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, Judwaa 2, Toilet Ek Prem Katha, among others.

The first film to enter the Rs 100 crore club in 2017 was Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Raees that collected Rs 100 crore in 6 days of its release. Following Raees was the Hrithik Roshan starrer-Kaabil, which managed to cross the Rs 100 crore club mark in 18 days of its release. Then came Akshay Kumar’s Jolly LLB 2 surpassed the Rs 100 crore mark in 12 days of its release, by collecting Rs 100.37 crore.

The extended holiday for the festival Holi last year helped Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt-starrer Badrinath Ki Dulhania enter the Rs 100 crore club in 14 days.

Leaving all these films behind with its phenomenal collection last year was Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, which opened to a thunderous response both in the domestic and overseas markets, collecting Rs 128 crore in three days of its release.

Akshay Kumar’s another offering Toilet – Ek Prem Katha too joined the club by collecting Rs 100.05 cr in 8 days of its release. And repeating the Rs 100 crore success story in the same time frame last year was Varun Dhawan-starrer Judwaa 2.

Diwali 2017 saw the release of horror comedy Golmaal Again that managed enter the coveted club in just 4 days.

The last entrant in the Rs 100 crore club in 2017 was Tiger Zinda Hai, the only film to cross the billion-mark in three days, apart from Baahubali 2: The Conclusion. The Salman Khan-starrer collected Rs 114.93 crore in three days’ time.

But another Salman Khan film that did make Rs 100 crore and more could not perform well at the box office. Kabir Khan's directorial Tubelight, despite earning Rs 100 crore in 6 days of its release, failed to recover its investment.

Tally of films that crossed Rs 100 crore in previous years

It was Aamir Khan’s Ghajini that set a number for a successful film because before this terms like golden and silver jubilee would define box office hits. But the good old days are gone as films nowadays do not stay in theatres for long hence, a film’s business in less time frame marks its success.

Ghajini was the first film to cross Rs 100 crore at the box office in 18 days and since then, film makers and stars all have strived to achieve this mark.

And not only did Aamir start the club but also followed it with another hit—3 Idiots — that crossed the magical figure in nine days of its release.

While 2008 and 2009 had one Rs 100 crore film each, 2010 saw that number double, with Salman Khan’s Dabangg and Ajay Devgn’s Golmaal 3 entering the club in 10 days and 17 days, respectively.

Six films in 2011 breached the Rs 100 crore-mark including movies like Ready, Singham, Bodyguard, Ra.One and Don 2. Bodyguard garnered Rs 100 crore in a record-time of 7 days.

In 2012, the figure rose to eight with films like Agneepath, Housefull 2, Rowdy Rathore, Bol Bachchan, Ek Tha Tiger, Barfi, Son of Sardaar, Jab Tak Hai Jaan.

Factors leading to the emergence of Rs 100 crore club

High movie ticket prices

Moviegoers have to shell out Rs 140-150 in a multiplex to watch a film, compared to Rs 60-65 in single-screen theatres, according to Box office India. And the ticket prices increase during weekends in premium chains which can be as high as Rs 300-350 that fetch almost 80 per cent of theatrical revenues earned by a film.

Festival weekends

Festive holidays are lucrative periods for films and extended holidays result in strong box office collections. Movie ticket prices during this time is also high by around 10-15 per cent.

Increase in multiplexes

The number of multiplexes witnessed an increase across Metros and Class A towns in 2016, with major operators entering Tier 2 cities. The enhanced viewing experience of Hollywood movies thus resulted in increased footfalls and revenue realisations, according to the FICCI-KPMG 2017 report.

Multiplex operators have been widening the bouquet of services provided by them to include experiential offerings, especially in metros and tier-I cities. They are evolving from pure play content providers. These are aimed at offering an exclusive and premium entertainment experience to build loyal customer base. Due to this, multiplexes have become preferred choice for cinegoers.

Advent of digital prints leading to wider releases

Digitisation has resulted in wider releases as more and more screens are moving from analog to digital. Digital prints save cost and can be attained fast. Currently, digital prints account for over 80% of all Hindi film releases.