ICC World Cup blamed for disappointing first quarter in Bollywood

Find out why Bollywood had a poor opening quarter of 2015

The first quarter of 2015 has been a disappointing one for Bollywood, with no blockbusters and a majority of disasters, say Bollywood trade analysts.

Not a single film released this year has touched the INR100 crore mark. None of the Khans have released a film, and only four movies have done moderate business at the box office.

While Neeraj Pandey's Baby collected close to INR80 crore, Sharat Katariya's Dum Laga Ke Haisha collected around INR27 crore and still seems to be going steady at the box office. Sriram Raghavan's Badlapur managed Rs.50 crore, and Anushka Sharma's debut production NH10 drew crowds and garnered around INR27 crore so far.



Screen grab of film NH10

Speaking to IANS, Bollywood analyst and film critic, Taran Adarsh believed that the Cricket World Cup, which commenced on February 14 and concluded on March 29, was partly responsible.

"The examination period, and most importantly, the Cricket World Cup (which began February 14) was going on. I do feel all these factors have affected the business drastically. We also need to pull up our socks in terms of content."

One film that performed poorly was Sonakshi-starrer Tevar.



Screen grab of Tevar

Komal Nahta, another trade expert, blamed the decline on lack of quality content churned out by Bollywood during this period.

"I would say the first quarter has not been good at all, and that doesn't mean any film that deserves to do well, has flopped. All the films that have flopped, deserved to flop. It has been a below average year," Nahta said.

Trade gurus do not have high expectations for the upcoming quarter, either.

According to Taran Adarsh, "PK was released last year and its business did well in the beginning of this year, but it was a 2014 release. As far as this year's hit films are concerned, Dum Laga Ke Haisha, NH10, Badlapur and Baby - these films have done well. However, it's not an encouraging ratio at all."

Nahta added: "There aren't too many promising films on the horizon. Good times will begin from June and July. Having said that, there is a film like Gabbar Is Back which could do well. It's not that we are flooded with promising films."