Will 2002 ring to sound of Bollywood music?
IANS
NEW DELHI: Last year has been officially declared one of the worst for the Indian
music industry, but wizened music giants are undertaking massive cost cutting
exercises to set the cash registers ringing again.
The film music industry that over the years has become the backbone of Bollywood
was a major letdown in 2001. Though a lot of innovation with new sounds was seen,
most companies found themselves in the red.
Conspicuous lack of superlative music was one of the main reasons that only half a
dozen among the 200-odd films released last year were hits.
A reverse trend was seen in film music, which has hitherto assumed the role of luring
audience into cinema houses. Album sales were seen picking up after the films were
declared hits.
In the case of films like "Gadar - Ek Prem Katha" and "Lagaan," the movies became
hot property and that is why the music also became a hit.
Film analyst Amod Mehra feels music sales of both these films were not as impressive
as should have been.
Sony Music sold only three million cassettes of "Lagaan," which though good, is still
low compared to the eight million cassettes sale of "Kaho Na... Pyaar Hai" music in
2000.
This year, among the highest grosser in music was "Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai," which
had music by Anu Malik (about 4 million cassettes), followed by "Kabhi Khushi
Kabhie Gham," music by Jatin-Lalit, Sandesh Shandilya and Aadesh Srivastava (till
now 4 million cassettes sold, and expected to sell more).
Though "Kambakth ishq..." was a chartbuster, the music of "Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya"
sold 1.2 million cassettes, Mehra says.
He attributes the slump to a low creativity of composers.
"Leading music composers weren't at their creative best this year. Nadeem-Shravan,
Anu Malik, A.R. Rahman, whose music has been lapped up by listeners in all these
years, didn't churn out good music consistently, as expected from them. This resulted
in the music market crashing," he says.
"Though Rahman came up with a good score in 'Lagaan,' his other releases this year,
namely 'One 2 Ka 4,' 'Zubeidaa,' 'Love You Hamesha' and 'Nayak,' were flops musically.
Only 'Lagaan' was the saving grace for him."
About the music deals that fell flat, Mehra says: "The music for 'Rahul' was bought by
Tips for Rs.30 million. But since the music never sold, the company lost the entire
amount.
"Tips should have realised that it was an experimental film. The music company also
lost Rs.40 million in 'Ek Rishta - The Bond Of Love,' and Rs.30 million in 'Aashiq,' not
to forget another heavy loss in 'Tera Mera Saath Rahen,' and a massive Rs.50 million
loss in Rajiv Rai's 'Pyar Ishq Aur Mohabbat.'
"HMV lost heavily in 'Deewanapan.' Of the Rs.60 million that Sony Music paid for the
rights of 'Asoka,' it could get back only Rs.30 million. Universal bought the rights of
'Lajja' for Rs.35 million, but it didn't sell as much, in spite of its catchy music."
Good sales came from unexpected quarters, Mehra says. "The only music which sold
well according to the ratio it was bought, was 'Kasoor.' HMV bought the rights at
almost nil money, and the sold about 800,000 cassettes.
"Similarly with T-Series home production 'Tum Bin.' The music of the film sold so well
that the entire cost of filmmaking was recovered only from the music sales. To date,
three million cassettes have been sold."
But Tips didn't make much money with its home production "Albela," and similar was
the case with Venus' home production "Hum Ho Gaye Aapke." Both films' music
recorded average sales.
"The belief is that films produced by music companies necessarily have good music.
But these two films didn't make waves and proved to be losers for the respective
companies," says Mehra.
Competition between music companies in buying the film rights was also one of the
reasons for the slump faced by music companies.
A music analyst said: "Music companies just went overboard in their bid to bag music
rights of prestigious banners. Like Tips bought the music rights of 'Yaadein' for Rs.65
million, and another Rs.30 million was spent on overseas rights. Altogether 'Yaadein'
cost Tips rupees Rs.90 million.
"Since it was a Subhash Ghai film and had Anu Malik's music, the initial sale of
cassettes was good. But the sales fell later, and Tips ended up losing Rs.60 million."
Another trend witnessed last year was music companies backing out of commitments.
Reveals Mehra: "The music rights of 'Dil Chahta Hai' was sold to T-Series for Rs.60
million but T-Series paid Rs.40 million. The 'Nayak' deal was for Rs.60 million, but
again T-Series paid only Rs.30 million.
"HMV bought the rights of five Vashu Bhagnani films at Rs.250 million. But after the
lukewarm response to the music of 'Rehna Hai Terre Dil Mein' and the music of
'Deewanapan' being a non-starter, the company backed out of the deal and paid less
than half the amount.
"Many music companies also backed out after committing to under-production films.
HMV backed out of 'Kranti' that was then bought by Universal, while T-Series had
earlier backed out of 'Aks', which then went to HMV."
Compared to 2000, music companies recorded 40 percent less sales in 2001 and now
hope to make up by cutting costs.
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Karan Johar's "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham" (K3G), which released December 13, has
broken all previous records in India and the overseas markets.
With a record of over 600 prints, 401 prints in India and 207 in the overseas market,
the film has been running to houseful boards for nearly four weeks.
K3G has created hysteria in the film industry and the public.
It has broken all records in even the smaller centres in western and northern India like
Bhuj, Rajkot, Gorakhpur, Jhansi and Aligarh and even the south and east in terms of
collections.
K3G has created history by becoming the first Bollywood film to reach the number
three spot in the British box-office charts, collecting an astounding £473,355 during
the weekend making it the highest screen average of over £10,000.
K3G lived up to its expectations by beating stiff competition from "Zoolander" and
the "Others" (both of which are on around 300 screens each) and is just two spots
below the monstrous hit of the season "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" at
number three.
K3G also created history in the U.S. by becoming the first film to gross more than $1
million dollars in just three days. K3G is Johar's second directorial venture. His first,
"Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" ended up with a $2 million run in North America. His second
venture K3G is all set to make historical records.
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This week's release, "Pitaah" has not witnessed bumper openings all India. In the
crucial Mumbai circuit, the first day collections were just 83 percent. The film, starring
Sanjay Dutt and Nandita Das, has raked in mixed reviews and is likely to cut ice only
in the Hindi-speaking belt.
The buzz is that director Mahesh Manjrekar yet again disappoints after "Tera Mera
Saath Rahen" and "Ehsaas." Critics opine his subjects might be sensitive and thought
provoking, but he falters in the execution. The final product seems to be a hurried
affair.
All eyes are now on the January 11 release of "Koi Mere Dil Se Pooche" starring
Aftab Shivdasani, Esha Deol and Sanjay Kapoor. The film, produced by Boney
Kapoor, is the launch vehicle for Esha, daughter of Dharmendra and Hema Malini. |
