Box office underperformers find new audiences upon re-release

New Delhi: Old is gold, but in this case, there's a twist. A bunch of films that bombed at the box office when released some years ago, have found new audiences when released again recently and even done better than new titles of the day. Experts said the acclaim these films earned on streaming platforms was partly responsible for their second-time-lucky run.

For instance, Laila Majnu, a romantic drama that had earned a paltry ₹2.2 crore when released in 2018, classifying it as a box office disaster, has crossed that figure when it was re-released earlier this month with collections of ₹2.65 crore at last count, according to trade experts.

Then, Imtiaz Ali’s Rockstar, considered a semi-hit for its time, has also found significant draw after returning to cinemas after 13 years this June, raking in about ₹10 crore.

And Mohanlal’s Malayalam film Devadoothan, not considered a big hit when it arrived in theatres in 2000, re-released last week, has also earned more than ₹5 crore, which is higher than what several new films in the language have managed.

Other than finding a new audience over the years on OTT (over the top or streaming) platforms, the films have benefited from digital remastering and new sound, in many cases.

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“Very often, new films are released extremely wide in far too many screens because of budget or scale considerations, which impacts earnings as they get lost in a crowd,” explained Rahul Puri, managing director, Mukta Arts and Mukta A2 Cinemas. “However, re-releases are planned in a way where only select screens and theatres are targeted for maximum impact.”

Many of these films may not have been lapped up by audiences at large, but have managed strong fan followings in their own way, especially among kids who may have been too young when they first released but have grown up on the film and its songs over the years.

“Given the weakness in the market where the past few weeks haven’t seen any successes, this was an experiment to manage decent occupancies rather than have nobody coming in at all,” Puri said.

To be sure, films like Laila Majnu and Rockstar were restricted to select premium properties and evening shows in top metros. Just like the festivals showcasing retro hits of yesteryear stars like Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan that have been organised over the past two years, Puri said it was common to see these cult films clock in houseful shows when screened in one show during the day.

“Platforms like OTT and television or DVDs earlier, have only helped improve involvement and engagement for films,” said independent exhibitor Vishek Chauhan. “They all help the eventual product grow instead of acting as conflicting interests, because after watching and replaying the film at home, audiences are happy to get the chance to watch it in a theatre. These are all streams that help each other.”

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Low ticket rates for re-releases along with the fact that there were no new films during the period have helped the movies in question, Chauhan added. Further, many of them are love stories with good music that have found appeal among the youth now.

Agreeing that the films were ahead of their time, Ruban Mathiavanan, managing director at GK Cinemas in Chennai agreed that many of these are seen as cult classics now. “People have been waiting to watch them on the big screen. OTT has only opened up the landscape further for content that way,” Mathiavanan said.

Key takeaways

A number of films originally released years ago that didn't do well at the box office, have been discovered by a new audience over the years on OTT.

This has translated into strong box office sales for their re-release in theatres. Films like Laila Majnu and Rockstar have benefited from the trend.

These films are released in select theatres and few shows to target a niche audience. Ticket prices remain low.

They help theatres at a time that new releases are few or nothing is drawing crowds to cinemas.

Television, DVDs and now OTT help build popularity for films via home consumption that can drive people to theatres when they are re-released.

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