Sultan is coming to the end of its run and will close around the 300 crore nett mark and this has instilled confidence in the industry with blockbuster success and in the last five months there will be a good flow of big releases to add to Sultan. But is Sultan just a one off and the rest of the year will see results like as they were before Sultan where films outside Hollywood release The Jungle Book not only struggled for initials but also appreciation. There were a few films that did well but the biggest plus for all these films barring Housefull 3 were cost constraints. Housefull 3 had a big satellite price and a subsidy from UK which combined were probably worth over 55 crore which turned out to be the big plus.

The problem all the films outside Sultan and The Jungle Book faced is not just appreciation but even universal acceptance and the numbers are just not going to come if forget being liked you are not even accepted by majority of the audience. A film for the big multiplexes may get around 1 crore people to the theatres if it gets a clean run so that these multiplexes keep it on for 4-5 weeks but that is not really going to translate into big numbers and to even get there you need the luck of the draw.

Then on top you have films like Airlift, Kapoor & Sons and Neerja proving duds on television meaning forgotten films as they just wont get the repeat runs on television to stay alive or remembered within the watching audience (critic types may be different as these types think that if they liked a film it will pass the test of time so that is portrayed in the media though results say otherwise). Airlift is one of the worst Akshay Kumar performers on television in recent history and irrespective of box office, Akshay Kumar starrers generally do very well on television, not just initially but in the long run also.

There is a long list of films starting soon with Dishoom, Mohenja Daro, Rustom, A Flying Jatt, Akira, Baar Baar Dekho, Raaz Reboot, M.S. Dhoni, Mirziya, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Shivaay, Rock On!! 2, Force 2, Dear Zindagi, Kahaani 2, Befikre and Dangal. Now barring the last named you could probably not say with certainty that any of the others will do 100 crore nett and this is a figure that is hardly a benchmark today.

You even have sequels of films like Rock On!! 2 and Force 2 where the first films not only failed at the box office but found no appreciation. The former was a disaster on television as well to make matters worse and sequel success has a lot to do with repeated television veiwings be it a Dhoom, Golmaal, Housefull or Hera Pheri so the brand stays alive.

If looked closely Sultan does not change much. It shows business is there but only for films where stories are told in the way the public understands and the content is Indian.. The real turnaround would be if the films releasing in the next 4-6 weeks can bring people to the theatres and have content which can be appreciated by the wider audience. This will automatically bring the numbers and then it would relly be something to cheer about.

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