Over the last two weeks, we gave you a territory-wise report of the films that released in 2012. Next, we brought you a report card of film directors on the three top content-driven films. This week, we speak to corporate studios on their performance this year and a peek into their line-up for the year ahead
Apoorva Mehta, CEO Dharma Productions
2012 was a great year for the company as we had three releases starting with Agneepath followed by Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu and then Student Of The Year. All three films did extremely well at the box office. Agneepath became a blockbuster, Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu was critically acclaimed and Student Of The Year, a newcomerers’ film, did extraordinarily well and the kids received a very good response. We are very happy with the way the outgoing year has shaped up for us.
The highs were the performances of all three films. Each one opened fabulously. The lows were the issues we had for Agneepath and the cop cases for the song Radha from Student Of The Year. But in the end, everything was sorted out.
In 2013, we have an interesting line-up. The year will start with Ayan Mukerji’s Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani and then the first female director from Dharma Productions, Sonam Nair’s Gippy, a small-budget movie. We also have Rensil D’Silva’s Ungli. We will also start shooting for 2 States and Punit Malhotra’s next. And by the end of 2013, Karan Malhotra and Karan Johar’s film will go on the floors.
Siddharth Roy Kapur, Managing Director Studios, Disney UTV
2012 was one of the best years for the Studios division of the Disney UTV group – a year when our strategy of focusing on entertaining and differentiated content across all genres came together in a big way. We had two of the biggest hits of the year in Rowdy Rathore and Barfi!. We marketed and distributed one of the highest-grossing Hollywood movies of all time in India, Marvel’s The Avengers. We had hits in Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu and Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya, and we had Paan Singh Tomar emerge as one of the most acclaimed and admired movies of the last few years. It might seem like it doesn’t get better than this, but you can be sure we’ll be trying to top this performance next year too.
We have a great line-up in Hindi – Race 2, ABCD – Any Body Can Dance, Kai Po Che!, Himmatwala, Ghanchakkar, Satyagraha and Chennai Express. From our international slate, we have Iron Man 3, Oz and The Lone Ranger. And in the South, we have Settai, the Tamil remake of Delhi Belly. So, all in all, we have a really exciting year ahead.
Vijay Singh, CEO Fox Star Studios
2012 has been a year of phenomenal success – we have had six back-to-back hits, Jannat 2, Raaz 3, Bol Bachchan, Titanic 3D re-release, Ice Age 4 and the recently released Life Of Pi.
There has certainly been lots of learning as well. It is very important to have a high concept, especially if it is a small film, else you run the risk of not being able to set it effectively. As part of a portfolio strategy, you have to have a fair mix of films and in the creative process, you have to be able to push boundaries with regard to some films.
We have an exciting line-up for 2013. Our next film is a comedy drama called Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola, being produced and directed by Vishal Bhardwaj. On February 15, we have Murder 3 presented by Fox Star Studios and produced by Vishesh Films. We also have Jolly LLB directed by Subhash Kapoor.
Regarding Hollywood, we have a fantastic line-up, the main ones being Hitchcock, which has a great cast of Anthony Hopkins, Scarlett Johannson and Helen Mirren, which releases on February 8. Following this, we bring back one of the most loved action franchises, a Good Day To Die Hard, which brings back Bruce Willis along with Jai Courtney, directed by John Moore releasing on February 22. We are dubbing the film in a fourth language, Punjabi, a first for any Hollywood film in India.
We also have yet another popular action superhero franchise film titled The Wolverine with Hugh Jackman playing the title role of Wolverine. With regard to animation, from the makers of Ice Age and Rio, we have an adventure film titled Epic, which will release in 3D, and as part of DreamWorks Animation we have Croods, which releases on April 19, followed by Turbo and Mr Peabody and Sherman.
From our regional initiatives, we have two Tamil films, Vathikuchi and Raja Rani, both of which are being produced by well-known director AR Murugadoss in association with Fox Star Studios.
Rafiq Gangjee, Vice President Marketing & Communications, YRF
2012 has been a bitter-sweet year for Yash Raj Films. The highs were the release of some of the highest-grossing and most well-received films of the year. The low certainly was the loss of the legend Yash Chopra. YRF produced three movies this year. Ishaqzaade, which released in May featuring debutant Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra and directed by Habib Faisal. Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif’s Ek Tha Tiger released worldwide on August 15 and made box-office history. And Yash Chopra’s last labour of love, Jab Tak Hai Jaan, with Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma. Shekha Kapur’s Paani, to be produced by YRF, was also announced this year. The film goes on the floors in mid-2013.
YRF’s exciting and keenly anticipated line-up for 2013 includes Aurangzeb directed by Atul Sabharwal, Gunday directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, Dhoom:3 directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya and Maneesh Sharma’s untitled project. From Y Films, there is Mere Dad Ki Maruti directed by Ashima Chibber.
The post Studio Talk appeared first on Box Office India : India’s premier film trade magazine.
