Bollywood's fate at box office this year. Salman tops

Here's the report card of some of this year's big banner films at the box office

'Tis time to take stock of the year, after the last of the big banner films has released. On the basis of return on investment (the business done by the film compared to its cost, including print and advertising), our trade experts came up with about a dozen movies that make it to the hit list.

Not surprisingly, Salman Khan makes it to the top of the list, this year too, with Bodyguard raking in Rs 150 crore at the box office. And though Shah Rukh Khan's RA.One too is said to have met the numbers, it doesn't qualify due to its high cost.

Listing Singham, The Dirty Picture, Ready, Murder 2, Delhi Belly, Tanu Weds Manu, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, Yamla Pagla Deewana, Haunted and No One Killed Jessica as the hits of 2011, trade analyst Amod Mehra calls it a normal year.

"The only difference is that big films like Bodyguard, Ready and Singham have generated huge money. Even a flop like RA.One did business over Rs 100 crore. Never before have four movies done business even close to Rs 100 crore each in the same year, " he says, adding that a Rs 22 crore The Dirty Picture crossing Rs 80 crore is huge.

In the same vein, Suniel Wadhwa of 52 Weeks Entertainment Inc, while also adding Vashu Bhagnani's F.A.L.T.U to the hit list, points out to a growth of 60 percent in the business in the June-September period.

"The expectations in the last quarter from October to December were high, with films like RA.One, Desi Boyz, Rockstar and Don 2. Only The Dirty Picture delivered to become the biggest success of this period, " he states, pegging the average growth in the business at 22 per cent, as compared to 2010.

Indore based distributor Aditya Chowksey attributes the growth in business to the upsurge in the Indian market. "At one time, Rs 100 crore gross was unheard of. Now, we're seeing Rs 100 crore net collections, " he points out, adding that the industry is no longer dependent on overseas to rake in the moolah.

"The Dirty Picture did very bad overseas, but it qualifies as a big hit due to its huge success in the domestic circuit."

Talking of the growth in the domestic market, Sunil Punjabi, CEO Cinemax says that the increase in multiplexes has seen realisation in the number of prints and screens as a result. "But the films are not delivering the numbers to come close to 3 Idiots.

It will always be the second and third weeks that define the size of success, apart from the length of the movie. Doing big numbers in the first week is expected because of the open window, " he observes.

Considering that it was the most eagerly anticipated film of the year, tradesmiths call RA.One the biggest disappointment of 2011.

"It created the highest decibel in terms of pre-release reach, quality and raised expectations of the audience, but failed to deliver. It could easily win the Best marketed film of the year award, but people didn't accept it.

No other film has got 95 percent screens on release, with no competition for nearly three weeks. An ideal situation for any movie, but it didn't match from the content perspective, " sums up Punjabi about SRK's RS 150 crore VFX-laden superhero flick.

According to Mehra, it's an alarming situation for Don 2 if single screens are not going full. Pegging the first day's collections at Rs 13 c

rore, he says that considering the response from the public, he sees it crashing after Christmas. " Don 2 has to do a business of Rs 110 crore to break even, " he says about the film that has cost Reliance about Rs 105-110 crore after buying it from Excel Entertainment for Rs 80 crore.

Top hits
1) Bodyguard
2) Singham
3) Dirty Picture
4) Ready
5) Murder 2
6) Delhi Belly
7) Tanu Weds Manu
8) Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
9) Mere Brother Ki Dulhan
10) Yamla Pagla Deewana
11) Haunted 3D
12) No One Killed Jessica