Does the Economics of ‘Fitoor’ Make Sense?

We take a look at the economics of UTV’s ‘Fitoor’, was it a wise decision to make a mega-budget arthouse film?

Abhishek Kapoor, Tabu, Aditya Roy Kapur, Katrina Kaif and Amrita Pande at a promotional event for Fitoor (Photo: Yogen Shah)

Every frame of Fitoor is picture perfect. Aditya Roy Kapur and Katrina Kaif, the lead actors, perform well and with her credible acting skills, Tabu brings a lot to the table. Amit Trivedi’s music sets the tone of the film and what you see on screen is absolutely mesmerizing. But does all this make sense businesswise?

At a time when the film industry is going through a major correction, comes Fitoor, which according to reports, was made on a big budget of anything between Rs 45 to 50 crore. However, the lead actor Aditya Roy Kapur doesn’t really have a market of an A-lister. The leading lady, Katrina Kaif, is actually the star here but she clearly cannot really carry a film on her own shoulders.

Aditya Roy Kapur with Shraddha Kapoor in Aashiqui 2

Yes, in 2013 Aditya did deliver a blockbuster titled Aashiqui 2, but that film was made on a budget of just Rs 8 crore. It was produced by Mukesh Bhatt, who is known to make films within a planned budget. Ask Bhatt and he will tell you that budget is everything here!

Budget is the fundamental basic of our business. A good producer is someone who knows what not to do and not just what to do. A realistic budget should be made before the film goes on the floors and then come what may, it’s the directors job to make a film in that budget.

<b>Mukesh Bhatt</b>

Aditya Roy Kapur promotes Fitoor with Katrina Kaif

From the word go, Fitoor seemed to have a budget that was too high relative to its cast’s star value. Moreover, the film went over budget due to production problems that have been widely reported in the media.

First, veteran actor Rekha walked out of the film and a lot of scenes had to be reshot with Tabu, who replaced her. Getting permission to shoot in Kashmir was a task by itself. Shooting in the snow and in different seasons in Kashmir, an outdoor schedule in London with the lead actors, reshooting scenes with Tabu and permission issues in the valley only added to their problems.

When you watch the film you feel the money is spent well and there is no doubt about that. Fitoor required a vintage feel, which surely requires a lot of money. There were also reports, which said that Katrina’s red hair as seen in the posters, cost them a cool Rs 50 lakhs because the actress had to take a trip to London each time to get her hair done, and this included travel and accommodation costs of her entourage.

According to film trade pundits, Fitoor’s budget (45-50 cr) is not easy to recover unless you have a bankable star to lead the project or there’s very strong word of mouth. Film trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted about the number of prints that the studio is releasing, which makes it clear that the makers don’t plan to flood the market with prints, which most producers do for a big release.

Taran confirmed that the film industry is indeed going through a serious correction.

There is a major correction on the cards in Bollywood. There have been no new big scale announcements, all the big films that are releasing were announced last year. The industry is realising that some budgets are way too high and hence a correction is much needed.

<b>Taran Adarsh </b>

A poster of Airlift

The last big hit, Airlift, crossed the Rs 100 crore mark and did the kind of business it did not only courtesy Akshay Kumar’s star status but also because of the low cost of its production. The film was reportedly made for under Rs 30 crore, minus Akshay’s fee.

The mantra here also was that Akshay becomes a co-producer, a partner in profits than charging a big chunk as acting fees, which would have made the landing cost of the film quite high.

Clearly UTV Motion Pictures, the producers of Fitoor saw something that the rest of the trade didn’t. This is definitely a high-risk gamble for the studio and an acid test for director Abhishek Kapoor, who got all the backing he wanted from his producers. But how wise is it to make a mega-budget art house film? Only time will tell.