Podcast | ‘Thugs of Hindostan’: How Does a Bad Film Make Profits?

It’s been predicted that ‘Thugs of Hindostan’ will earn Rs 50 crore on the first day of its release.

(Photo: The Quint)

Sugar and spice and and some CGI – that’s how you make a powerpuff Diwali blockbuster.

So there’s been a lot of buzz around Thugs of Hindostan since the trailer got out. Throw in Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan in period costumes and there's always a hype. And what better than Diwali, the epitome of expenditure, to release it. In the last 10 years there have been at least 20 major releases on Diwali and at least 13 of them did well.

Except this film didn’t get good reviews.

Granted this is not Aamir’s time of the year which is usually Christmas but even with a good luck charm this film was never going to get rave reviews.

And this was definitely one of the most expensive Yash Raj Productions, I mean look at the terrible CJI — that definitely cost a bomb.

But you know, opinions are not going prevent this film from being a box office hit. Most films recover the cost of production through satellite, digital and music rights. So producers are safe even if the movie fares poorly at the theatres.

Girish Johar, a trade analyst, predicted the film would earn at Rs 50 crore on the first day of the release and another 100 crore depending on the the quality of the content. So there you go, the actors and producers are covered.

So who incurs the losses?

Films are a big gamble for distributors – they may do well or they may not. In some cases, stars have been known to refund distributors to a certain extent. For instance, Shah Rukh Khan was reported to have refunded 30 percent to the distributors of Jab Harry Met Sejal, Dilwale, Asoka and Paheli.

But YRF is too wealthy to need distributors, it has its own distribution channels. And if one accounts for the overseas earnings of the film, especially in China since Aamir has a great fan base there, while it may not earn much more than its cost of production it will easily break even.