Rains cost Bollywood millions

2005-07-31 21:15

Mumbai - The rains that have pounded Mumbai for the past week have forced Bollywood studios to close and kept moviegoers at home, causing losses estimated at 500 million rupees (R75m) to the world's largest movie-making industry, trade analysts said on Sunday.

At least 12 scheduled movie shoots were cancelled while cinemas across the Indian city were empty as people struggled for mere survival.

"Entertainment will take a back seat. It is the last thing on people's minds in such a situation, and box office collections will take a dive," said trade analyst Taran Adarsh.

"The film industry has suffered losses of well over 500 million rupees through these rains," said industry analyst Vikas Mohan.

"This is due to weak box office performances, temporary closure of many studios, cancellation of shoots and damage to lighting, costume and film equipment in studio warehouses," Mohan added.

Released

The three low-budget movies released over the weekend all suffered from poor openings and weak ticket sales, analysts said.

The year has already been a tough one for Bollywood. Industry analysts estimated the Hindi-language film industry suffered losses of 1.5 billion rupees in the first half of 2005 compared with 800 million rupees for the same period last year due to poor box office takings.

Of the 105 films produced between January and June this year, only 10 were successful or recovered their money at the box office, said Adarsh.

Last week's cloudburst hit the western and central suburban districts of Mumbai, where the entire Bollywood industry - including stars, producers and studios - is situated.

Shootings at Film City, the area set aside by the state government for the creation of movie sets and for film shoots, was halted.

Studios

Three other studios, Filmistan, Filmalay and Shankaraman Studios, in the western suburbs, were closed, as no one was able to reach them due to the rains.

Most stars were caught up in the chaos, spending hours stuck in their cars trying to reach home on Tuesday night and Wednesday.

"I have not seen anything like this. I was en route from the city to my home after finalising some details for the release of the movie 'The Rising'," said Aamir Khan.

"I feel even sadder because so many people lost their lives and everything in the city came to a grinding halt," Khan added, referring to the almost 1 000 people who have been killed across western India in the past week.

Bollywood acting legend Amitabh Bachchan also suffered when rare family and movie memorabilia was damaged in waters that flooded his two bungalows.

- AFP