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Recent mid-budget films, such as Awarapan 2 (Hindi), DC (Tamil), and Chennai Love Story (Telugu), have each collected ₹59-₹100 crore at the box office. These films have been made in the budget range of ₹15-50 crore.
This impressive box-office yield, especially amid the stupendous and sweeping success of Hollywood spectacles or event films such as The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, has challenged the general assumption that audiences prefer to watch mid-budget films only on streaming platforms and not in theatres, the film fraternity told ET.
In the past few years, the mid-budget theatrical space has gradually turned into a risky bet as a category. High-ticket prices, rapid acceptance of streaming platforms, increasing focus of streamers on profitability and costs, and a clear preference for big-budget films among streamers to boost their brand equity impacted the recovery of investments in mid-budget theatrical films.
Additionally, many mid-budget theatrical films have bombed, reducing audience interest in this space.
But recent successes show that audiences have not abandoned this space. “A strong story, emotional connection, music, nostalgia and word-of-mouth can still turn a mid-budget film into a theatrical event,” said Suniel Wadhwa, co-founder & director, Karmic Films. Historically, mid-budget films have always been realistic stories. Interestingly, after the pandemic, audiences have become more open to realistic stories than escapist fares, seasoned regional producers told ET.
“Usually, one would expect audiences to lap up light content, especially after a life-changing pandemic period. But the data shows that audiences have been liking horror and realistic content. Unlike in the past, today’s audiences want to watch realistic stories and not escape from them. And this expectation is being fulfilled by mid-budget films,” said Naveen Chandra, founder and CEO of 91 Film Studios, a company that produces, finances, and distributes regional films.Also, high acceptance of streamers for entertainment has not necessarily killed appetite for mid-budget films. On the contrary, streamers’ content has raised audience tastes. “Streamers have made audiences selective about mid-budget movies and not anti-theatrical,” said Shaaminder Malik, a film distributor and trade analyst.
Audiences, too, want community experiences outside their personal devices. This craving has brought about a certain openness toward genres and sizes of films. If they find a connection or reason for watching a film of any size through their social media networks, then they watch it.
“After almost indulgent content consumption on streamers during the pandemic and a few years after it, today’s audiences are experiencing a sense of fatigue about watching streaming content on devices. They are finding a sense of community in theatre visits and live events,” explained Girish Johar, producer and film business expert.
