Bajirao Mastani rules at box office, nets Rs 301cr

Sanjay Leela Bhansali-directed period drama “Bajirao Mastani”, one of the most talked about movies of 2015, has mopped up Rs 301 crore worldwide since its release on December 18, its distributor said on Monday.

The film, starring Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra in lead roles, had a gross collection of Rs 211 crore in India (net box office collection of Rs 162.35 crore) and Rs 90 crore ($13.5 million) in overseas markets, Eros International Media said in a statement here. “The Christmas and New Year holiday weekends have shown tremendous footfalls (in cinema halls) and with no new release for another week, we expect this phenomenon to continue,” Eros International Senior Vice-President (India Theatrical) Nandu Ahuja said. The movie production and distribution company claimed the movie was the third highest grosser of 2015. The film, produced by Bhansali, narrates the story of Maratha warrior Peshwa Bajirao I and his second wife Mastani. Eros released “Bajirao Mastani” across 3750 screens worldwide on December 18 and went on to increase showcasing to meet demand in the subsequent weeks.

“Bajirao Mastani continues to perform equally well in the overseas markets too with it crossing the coveted million mark across key territories including the US, the UK and Australia. “Overall, the third weekend collections have dropped by only 20 per cent approximately over the second weekend,” Eros International President Marketing and Distribution Pranab Kapadia said.

Moreover, revenues from hindi film industry are likely to cross Rs 19,300 crore by next fiscal, owing to aggressive marketing campaigns, growing contribution from overseas markets and improved quality of movies, says a study. The current estimated size of Bollywood is about Rs 15,500 crore. Increased number of multiplexes and growing digitisation in the industry are also contributing to the rise in revenue.

"Box office collections in India that are estimated at over Rs 11,500 crore are likely to cross Rs 14,200 crore mark by 2017 and will account for about 74 per cent of the majority of Bollywood revenues," said the joint study conducted by Assocham and Deloitte.

The industry s revenues from overseas box office collections are likely to cross Rs 1,300 crore from current size of about Rs 1,100 crore, it said.