‘They hail films making ₹200 crore but don’t tell you they cost ₹500 crore’: Reema Kagti on Bollywood box office paradox
It is no state secret that the conversation around Indian films has moved from how many stars it received from critics to how much it made in its opening weekend. Box office collections, which used to be a niche figure, now dominate discourse for almost every film, and many filmmakers feel it is unfair in the absence of the proper context of a film’s investment, budget, and scale. Reema Kagti talks about box office versus budget in Bollywood. Recently, speaking with Hindustan Times, filmmakers Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti opened up about the increased focus on box-office collections and how it affects smaller, independent films. Referring to a few recent Indian indie films, Reema said, “When you see a Shape of Momo, Boong, or Sabar Bonda, you cannot compare them to the box office collections of big tentpole commercial films.” Most of these films were made on budgets under ₹5 crore and hence had break-even points much lower than those of mainstream Hindi films. Pointing out that discrepancy, Zoya added, “And if people do that, …
