Why does ‘Pre-Diwali’ affect film business?

In the last couple of days, we have received a lot of e-mails and tweets from readers who are confused as to why the ‘Pre-Diwali’ phase is considered to be dull for film business. Here’s what we think.

In India, more than 80% of the population are Hindus. For them, the biggest festival of the year is Diwali.

Preparations for the festivities begin soon after Dusshera which comes exactly 20 days before Diwali. Expenses are high during this period as families go out shopping for new clothes, electronic items etc. Houses and offices are renovated, re-painted or cleaned up. Sweets are distributed, poojas are held at home, fire crackers are set off.. in short, Diwali is that time of the year when families prefer to spend time together.

Also, quite a few theatres in smaller towns remain shut during Diwali.

The impact of ‘pre-diwali’ also varies from place to place. In circuits like Mumbai and South India, the impact is limited. But in the North, especially C.P, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, East Punjab.. business is severely hit during this period.

Now, for smaller releases, the ‘pre-diwali’ period makes little or no difference. Last year’s 1920 Evil Returns which released about 2 weeks before Diwali did very well in smaller centres. But for big releases like Krrish 3 that are expected to put up record-breaking opening day numbers, every circuit – every state – every city/town is important. That is exactly the reason why there was a lot of confusion over the release date of the film. Rakesh Roshan wanted to release Krrish 3 on November 3rd (i.e Diwali) or November 4th. He was later advised and convinced to release his mega-budget film on November 1st, two days before Diwali.

Krrish 3 has managed to put up very good numbers in its first two days, but quite a few exhibitors believe that the film would have easily broken the opening day record had it released on Monday.

The other question that many have asked us is, why do filmmakers want to release their film on Diwali when business is likely to be badly hit? That is because, the ‘post-diwali’ period is excellent for film business. Very few films release before Diwali as its considered to be a dull phase. And after all the celebrations, a lot of people go out to watch family films. In fact, some of the biggest hits of Shahrukh Khan directed by the Chopras released during Diwali.

A film like Krrish 3 is a perfect Diwali release. Its a family entertainer could still go on to be a massive hit from Monday. The trade has its fingers crossed as the stakes are way too high this time around.

We’d like to thank leading film distributor and exhibitor Mr Harsh Jain for his inputs.

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31 Comments

  • @indicine K 3 can still break the highest single day record on monday…Remember after collecting 68 cr in d first two days ce collected 32 cr on sunday.k3 will also collect about 60-65 cr in d frst 3 days nd then on monday wid the biggest holiday of the year..4000 plus screens…it shldnt be a tough task

  • But then I think it is a big risk for films like Krish 3 to release during Diwali too. Although if the word of mouth is good the film is likely to do excellent business from Monday onwards, on the other hand, if the WOM is negative film is likely to have massive loss. (I’m not saying that Krish 3 is having negative WOM;in fact according to what I have seen in so many web sites and FB, luckily WOM is pretty good).

    So in case if the movie was bad and had a negative WOM, movie is not going to put up big numbers during pre-Diwali phase and neither it is gonna have good numbers post-Diwali!

    What do you think Indicine?

  • krrish3 will show its real power from monday,when we compare ra.one vs krrish3 ,,ra.one was better release date as it released on diwali day.nd v nxt day it had huge holiday..bt for krrish3 it had to wait for 3 days fr dat huge holiday..nd looking at the performance of frst 2 days these figures r superb..if monday collection are above 28-30cr then sure blockbuster..

  • Yeah, its pretty simple. Pre-Diwali period indeed affects a film’s business, no wonder why most producers don’t release their movie during this time. Unfortunately for Krrish-3, Diwali has fallen on Sunday this year. They could have released it on Monday, but it could have also taken away its normal weekend advantage. Still, Krrish 3 managed to put up good numbers (Friday- 25.5 crore & Saturday- 23 acc to some sources). The crucial decider match between Ind & Aus must have also affected its business. Now, today’s collection will also be affected by Diwali, and unfortunately (business wise) for Krrish-3, its a Sunday! Morning and afternoon shows should be able to put up decent numbers, but it will see a big drop in the evening shows.
    Tomorrow being a holiday will be crucial for the film, I wish them all the best!
    By the way, Happy Diwali to all!!

  • #Krrish3 is fabulous on Day 2. Despite pre-Diwali festivities at its peak. Collects ? 23 cr [Hindi + Tamil + Telugu] on Sat. Outstanding!

  • Inspite of such a dhamakedar Ind aus match and Pre diwali season Krrish 3 collection on Saturday is 23 crs. Unbelievable…..

  • Ppl still don’t get it… SRK is real badshah… If there were no ouatimd n madras cafe… Then by god Chennai Express would have collected 300 cr in India alone!! without having so much hype like krissh 3

  • Ajay devgan, have u gone mad?why are comparing ajay to hrittik? Ajay is senior than hrittik.though hritik is better actor than him. Where did u find these box office figure?jthj did better than sos.plz, ajay devgan give sattagrah movie’s collection.let’s compare with k³.what say?

  • Vikram and one more thing dude if ce was only 1 release of 2013 then it would have done 30000cr by breaking avtar . . .

  • @vikram, ifs and but doesn’t count, bcuz if Jai Ho wd have released on Eid, ce wd nevr had guts to release along with it. So, stop making irrational claims.

  • Krish should have released on tue nov 5th, it would have got 6 day weekend and why is Dhoom 3 is releasing on Friday and it can be released on 25th on wednesday.. it can get 5 day weekend.. Why these people are being so stupids..

    • @X Man, a lot of hard work goes into films. Producers know what is best for their film, they DO NOT need your advice. Extended weekends make no difference, Besharam and Boss flopped big time. Also, Hollywood film Thor 2 is releasing this weekend, so that film would have affected Krrish 3 at high-end multiplexes.

  • The moment I completed watched Krishh3 I re-confirm myself that King khan’s record is safe by a distance. Overall collections can be between 130crores to 150 crores depends on how soon it reaches 100 crores. With 2nd day figures coming to 13-14 crores, I think the game is already over before the game actually begins from monday. Every one thinking from monday collections will grow..these are very unrealistic in today’s sci-fi age where the entire movie will be available on net in just 2-3 days.What attracts audience the most is 1) Star power 2) 1st day or weekend record and fastest 100 crores, if your movie doesnt match any of the three cases, it will fail miserably overtime.No movie can go like 3idiots way by collecting less number of crores each day and being consistently to reach 200+ crores because it was perfect like DDLJ. No matter whoever acted in that movie, it would have earned the same number of crores but unfortunately the selfish and egoistic of the 3 mighty khans ie Aamir worked on that project.One thing I should admit is that VFX is amazing in the movie. But such kind of movies have been watched already with greater depth in hollywood movies. This competition is between Krishh 3?s VFX vs Chennai express’s comedy. Always comedy genre wins over VFX in India. The best bet could have been if the movie got released on Monday and by having preview shows from sunday evening just like how King khan did with Chennai express. This strategy could have worked and with 4000+ screens it would have break the record of 1st day collection of CE and made over 37crores easily. This would have raised curiosity among audience and the rest of the week would have been atleast 15+crores. But nothing can be changed now as the FATE is already decided. Krishh3?s VFX will get awards this year (and again SRK !!!) and then either SRK CE or Aamir khan Dhoom 3 will get the best actor award this year depends on whether D3 can break CE or not. Because eventhough CE is a comedy masala entertainer, you cannot exclude the star power of king khan which actually made it possible to reach 220+crores otherwise we know Rohit shetty kind of films will crawl to 100 crores in lifetime!!. Also Aamir khan got award as best actor for 3idiots eventhough that movie had so many sub-plots and other supporting actors who have done a splendid job but this stupid egoistic aamir has taken the complete credit. But not with the case of CE, it worked only coz of SRK (Star power), Deepika’s excellent acting and ofcourse Rohit shetty’s comedy.

  • Stop giving silly excuses …….like dat if v go to c every realease date shud hav sum o d oda prob…..bt neva matters if a movie n its wom is gud it wil work !!

  • @syed, keep your cheap comments with yourself, we all have seen chennai express , we all know that its the most disgusting movie ever that could hold the biggest grosser record. ce deserved 130-140 cr max. but collected 220 cr due to the blind srk fans such as you, KRRISH 3 is faaaaaar better movie and it deserves 250 cr. hats off to roshans. you can call srk movies like mnik,ddlj etc epic but ce ?? please !!

  • for those idiots who think the word of mouth is average for krrish 3 and people are rejecting LOL on your f#### face haters !!!!

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0MqDqXNDSc

  • KRRISH 3 has got tremendously positive reviews from all leading critics !!!! it has got fab word of mouth and audience are going insane with taalis,seetis and cheerings !!!

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhzCvVOS4U0

  • Indicine extended weekend makes diff if boss or besharam had released on normal friday then its lifetime had been min 10cr less. . . And if krish 3 word mouth was mixed or close to negative then it would have falled very badly on its sat onwards but its havin above mixed wom . . And if k3 was released on nov 4th then it would have done 40cr business wch itself brought much more buzz of breaking previous record by 7cr margin and first film to have 40cr. . And yes thor2 would hav been affected k3 in multiplex but still opening record buzz and got wom have been increased his business . . And y Dhoom 3 is releasing on friday. . Such big film will not have very good wom Bcoz of expectations so its better to release on holiday wch can create record day 1 business wch would increased its buzz. . .

  • whatever may be the consequence of this badly made film, why indicine you have to support this???just give an honest feedback and finish it. there is no need to put faith, consolve, make it believe to readers here etc etc…very bad. no need of that. already krissh3 has been declared a flop by other websites, thats more than enough. ppl with minimum 10th grade education will understand the fate…..by the way, this particular enthusiasm from you was not seen during the release of other movies in sept and oct…why????

  • Chill, why are u running to chase CE record?. Rrittik made u happy ,fine then watch it again and again. Koi and Krish was overall better than krish3.I loved them.

  • I have been saying this all along that why indicine is supporting eacha ad every film by giving them highest rating ..raving reviews and insisting upon insisting and later starting threads for reviewing their failures…highly stupid… what stops them from declaring a film bad when it is@@@!!!.. they don’t take a stand alolowing the fans to fight amongst themselves

  • Rakesh Roshan is confident enough that pre Diwaali also generate some cash hence he releases Krissh 3, on 1st Nov, but exhibitors and trades are 100% right! that the real force will come Monday onwards if the Word of Mouth is decent, and in this case WOM is outstanding from first show. Just been to Ambience Mall theaters and Saket city walk all the shows today till 10 PM are chock a block in all the Multiplexes and this says enough that Krissh 3, is heading towards Blockbuster.

  • I don’t know why they go on plugging film a fter film eveytime… give flowery reviews to the basic nonsense films and keep on creatind day to day collection threads of movies??? are they being paid????

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