The little big picture

Matinee shows of niche Bengali films might not always have that many takers but the turn-out at this Tuesday afternoon show of Kaler Rakhal at a city multiplex was quite impressive.
It is another matter that the authorities had been offering one free ticket to every senior citizen but fact is that for a newly-released small-budget Bengali film, the sight of having an auditorium close to being full for a matinee show is heartening enough.With no big-budget Bollywood releases this week, is it then bonanza time for smaller releases?
The past one-month has seen a string of small-budget and critic-friendly films releasing at the plexes. While Gulaal and Little Zizou released on March 13, Firaaq and Barah Aana hit theatres on March 20. Deepa Mehta���s Videsh ���- Heaven on Earth followed a week after. In today���s time, when few films run for more than two weeks, it comes as a pleasant surprise that all these films are still running in Kolkata. With no big releases to elbow them out, the sheer longevity of these films at the plexes should have come as a boom for the makers of these films. With good reviews to back them, these films are known to pick up by word-of-mouth publicity. Vikas Syal, regional general manager, Inox Forum, says, ���In certain cases, smaller releases are better business in the longer run. With no big releases, people are watching them even if they are into their third week. While Barah Aana and Little Zizou have 22 per cent and 24 per cent occupancy respectively, the occupancy rates for Gulaal is 11 per cent. Had circumstances been different, people would not have taken this chance to watch these films now.���
While a section of viewers are taking a chance, many of these smaller films are not being able to really cash in on their increased plex longevity. And the reason is lack of funds for publicity. Says Sonali Shroff, head, corporate communication, Fame India, ���People come to see good films. You can���t force people to watch any picture. The problem with small budget movies is that they don���t have the sustainable publicity budget. Their marketing budgets are limited to just publicity before or immediately after a film���s release.��� Raja Menon, director of Barah Aana, agrees, adding, ���While there is some revenue coming in, we hardly have the budget to fly down Naseeruddin Shah to cities to create more buzz. Even if I approach a publicist, mine will be treated as an old film now. Putting up fresh print ads saying that the films are getting a longer run is huge expense that most can ill afford.���
If lack of publicity is what is keeping the audience away, what happens to the logic of content being king and that it would drive people to the theatres irrespective of whether there isn���t any marketing gimmick to push it through? Says Sooni Taraporevala, director of Little Zizou, ���Things would have been different if this was our first week. My film is going into its fifth week. The collections drop naturally during this time. If the exams had got over by now, we would have seen an upsurge in collections. We had only released 29 prints and compared to that, the collections are good.
This is, in any case, not a time for big releases. Recession has hit the theatre-going public and getting a family of four to spend Rs 1,000 for watching a film is quite a pinch on the pocket. With exams going on, it���s a tough to draw the audience now.���
What perhaps comes as a surprise is Menon���s comment that the absence of big releases is also going against the longer run of smaller films. ���If a small film releases with a big film, there is a spillover crowd that watches the smaller films too. Now that the general movement towards the theatre is on the wane, it���s not easy to capitalise on this trend,��� Menon adds.
Perhaps, it���s the interest in the new that draws the audience. The budget of the film or its content, sadly, still doesn���t seem to influence viewership.