The Barjatya business: How Prem Ratan Dhan Payo is making big bucks in small towns

It had certainly raised brows when it was announced that Salman Khan is set to reunite with Sooraj Barjatya for Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, almost fifteen years after Hum Saath-Saath Hain. It certainly fomented a debate, as Salman was to be seen doing a family drama (as a Prince) when his fans have well accepted him in an edgy, action-hero avatar. While there was huge expectation, there was equal apprehension about the film (much before the first look was released). Audiences might have by now learnt not to be optimist about gripping story lines from a Salman film, but what about the whistle-blowing shirt-tearing scenes? Those of us who have grown up on a diet of Barjatya films, know what to expect and have developed a taste for the Barjatya kind of drama. [caption id=“attachment_2505352” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Prem Ratan Dhan Payo. Screengrab from YouTube[/caption] On its rightly timed Diwali release (12 November), Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, had the biggest opening on Thursday last week and over the subsequent four-day weekend the cash registers kept ringing despite critics lambasting the film. However, in seven days (till this Wednesday) the distributors, Fox Star Studio claimed that it has bought the film from Rajshri Productions at Rs. 80 crore and made Rs 165 crore, calling it a hit. Does that mean the film was made in a subsidised cost and none of the stars, including Salman, charged a pie as their remuneration? Business wise, it’s always the youngsters (mostly between the age of 18 and 25) who largely decide the fate of the film, but Prem Ratan Dhan Payo was not meant for them. “It has been observed closely that [middle-aged] ladies, thronged the theaters to watch PRDP from Saturday afternoon,” says trade analyst Atul Mohan. Akshay Rathi, a distributor and exhibitor seconds Mohan’s thought, “70 percent of the audience, primarily women between the age of 35 and 40, were the audience who had seen a Rajshri film, Vivah, nine years ago.” Since Monday, the collection has dropped in bigger cities like Mumbai and Delhi, but smaller towns, which are much more revenue proof, are still holding strong. If the film was really a disaster, audiences wouldn’t have appeared to watch the film even now and revenue would have been much lower. “Small towns like Lucknow, Indore, Jaipur and Nagpur are really holding fort. It will remain in this zone and as there are no films releasing next week,” says Rathi. Distributors and trade analysts also argued that in the smaller towns most audience members don’t have access to reviews. An industry source also reveals that distributors have realised that the film is not growing, so they have made a special offer for audiences in small towns, like Raipur. “They are planning some additional perks seeing the high turnout of women in theatres. They might start women-only shows in some tier-two or tier-three cities, as it’s a tried and tested way to draw women audiences. This was proved to be successful for Vivah,” says the source. Here’s a round up of the box office figures of Prem Ratan Dhan Payo [caption id=“attachment_2514710” align=“alignleft” width=“500”]  Source: Fox Star Studios and Box Office India magazine.[/caption]