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Whether its thanks to Malaika Arora Khan’s infamous dance moves in Dabangg or the refined humor of Aamir Khan in 3 Idiots, Bollywood entrepreneurs have been laughing all the way to their various bank accounts. Of course, it never rains but pours in the entertainment sector. This adage has been very true of our Hindi film industry in recent months. When the recession hit, the bottom threatened to fall out of that industry. However, with characteristic ease, it has bounced back with renewed vigor.

What characteristic ease, you ask? Well, the entrepreneurs in this sector (read producers, production houses, entertainment companies and even television channels) have beaten their temperamental audience to ensure that some of their scripts have found favor with the people who buy the tickets to their films/shows.

Nothing is done by halves here, and our entrepreneurs have followed all the norms necessary to ensure that their ventures are successful. They have done their due diligence, found the requisite fund backup, created products that will appeal to the customers and lastly, delivered their goods on time.

Wouldn’t you agree that this has all the makings of the perfect business deal? Like most other sectors, the film industry is dependent on the masses for its successes and failures. And the masses are a fickle lot, as most entertainment entrepreneurs will agree.

But last year, the formula to create the right products (read films) was found—time and again. The year began with 3 Idiots, the Aamir Khan-starrer that grossed Rs.175 crore worldwide within a week of its release during Christmas week 2009, and ended with Salman Khan’s Dabangg, which grossed Rs.80 crore in the first week of its release within India. Compare this to figures like Rs.225 crore that Ghajini collected and the Rs.175 crore Gadar collected till date.

Close on the heels of Dabangg came the southern superstar Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai starrer Endhiran, which reportedly collected a whopping Rs.117 crore in the first week. And to think that one of the most successful Hindi films of all time, Sholay, has had a total gross of Rs.35 crore since its release on August 15, 1975.

Of course, we must account for inflation in the 25 years that have elapsed between Sholay’s release and Endhiran hitting the screens. But the current figures and profit margins of these films are still mind-boggling.

No wonder, then, that some of the first, and fast, movers in the sector have been our actors, who are the faces of the products/films that the entertainment industry hardsells.

From Amitabh Bachchan, who is fast turning into the grand old man of Bollywood, to the reigning stars of today like Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Saif Ali Khan, production houses and entertainment houses have been established by them, successfully. They have been producing films and organizing shows in India and abroad—all of them very popular and money-spinners.

Then there’s former Miss India Universe Sushmita Sen, who has secured the rights to a prestigious beauty pageant, and filmmaker Karan Johar who launches couture lines at fashion weeks (albeit with a reputed fashion designer). There are a number of others who have launched various products/services over the years, too. Some news agencies also reported that ‘drama queen’ and actor Rakhi Sawant has turned entrepreneur. She runs a chain of beauty parlors, some of them on a franchise basis. Need I say more?
©Entrepreneur March 2011

Tags:
Bollywood, entertainment, film industry