Vi segnalo l'articolo Bollywood's 100 crore club, di Komal Nahta, pubblicato oggi da Brunch. L'articolo illustra il favoloso 100 crore club, ossia il ristretto gruppo di star di sesso maschile i cui film hanno incassato, nella sola India, 100 crore (1 crore = 10 milioni) al botteghino al netto delle imposte. Aamir Khan è stato il fondatore, nel 2008, grazie a Ghajini (115 crore), e nel 2009 superò se stesso con 3 idiots (202 crore) - non è stato ancora istituito il 200 crore club perché nessun altro titolo si è neppure avvicinato a quel vertiginoso successo. Salman Khan è il membro col maggior numero di trofei: entrò nel club nel 2010 con Dabangg (143 crore), e replicò nel 2011 con Ready (122 crore) e Bodyguard (145 crore). Inoltre Salman ha raggiunto i 100 crore più velocemente degli altri: Bodyguard li incassò in una settimana. Nel 2010 fece il suo ingresso anche Ajay Devgan: Golmaal 3 (108 crore). La star consolidò la sua posizione nel 2011 con Singham (100 crore). Nel 2011 toccò a Shah Rukh Khan: Ra.One (115 crore) e Don 2 (110). Nel 2012 è la volta di Hrithik Roshan con Agneepath (122 crore) e di Akshay Kumar con Housefull 2 (112 crore).
'Getting into the 100-crore club is not as simple as being in a movie that has rung up Rs 100 crore. To be considered for entry, a film must have made that gigantic amount in net collections, not gross. For the uninitiated, gross collection of a film is the sum total of the money which is collected at all the ticket counters of cinemas across the country screening that film. Net collection is what remains in the film industry’s hands after paying off the entertainment tax to the different state governments.
Membership can’t come on the strength of a film’s overseas success either. Otherwise Shah Rukh Khan would’ve been the club’s founder member.
The public may have its own definition of hits and flops, but the film industry has always gone by the cost-versus-revenue analysis to determine success (it is also the only objective way of defining hits and flops). A number of avenues of revenue now exist for a producer in addition to a theatre screening. But it is a generally accepted principle in the film trade that income from most of the other sources like satellite television, home video, etc depends largely on the earnings from the theatrical business of a film.
The 100-crore club does not take into account the cost of a film as it goes solely by revenue. It is for this reason that Shah Rukh Khan, with Ra.One (total cost Rs 150 crore approx) [e soli 115 di incasso], (...) is as entitled to club membership as Aamir Khan, with a blockbuster like 3 idiots (total cost Rs 55 crore approx). (...)
Some basic club rules:
You must be a star to be eligible for membership. The club does not recognise any other community - neither producers and directors nor distributors.
You must be saleable, since only stars whose films collect Rs 100 crore or more can join the club. (These are net collections, not gross. Net collections are defined as total box-office collections - that is, gross collections minus the entertainment tax). Their saleability is of paramount importance. It is measured in terms of how much money their films make. (...)
No woman no cry
Only male stars are members of the club so far. To understand why no actress is a member, it must be understood that the club has, after all, been ‘formed’ by the trade and the media. And excluding women from the group is characteristic of an industry which exercises gender discrimination more than other industries. You may have heard of producers paying Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan fees of Rs 20 or Rs 25 crore but have you ever heard of an Aishwarya Rai or a Kareena Kapoor getting that kind of remuneration? Frankly, the industry can’t be wholly blamed for the gender bias because it is the audience which gives male actors far more importance than female stars, the occasional Vidya Balan film notwithstanding.
In commercial potboilers (which are the only films capable of catapulting their heroes into the club), heroines get far less scope than the heroes, which is the reason why the club membership has so far been restricted to male actors. (...)
An interesting aside: Kareena Kapoor has the maximum number of 100-crore films under her belt, more than even Salman Khan. Kareena’s report card reads: 3 idiots, Golmaal 3, Bodyguard and Ra.One. Unfortunately, as the club is not open to heroines, Kareena is a non-member despite her enviable score.
Even among the male stars, it is only the main leads who are considered worthy of membership. (...)
Star power
Interestingly, although it is the film which touches the 100-crore mark, it is the star who gets membership of the club. This is another indicator of how stars are worshipped by the industry. Bollywood has always been a star-driven enterprise and it is not uncommon for stars to hog the limelight for a hit. (...)
Most of the Rs 100-crore films have worked equally well in multiplexes and single-screen cinemas. Perhaps Don 2 is the only exception because it scored largely in the cineplexes. But unlike most other 100-crore-films, Don 2 had the brand advantage since it was a sequel. Golmaal 3 had a similar brand value even though the previous two films were not half as big or successful. Agneepath had tremendous recall value because of the 1990 version of Agneepath starring Amitabh Bachchan (despite the fact that the first one was a box office debacle and became a cult classic only much later on TV and DVD).
Although there is no time frame, films normally touch the 100-crore figure in two to four weeks. Today, the business of films has become touch-and-go. Most hits have a run of only four to six weeks. Among the stars who are members of the club, Salman Khan holds the distinction of touching the 100-crore mark in the shortest possible time (Bodyguard, one week!)'.
Vedi anche Bollywood's 100 crore club: aggiornamento, 11 agosto 2013
