Will Ra. One Recover Its Money?

Posted by admin on Oct 31st, 2011 | 0 comments

Ra. One is the costliest film in India, to date. SRK’s big dream, this movie’s budget was Rs. 125 crore which overshot by a few more crores with some more additional stunts and VFX towards the end. Shah Rukh Khan has also spent another Rs. 25 crores on promotion and PR. With plans to convert it in 3D Format, the total cost of this computer graphics viewing spectacle is supposed to be more than Rs. 150 crores. But will King Khan recover the money? On paper, it seems that Ra.One is a profit making proposition. Here is how:

Overseas business projection – Rs. 48 crores : Among all actors from India, SRK is the most in-demand star overseas. My Name is Khan, his last release turned out to be the biggest international hit for a Bollywood movie ever, touching Rs. 35 crores overseas. Given the fact that it has been more than two years that a SRK film is releasing one can expect a 20 percent increase in returns over MNIK. Shah Rukh Khan is also the biggest celebrity in Germany, which means the movie will earn another RS. 3 crores minimum from the German version. All of these are distributor share; the net share could be even more.

Theatrical Business in India – Rs. 70 crores : Bodyguard created history on the first week of its release. Let us see if Ra.One can match up to it. The figures look clearly in favor of Ra. One with the movie releasing on Diwali. There is a five-day weekend which means the makers can reap in a bounty for five days. On a conservative estimate, Ra. One can earn a net of Rs 90 crores in five days and if you add another Rs. 9 crore for the balance, the movie should make a cool Rs. 99 crores as bare minimum, provided the product is fairly good. But these are all net costs, so if we reduce Rs.40 crores on an average, the distributor cost would be Rs. 59 crores. Add another Rs 12 crore to the subsequent weeks, the distributor earnings would be Rs. 71 crores. Of course, this is a very modest estimate, because a SRK movie at this time can earn more than Rs. 100 crores in the first week, which can make the distributor earnings come to Rs. 71 crores in the first wee itself.

Satellite Rights – Rs. 40 crores : The satellite rights deals are being still worked out and if they do, SRK should be making Rs. 40 crores more on that front

Music Rights – Rs. 7 crores: It is rumored that King Khan has settled for Rs. 7 crores as music rights for his super-hero flick.
Telugu-Tamil dubbed right Rs. 1 crore- If you take the worst case scenario, the Tamil and Telugu versions of this SRK venture may earn a combined figure of Rs 1 crore.

We have taken the worst case scenario here and if we total all of these costs, we see that SRK can laugh his way to the bank

Overseas : Rs. 48 crore

Satellite : Rs. 40 crore

Music : Rs. 7 crore

Tamil/Telugu : Rs. 1 crore

India : Rs. 71 crore

Total : Rs. 167 crore