The movie Sooryavanshi, directed by Rohit Shetty and starring Akshay Kumar along with Katrina Kaif, released over a month ago. The film also features appearances from Ranveer Singh and Ajay Devgn; it is the first major Bollywood blockbuster to hit theaters after the second India-Pakistan lockdown had passed. Though critics praised it at its release and audiences loved it too, there were many who complained about the lack of an original storyline or good music.
Now, despite releasing on Netflix’s online streaming service last week as well as in select theaters across India—Sooryavanshi still remains one of the highest-grossing films this year. This is our latest Box Office Report examining how successful Sooryavanshi was for producers financially—and what more it can teach us about investing in movies today.
With a budget of Rs. 160 crore, along with prints and publicity costs amounting to Rs. 20 crore and an interest charge of Rs. 20 crore due to the delayed release date, Sooryavanshi had incurred a total cost of production close to Rs. 200 crore (Rs. 1 billion).
Yet this film was given favorable reviews by critics who praised its cinematography and engrossed audiences – is set to earn around 250 crores (or 2 billion) after all the theatrical earnings are accounted for; money coming from distributor shares worth Rs. 90 crores and other forms such as satellite rights worth Rs. 27.90 crores, sales of digital streaming rights worth rs 50 crore, merchandising rights worth 60 crore…etcetera – totaling up to approximately 252 crores ( or 2 billion).
With Rs. 252.90 crores coming in from the film, the makers of the Akshay Kumar starring Sooryavanshi who had a production budget of 200 crores are expected to see an ROI return of 52.90 crores or 26.45%. In conclusion, it seemed like this movie was a huge success even though there were some setbacks because they just earned so much money back!
Economics of Sooryavanshi
Cost Of Production – 160 Cr.
Cost Of Prints and Publicity (P&A) – 20 Cr.
Interest cost due to deferred release – 20 Cr.
TOTAL COST – 200 Cr.
India Theatrical Box Office – 200 Cr. (Expected)
Distributor’s share (A) – 90 Cr. (After deduction of distribution costs)
Overseas Theatrical Box Office – 62 Cr. (Expected)
Distributor’s share (B) – 27.90 Cr.
Satellite (C) – 45 Cr.
Digital Streaming Rights (D) – 80 Cr.
Music Rights (E) – 10 Cr.
TOTAL RECOVERIES (A+B+C+D+E) – 252.90 Cr.
PROFIT – 52.90 Cr.
RETURN ON INVESTMENT (ROI) – 26.45%
Disclaimer:
The Box Office figures are compiled from various sources and our own research. The figures can be approximate and Bollywood Hungama does not make any claims about the authenticity of the data. However, they are adequately indicative of the box-office performance of the film(s).