The much-talked-about movie, Panipat directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, was recently released and is no doubt one of the most expensive productions mounted so far. The leading actors are Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Kapoor and Kriti Sanon– all popular names in Bollywood. Box office response so far has been mixed. In this article we take a close look at whether or not Panipat turned out to be profitable for its producers.
Given its budget of Rs. 90 crores (approximately $14 million USD) and the fact that it has only collected Rs. 30 crores domestically ($4 million USD), Panipat will only make around Rs. 13-14 crore (roughly $2-$3 million USD) domestically, in addition to an additional Rs. 3-4 crore (around $500k – 650k USD) internationally due to countries like China who won’t allow films that do not show India in a favorable light or have Indian actors or actresses, which would account for why it hasn’t been doing so well there; total earnings now sit at Rs. 16 – 18 crore ($2.5 -$3 million).
From this data, it can be seen that Panipat has lost its investors 36.51% of what they invested. This resulted in Rs. 32.85 crore total loss for the company itself when all was said and done.
If that wasn’t enough, examining Ashutosh Gowariker’s previous few films makes him appear to be one of the biggest money-losing directors in recent years. In fact, his film Mohenjo Daro which cost a lot had lost over ₹80 crores
In fact, with both Mohenjo Daro and Panipat underperforming at the box office – totaling over 110 million rupees in losses – Gowariker’s last two films are his worst performing films yet.
Economics of Panipat
Cost Of Production, Prints and Publicity – 90 Cr.
TOTAL COST – 90 Cr.
India Theatrical Box Office – 30 Cr. (Expected)
Distributor’s share (A) – 13.50 Cr.
Overseas Theatrical Box Office – 8.10 Cr. (Expected)
Distributor’s share (B) – 3.65 Cr.
Satellite, Audio and Digital (C) – 40 Cr.
TOTAL RECOVERIES (A+B+C) – 57.15 Cr.
PROFIT – -32.85 Cr.
RETURN ON INVESTMENT (ROI) – -36.51%
Disclaimer:
The Box Office figures are compiled from various sources and our own research. These approximated numbers accurately represent how well the movie fared at the Box Office.
