A few weeks ago an unlikely thing happened. ‘The Lunchbox’, an independent film made by Ritesh Batra who raised half of the total budget of Rs 9 crore from producers in India and the rest from producers in France and Germany, earned Rs 100 crore worldwide. A figure that is generally associated with mainstream films with big stars, the good news was a cause of celebration for independent producers. But looking at the flip side, this is one of the ?rarest of rare cases?.
Makers of indie films still struggle to raise funds to make their films, in fact, they may need double or even four times the amount for marketing them and have to jostle for prime shows.
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A recent example is that of Rajat Kapoor?s Ankhon Dekhi that released last week. Despite getting rave reviews, the film did not get a decent opening and only earned less than a crore in its opening weekend. The film made on a budget of four and a half crore and an equal amount spent on marketing, needs to make at least about Rs 12 crore in box office collection to break even. Presently, the film has, on an average two shows at plexes.
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