Youth & Repeat Audience - The Secret to Box Office Success

Hi Readers! My last article ‘Small is (not) Beautiful’ evoked very good response. I received numerous mails and messages and thank you all for the same. If that article was understood and followed by budding producers and directors, much wastage can be avoided in South Cinema. Kudos to the Engeyum Eppodhum team for once again proving that small can be beautiful with an excellent content and performances.

In this issue, my attempt will be to analyze the audience and explain what really helps to achieve box office success. To understand this better, I visited theatres with a couple of friends and interacted with the audience where two hit films were running for over 50 days. One film can be categorized as a hit, while the other is a blockbuster. Though both films were appreciated, we wanted to understand why one mass entertainer became a blockbuster (without a big hero) while the other, a classic and performance-driven film, is just a hit, despite having a big hero.

We interacted with around 150 members of the audience at theatres where both these films were screened. Film names are not important, as our inferences will be more or less the same for all such films. With this analysis for a hit and a blockbuster, one can extrapolate the type of audience which will make a film just average or even a flop. Our observations are:

A Blockbuster Mass Entertaining film
Composition of Audience

Youth (students, office going, jobless and roamers) – 33% (the majority being jobless and roamers)
Middle aged & families – 43% (28% were couples and the rest were with children)
Retired/ elderly people – 7%
Others – 17%
Total – 100%

Repeat Audience composition out of the total audience interviewed

Youth – 50% (i.e. out of 33% youth audience, 17% were repeat audience, watching it for the second time). Most of the repeat audiences were neither employed nor students, but jobless and homeless). Children who came to watch were all with their parents and hence become a part of family audience group.

Middle aged & families – Mostly, the men in this group (and in a few cases women) said they were watching the film for the second time. Men who had watched the film with friends and co-workers brought their families for the second time. So the men in most families said they were watching it for the second time.

Retired/ elderly people – All were first-time viewers.

Others – Women had who watched it once with their husbands, came for the second time in groups of ladies (friends, mothers-in-law, relatives, etc.). Large groups of ladies were seen in the age group 35-45, which is unusual.

Total repeat audience: Over 50%. None had watched the film more than twice.

Let us move on to the film which was appreciated as a classic film but became just a hit to understand the kind of audience who are patronizing the film.

Classic and Performance oriented Hit Film
Composition of Audience

Youth (students, office going, jobless and roamers) – 10%
Middle aged & families – 85% (includes middle-aged individuals and teenagers who came with their parents).
Retired/ elderly people – 5%
Others – 0%
Total – 100%

Repeat Audience composition out of the total audience
Youth – 0% (the teenagers who came to watch the film with their parents are all first time watchers).
Middle aged & families – 20% (80% of this group are also watching it for the first time). When asked to explain how they were watching the film for the first time more than 6 weeks after its release, some said they had come to watch the film (a) based on recommendations of friends and relatives, (b) out of curiosity or (c) they didn’t get the time to watch it earlier. Some said they actually came to see some other film but when tickets were not available, they came to watch this film as they had not seen it earlier).
Retired/elderly people – 0%. All were first-time viewers.
Any other – 0%
Total repeat audience: Close to 15%.

So except for the 20% repeat audiences belonging to the middle aged and families group, every one who came to watch this film was a first timer, though the film was in its seventh week when the survey was conducted and one would expect more repeat audiences than first timers for such a classic performance oriented film.

What can we learn from these observations?

Youth support determines box office success: Clearly, youth makes a huge difference between hit and blockbuster status for a film. Though top artistes’ fans might throng to theatres in the first week, it is ultimately the universe (or sub-set) of youth who are not fans of any specific artiste and are regular film watchers who constitute a big chunk of the audience. If this group is not interested in a film, it is difficult for such a film to become a big hit. If this group also likes a film, then nothing can stop it from becoming a blockbuster. The recent hits 100% Love, Kandhireega, Mankatha, Engeyum Eppodhum and Dookudu are an example of how youth can make a film a grand hit.

Middle aged individuals and family audience constitute the major chunk of the audience: Middle aged individuals are mostly from the working class and rarely find time to watch films as they are busy in both family and professional affairs. They come to theatres only if the film is very good. If this group likes any film, they also bring their families, thus becoming repeat audience and increasing the box office revenues.

Family groups are comparatively rare in theatres, as they are busy running their families; their children have several other entertainment options like TV channels, theme parks, stage plays, music events, etc. To bring them to a theatre and worth spending time and money, the film must be really good and get good word-of-mouth publicity. The biggest advantage is if they come, they come in groups (at least 3 to 4 tickets per group). By attracting this segment, one can be sure of a large component of audience patronage. Recent hits which attracted family groups were Deivathirumagal, Kanchana and Salt & Pepper.

Repeat audiences determine the final box office status: The blockbuster film had almost 50% repeat audience, while the hit film had just 15% repeat audience. This is where the success of a film lies. If a film gets repeat audience due to its content and performances, it has a higher chance of becoming a bigger hit compared to a film which does not get the required repeat audience and relies solely on first time watchers.

My understanding of the audience based on this study also helped me to categorize them. Audience can be classified as:

Low hanging fruits: Fans of the stars, students, office going youth, jobless and roamers (homeless and roadside living). These audiences are easy targets for a film as they will certainly come if any big star’s film releases. They will all watch it once for the star. Some fans might watch it for a second or third time. The humongous opening week’s collections of Mankatha and Dookudu are clear testimony as to how big this “low hanging fruit” group can influence the box office success of a big star’s film. This segment is estimated to contribute to around 35 to 40% of the total audience.

Middle level audience: Families and working individuals. This segment comes to watch films mostly during weekends as many do not find the time to visit theatres during weekdays. However, when they come, they come in large numbers with their other members and hence contribute to bigger audiences on overall basis. This segment is estimated to contribute to around 50 to 55% of the total audience.

Top level audience: Aged and retired people form this segment. For this audience, coming to theatres is not a must, unless the film carries excellent reports in newspapers and magazines for its quality; they will not patronize other films. This niche audience will watch films on a selective basis; hence their composition can at best be 5-10% of the total audience (depending on the film).

The above three segments constitute the whole universe of audience. Out of them form the repeat audiences, who vary at each level.

Repeat audience: The low hanging fruit audience can watch a film repeatedly for the sake of a star if it is good but the middle level audience will not watch it again unless it is a mass entertainer. A classic or performance driven film will clearly be a one-time watch for this audience. The top level audience needs to be excluded from this list as their watching for one time itself is a big achievement.

Based on the above analysis it is clear that the box office success is largely dependent on low hanging fruits and middle level audience who chose to watch a film; if they love the film, they become the repeat audience. If a film can attract their attention, a large opening is assured; if the film turns out to be a mass entertainer, their repeat viewing can be expected.

Films can be categorized as: Mass Entertainers/Mainstream films, Class or Performance driven films, Realistic Films and Artistic films.
(Pl. check out Galatta Cinema - Oct'11 issue to see the table with example of films)

Our study and analysis reveal that the highest level of audience attraction is for mass entertainers/ mainstream films and class or performance driven films compared to realistic and artistic films. However, this is only one side of the story. The above attraction means one time watching interest for a film but does not necessarily convert it into a big success. The level of box office success (as explained earlier) depends largely on repeat audience.

Clearly, mass entertainers score on repeat viewing. A mass entertainer ensures repeat audience as audiences are able to enjoy the experience of watching such films every time they come to theatres due to the lead hero, making and entertainment values it offers. However, class or performance driven films do not get adequate repeat audience from the segments of audience who are attracted to watch it once, even if it stars a big hero. This segment mostly watches a film just once and feels good about it. The challenging categories are realistic and artistic films. They do not get any repeat audience at all; even the select audience groups who come to watch such films see them only once.

However, this does not mean there is no market for realistic or artistic films. To be viable, they have to be made in a very small budget (Rs.1.5 to 2 crores budget in any language) as is currently done in Malayalam films.

Class or performance driven films must be made in a limited budget, considering the limited repeat audience (not more than 15%) it attracts and never in big budgets, especially if it involves a big artiste. Such a film should not be made in mainstream film budget assuming the same number of audience will come for both a mass entertainer and a class film just because it has a big artiste in it.

While a mass entertainment film can be made in mass or big budget due to the kind of opening attraction it has and the repeat audience it gets, all the other categories of films must be made either in limited or small budget to be economically viable for producers. While every film has a market and scope, if one understands the commercial limitations based on this study and make a film within such economical limitations, the financial viability of such films can be assured. Otherwise, it will be a blind risk for the Producers.

Your views are welcome and can write to dhananjayang@gmail.com
Please read this article in Galatta Cinema - Oct'11 issue with images and tables, which could not be uploaded in this blog.