Veer Zara to Gangs of Wasseypur: What's Driving the Re-Release Wave of Fan Favourites

From romantic hits like Veer Zara to the chilling horror Tumbbad, Bollywood films that took away people's hearts are once again hitting the theatres this September. Classics like Sholay will also get a fresh run on the big screen. While fans are buzzing with excitement and thanking theatres for bringing back these Bollywood hits for them, here's what you should know- its not you but something else driving the re-release wave.

Just a few weeks back, the B-street failed to attract enough audience. Big-budget movies like Fighter, Khel Khel Mein, Bade Miya Chote Miya and Maidaan witnessed a muted performance. Surprisingly, low-budget films like Stree 2 were among the few to rake in staggering earnings. The horror-comedy has already crossed the Rs 500 crore mark and continues to pull in film lovers.

Bring-in 'Old' to get 'Gold'?

This is not the first time theatres are betting on re-releases. Earlier this year, many old movies like Zindagi na Milegi Dobara, Laila Majnu and Rockstar were brought back to theatres. And surprisingly, the collections were even better than the initial earnings.

For instance, Laila Majnu originally earned around Rs 2.5 crore but since its re-release, the collections have crossed Rs 8 crore mark. As per a report by Prabhudas Lilladher, PVR Inox managed to draw in around 1.3 million viewers in the first quarter of FY25 owing to re-releases.

Another reason why cinemas are opting for 're-releases' is perhaps owing to the content being displayed on the big screen. For movie-lovers, quality content is the key and the B-street seems to be struggling with the same as of now. This has inturn impacted the footfall levels, which have been volatile as it is often driven by content. Footfall refers to the total number of people visiting cinema halls at a particular period of time.

Not nostalgia, but survival

In its Q1FY25 results, PVR Inox reported a revenue of Rs 1,191 crore, marking an year-on-year decline of more than 8 per cent. The losses of the company also increased and stood at Rs 179 crore as compared to Rs 82 crore reported in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Earlier this week, the company announced its plans to close around 70 screens in FY25 alone. However, as PVR tries to adopt a profitable path, the company will also add around 120 screens.

"Our focus is to speed up expansion in underrepresented markets. Our Company’s medium- to long-term strategy will involve expanding the number of screens in South India due to the region’s high demand for films and comparatively low number of multiplexes in comparison to other regions. We estimate that approximately 40 per cent of our total screen additions will come from South India," the company said in its annual report. The shares of the company have remained in the red territory since the start of this year.

While the first half of FY25 has remained muted for the cinemas, analysts are expecting a revival in the upcoming quarters. "The movie calendar is considerably better in 2HFY25E, we expect a sharp recovery in Box Office fortunes in the second half. We believe PVR-Inox is in the reset mode, where the focus is on rationalizing cost, reducing capex and debt, which should yield results once content flow stabilizes," the brokerage firm said in its report. As for now, it remains to be seen whether India’s biggest multiplex chain gets a happy ending in its top-line growth.