Cricket Fever

The outpouring — rah-rahs and rants prove what has long been suspected that cricket is a national obsession like no other. Consider the facts — as Jiniti Shah VP,Amap (an overnight rating agency) revealed that an impressive 67.6 million viewers watched the match breaking all records. The match was on for an average of 4 hours in every household! That’s an hour longer than your average Hindi film!

Until the quarter finals India’s matches had an average rating of 3.7. Quarter finals saw it increase to 5,semi finals 11 and Saturday’s big win made it 13.6!” says Shah.

It is equally interesting that films,film stars and everything else was secondary once India made it to the finals. There were asides on film stars who would watch the match at the stadium,parties planned around the finals but the focus was firmly on MS Dhoni,Sachin Tendulkar in particular and Boys in Blue in general. Amidst all this excitement there was an upcoming model who promised to strip for the team if they won. It was all in the line of duty -after all,the script demanded it.

As it turns out,the Bollywood brigade banking on the audience being loyal to their weekly fix of cinema may have something to worry about. As the above-mentioned data shows,cricket,especially when the home team is on a winning spree could dent other forms of entertainment namely television serials and movies.

Two films that released this week? Game and F.A.L.T.U of a lukewarm opening. Industry insiders are of the view that the finals,especially since India was playing,made a huge impact. Considering that neither film garnered good reviews,chances of the business picking up seem remote. It is likely that the World Cup win will give a shot in the arm to IPL which once again spells bad news for the movies in the pipeline. Thank You –– a mad comic caper comes up this week — will be followed by Dum Maaro Dum,I Am and Teen Thay Bhai among the notables films. While it is fortunate that theatres don’t have rights to relay matches this season,the World Cup hangover may still rob the movies of their family audience. After all,IPL also banks on its mass appeal as opposed to Tests or ODIs meant for purists.

And as we know,a good cricketing season may spell bad news for the filmis. It may even mean going back to the practice of leaving the summer months barren,crowding the release calendar even further. Perhaps Rajni,Ghajini and Dhoni being together at the same place or same time at any rate,may not be such a good idea after all!