There seems to be no recession when it comes to Hollywood movies across America but it is quite a different scene for Bollywood star-driven shows. It looks like the year 2009 will pass without a single blockbuster show featuring the likes of Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan or Shah Rukh Khan
Bharat Jotwani, who along with Victor Khubani organised The Unforgettable Tour last year, featuring Amitabh, Madhuri Dixit, Abhishek Bachchan Aishwarya and Preity Zinta in Atlantic City and New York, says the movie stars are not sensitive to the economic situation in America and Europe.
"The big reason why we aren't having the star-driven shows is simple," Jotwani says, "the Bollywood stars are simply not willing to reduce their price. There are fans out there, and they are in thousands, who will save diligently to pay $100 to $200 to see their favorite stars perform. The fans will make sacrifices, they will save money for these shows. But the producers of the show know too well that $100 or $200 tickets won't help us break even, even if there are over 5,000 attending the show."
Their last star show, The Unforgettable, drew over 18,000 people in Atlantic City and the Nassau Coliseum.
The sponsors and television stations will help to navigate a show towards making a decent profit or break even, he says. "Given the recession, it is difficult to get the support from these sponsors."
Jotwani and Khubani are organising August 1 the Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan and Hard Kaur show Explosion 2009 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Movie stars in India can afford to demand their usual remuneration, Jotwani says, because large industrial houses and mass circulated newspaper chains back up the shows.
"We don't have such a thing in America and Canada like a conglomerate or a mega newspaper chain coming on as sponsors," Jotwani adds. "I wish the stars would realise how much the audiences overseas love to see them perform."
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