By Priyanka Sharma

New Delhi, April 23 (IANS) Small and medium budget movies are proving to be a big draw at the box office, raking in anything between Rs.16 crore and Rs.40 crore. Experts say this indicates a hunger for entertainment combined with quality content, irrespective of star presence.

While the net collection of Kiran Rao's Rs.5 crore directorial debut "Dhobhi Ghat" was Rs.16 core, romantic comedy "Tanu Weds Manu" which was made for Rs.16 crore raked in Rs.40 crore.

Rajkumr Gupta's screen adaptation of real life story "No One Killed Jessica", which was the first release of the year, was able to gross Rs.28 crore at the ticket window. The total investment in the film was said to be Rs.9 crore.

Last year too, small and medium budget films like "Udaan" and "Peepli Live" had turned out to be sleeper hits.

"The success of small budget films is indicative of the fact that audiences today are hungry for entertainment as well as quality content. You give it to them in an interesting manner and they are happy to come and see it even if the film does not have big stars," said Siddharth Roy Kapoor, CEO, UTV Motion Pictures.

The first quarter of the year also saw releases like "Yamla Pagla Deewana" and "7 Khoon Maaf". While Dharmendra and his sons Sunny and Bobby Deol succeeded in tickling the funny bone with ther antics in the comic caper, Vishal Bharadwaj got a mixed response for the latter.

At the same time big budgets and much-hyped projects like "Patiala House" and "Game" didn't do well.

"They (audience) are today happy to watch a good, small budget film rather than badly made big-budget movies," said Kapoor.

Vidya Balan and Rani Mukerji welcomed 2011 on a creative and profitable note with their powerful performances in "No One Killed Jessica", based on the murder of model Jessica Lall in 1999 by Manu Sharma, son of former minister Venod Sharma.

While Vidya impressed one and all in her non-glamorous avatar, Rani's unprecedented use of abuses raised quite a few eyebrows, but audiences loved her portrayal of a bold journalist.

Made at a budget of Rs.26 crore, "Yamla Pagla Deewana" had a likeable chemistry of the father-sons Deol trio and was lapped up by audiences, especially in the northern belt of India - Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

"Dhobi Ghat", Aamir Khan's wife Kiran's first film as a director, was not the run-of-the-mill story and she did exceedingly well in portraying the complexities of characters from various sections of Mumbai society in the film.

The love ballad wasn't meant for the masses, and the classes raved about the script, direction, use of camera and, of course, mindblowing performances by newcomers Monica Dogra and Kriti Malhotra. They also loved Aamir and Pratiek Babbar in their respective roles.

Produced at a shoestring budge, "Dhobi Ghat" got good reviews and its success proved that small budget films sans frills can go a long way, if presented well.

The odd pairing of R. Madhavan and Kangana Ranaut in "Tanu Weds Manu" struck the right chord with moviegoers, who enjoyed watching an NRI falling head over heels in love with a desi-bindaas girl.

On the other hand, Bollywood star Akshay Kumar couldn't write the same success story with "Patiala House". Even Abhishek Bachchan's slick thriller "Game" suffered a similar fate and it was not a good news for director Abhinay Deo because this was his first release.

Multi-starrer "Thank You" didn't do as well as expected.

"After looking at the promos and posters of a film, people either go to see a film for entertainment or for intellectual stimulation. In both cases, they are looking for something," director Tigmanshu Dhulia told IANS.

"A commercial venture usually overlooks the fact that it still needs a good script and interesting direction. When a producer manages to get a big star, they believe their film is made. Spending more does not make a good film," said Dhulia who directed "Haasil" and "Charas".

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh says big stars can no longer make a film successful, adding, "Small budget films are a safer option because even if they flop, they don't break the back of the people who have invested in them."

Quite a few interesting small budget films are lined up for release in the coming months - "Shor in the City", Lara Dutta's first production venture "Chalo Dilli" and Onir's "I AM".