TNN
 
Mumbai, Oct 6: What can you say about a film that reportedly cost Rs 55 crore to make and ended up evoking a first-day response of just 55%! Here in lies a Drona has received a lukewarm response.

story that Bollywood cannot choose to ignore if it wants to continue a dream run at the box office.

The lukewarm response to the over-hyped Drona proves that the age of expansive and expensive cinema may almost be over for the cinema-literate audience that has overtaken the metros and the multiplexes in big and small towns. Even the mofussil audience isn't ready to accept quantity over quality, anymore and refuses to be dazzled by mere SFX minus a script. Trade pundits are predicting a paltry Rs 8-10 crore for this mega-budget film after a first week run.

But Drona isn't alone in it's zillions-down-the drain fate. Almost all the films that flopped recently were big-budget films that failed despite the big banners, big stars and big moolah. This year's biggest flop was the Harman Baweja-Priyanka Chopra sci-fi adventure, Love Story 2050 , which evoked a thanda audience response, even though the producer spent millions on the futuristic look of the film.

Last year, the story was no different. If Ram Gopal Varma ki Aag has gone down in cinema history as the synonym for 'BO disaster', then a credible production company like Yash Raj films went ahead and lost its brand equity with a relentless string of flops: Tara Rum Pum, Laga Chunari Mein Daag, Aaja Nachle, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom . Even reliable directors like Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Sanjay Leela Bhansali had to bite the dust with films like Eklavya and Saawariya.

A multi-starrer like Salaam-e-Ishq too failed to work its magic, simply because the viewer prefers bread-and-butter stuff (wholesome cinema) over caramel-crusted sweet nothings (read special effects). Specially when he almost burns a hole in his pocket while taking his family and friends for a film.

Juxtapose these bloated bloomers against the efficacy of small films like Welcome to Sajjanpur and A Wednesday , and you'll get the picture. The economies of scale have completely changed in Bollywood today. So much so, a Rs 5 crore film (the approximate budget for films like Sajjanpur, Wednesday, Bheja Fry, Khosla Ka Ghosla ) which garners a profit of Rs 10-15 crore makes better economic sense than a Rs 50 crore film that ends up with losses of Rs 40 crores.

It's simply a case of Schumpeter's economics in desi cinema biz, where small is truly beautiful. And sound.