With the release of the two Bollywood movies - Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Bajirao Mastani" and Shah Rukh Khan starrer Dilwale - falling on the same day in December, a pertinent question arises: Will the clash impact the already battered shares of Eros International Media?
Eros International Media is the global distributor of "Bajirao Mastani" and its stocks have been under severe selling pressure recently after an analyst raised doubts about its revenue growth. The stock has fallen 40% in the past one month.
Given the sharp decline in its share price, traders now await the release of period drama "Bajirao Mastani", as a strong performance by the Ranveer Singh-Deepika Padukone-Priyanka Chopra- starrer at the box office could lift the Eros stock.
But Rohit Shetty's action comedy "Dilwale" will also be released on the same day when "Bajirao Mastani" hits screens. Therefore, doubts linger in the minds of analysts and investors over their respective box office collections.
However, analysts do not see any significant impact on Eros International from the clash.
"We expect Bajirao Mastani to do well due to a 3 week window on account of year end and Christmas holidays. The market speculation for Bajirao Mastani gross box-office is between Rs 200 crore to Rs 300 crore on a worldwide basis," NDTV Profit quoted brokerage Maybank as saying.
Eros is working proactively to ensure that "Bajirao Mastani" puts up a good show at the box office. The company said that it would release "Bajirao Mastani" in Tamil and Telugu versions.
"This is very positive for the overall box-office prospects of the movie... Dubbing of the movie in regional languages and a possible release in China will help Bajirao Mastani surpass market expectations," said Maybank.
The Eros stock ended nearly 5% lower at Rs 218 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE); the scrip is down 40% compared to its 27 October closing price.
