Bollywood’s biggest disruptor may not be Netflix or Hotstar but quiet 1,000 Cr money-making machine Maddock Films
YRF and Dharma are legendary legacy. Maddock started when DDLJ was 20 years old. Maddock’s founder was a investment banker, not a Kapoor. Maddock’s first film Finding Fanny barely returned money. Far from being a disruptor, Maddock looks like a tiny, artsy production not to care
But looking at the screen reveals a blockbuster machine having generated 1,300 Cr in 2024
Dinesh Vijan grew up in Punjabi, Partition afflicted family. In 2004, at 23, the i-banker left his job, crazily to make films. With no connections, Dinesh had to grapple. Starting with Being Cyrus in 2005, it barely broke even. With no films for 3 years, the struggle began. Teaming up with Being Cyrus’ Saif Ali Khan, Dinesh started Illuminati in 2008
In 2009 Love Aaj Kal landed, delivering a 100 Cr hit 5 years after Vijan’s start
Indian cinema began to transform with 3 Idiots, Wake Up Sid, and ZNMD by 2010. Vijan’s focus was on telling unconventional stories. But Agent Vinod’s 2012 flop almost killed Illuminati. Movie production, like VC, is a hits business. Without another hit, Vijan would be out. As 2012’s Cocktail ended with 130 Cr, Vijan knew he was onto something
By 2014, Vijan would start Maddock, debuting with Finding Fanny
Maddock had built a formula, in an industry that didn’t seem to have any. Find unconventional stories. Work with similar group of actors. Blend two different disparate genres. Don’t depend on big stars. Maddock would soon churn out Badlapur, Hindi Medium, Raabta. Churning almost 90 Cr each, Maddock was staring into the 120,000 Cr media market
By 2018, just 23% of box office collections were with star-driven movies, a huge shift
Movies were a hits business. Box office collections drove 70% rev, digital 15-20%. Distributors, theaters, stars, creating ate up costs. Production houses would end with ~10% PAT. But Maddock became a hit factory. Merging horror/comedy, Stree would be a massive success in 2019. Generating 180 Cr on 20 Cr, it would be 10x gross on budget
Maddock’s own revenue would cross 100 Cr, with a huge PAT of 35%
Maddock diversified genres. Bala, Lukka Chupi, Made in China, would create a portfolio of “investments”. As the pandemic hit, theatricals got killed. Helped by OTT, the industry crept back in 2021. Driven by Sooryavanshi’s success, stars charged huge fees. Maddock lack of star reliance helped
Maddock was soon about to use a new formula - the Stree horror universe
By 23, it delivered more hits like ZHZB. But ’24 would be its announcement to the world. Stree 2 would hit 900 Cr. Maddock would deliver 2 more 100 Cr+ hits. Turning almost 1,300 Cr on 150 Cr budget, Maddock had become a money making machine. Star production houses like YRF, Dharma had been left in the dust by the outsider, i-banker with filmy dreams
With details here (https://t.co/iivIpVh22j), Maddock could create a 5,000 Cr empire disrupting Bollywood
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