When 2009 dawned, the list of films to release this year included some of the most awaited names that were to have helped catapult the film industry out of a recession. Instead, all hopes fell through as big-budget movies like Chandni Chowk to China, Delhi-6, Billu, 8x10 Tasveer and even Academy Award-winning Slumdog Millionaire (in Hindi) turned out to be the surprise duds of the year.

Things finally seem to be looking up for the film industry after a tumultuous 10 months of 2009. According to famed trade analyst Taran Adarsh, this year has seen way too many lean periods, in terms of release windows as well as box-office hits. “Within the first four months of the year, Bollywood was faced with the multiplex-producer standoff. The April to June window was lost,” he explains.

Vinod Mirani, editor of trade magazine Box Office, says that thankfully the year saw its first hit before this phase. “Raaz - The Mystery Continues did good business. In a country starved for movies under the genre, most horror films do well,” he explains. And while certain trade sources debate this, UTV’s Dev.D fared average, bringing in more than Rs 13 crore worth of revenue just before the multiplex standoff.

The three months when no major Bollywood flicks released, was the time that producers used to release their delayed and small-budget films. “Films like Coffee House and Detective Naani came and went as 2009 is clearly not the year for small budget films; last year saw surprise hits like A Wednesday and Mithya,” asserts Adarsh.

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