AskIndicine: Has Ended

Q. Can Bahubaali : The conclusion open with 30+ ( Hindi Belt ) as buzz is never seen before and there are not any big films coming ?

A. We are currently looking at a 20 crore plus opening for the Hindi version of ‘Baahubali: The Conclusion’. 30 crore is going to be difficult because the film is not releasing on a holiday, but certainly achievable. A lot of people would want to watch it before the suspense (Why Katappa killed Baahubali?) is revealed. IndicineFBO currently has Day 1 at 24 crore for the Hindi version only.

Q. I am again asking please answer. While looking at box office collections why is only east Punjab considered and not whole?

A. East Punjab is just the name of the circuit. It actually covers Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir.

Q. What do you think which Akshay Kumar movie has a chance to collect 150 crore? Will it be Mogul?

A. From his line-up of officially announced films, Robot 2.0 is by far the biggest and has the best release period too. We’d put our money on 2.0, as long as it gets a solo release. Toilet and Padman are content dependent even to get to 100 crore, both won’t get a big initial. His next big film is the Salman-Karan Johar venture, followed by Mogul.

Q. Title of SRK-ANUSHKA starrer Imtiaz Ali movie?

A. It doesn’t have a title yet. ‘The Ring’ and ‘Rehnuma’ both aren’t final titles.

Q. The hype behind the Bahubali trailer is high but trailer becomes average and makers don’t reveal the plot of movie. Is this helpful for creating buzz for the movie… Last time Bahubali was the underdog but this time it’s like a brand.

A. The trailer is not going to make any difference to a film like Baahubali. Majority of the audience who watched the first film, loved it and are going to watch the second film in theatres. The only factor that could hurt the business of the film is the content. Due to the high standards set by the first film, expectations will be very high from the second film, which also increases the chances of disappointing the audience.

Q. What’s the current status of next Dhoom movie? Is it going to be made in this decade? Will YRF go for Tiger 3? Are they turning Tiger into a franchise? If yes how Big it can turn out?

A. We have been hearing that YRF wants to have a gap of 5-6 years between two Dhoom film, so as to not overdo the franchise. Except the next film in 2019 – 2020. As for the third film in the Tiger franchise, it’s too early to talk about it. It depends on what sort of response the second film gets.

Q. Your views on the nepotism debate that is going on in Bollywood? Some even dare to say Aamir and Salman are product of nepotism!

A. Shah Rukh Khan, one of the greatest actors of our era, ruled the industry even through he was a complete outsider. YRF and Dharma backed him and in turn he gave them some of their biggest blockbusters. Deepika and Anushka Sharma, the top 2 female stars in the industry today, do not come from a filmy background. The most prolific star, Akshay Kumar, made it on his own too. There’s Amitabh Bachchan and several others too.

So it’s not about the industry not giving chances to outsiders, they have, but it’s just that very few have succeeded. As for the debate around Aamir and Salman being products of nepotism – it wouldn’t have taken them far without talent and potential. Abhishek Bachchan got many chances, but the audience never accepted him. Uday Chopra could never make it big even though he got a platform like Mohabbatein to showcase his potential. Many star kids have failed, many outsiders have flourished. Being a star kid can only give you those first few opportunities, after that they are on their own.

Q. You always said that the clash between Tiger Zinda Hai and Dutt will be avoided but never revealed that which movie will backout. Can you please tell us which movie will move?

A. We have been hearing that Padmavati will get postponed and Dutt biopic will take that date (November end). Unless there’s some unexpected delay, Tiger Zinda Hai is getting a solo release during Christmas. Even Sanjay Dutt recently said, he wants to avoid clashes. It doesn’t make business sense  and taking on Salman in the form that he is in at the moment, is borderline suicidal. Even if Dutt biopic has outstanding content, it will still hurt the film at B and C centres.

Q. Single screen or multiplex which audience base is bigger & more profitable? as a newcomer which fanbase u should target first?

A. There’s not comparison at the moment. For most films contribution from multiplexes is 90% or more. Only Badrinath Ki Dulhania and Raees have worked well at single-screen this year, but even for those films the contribution from multiplexes is more than 75-80%.

Q. What are your expectations from Half Girlfriend? Can it surpass 2 states?

A. The trailer of Half Girlfriend is good. It has a couple of good songs too, one song that could even attain ’Galliyan’ levels of popularity. The expectations are obviously high – Chetan Bhagat commands a following, Mohit Suri has his audience and Arjun is returning after Ki & Ka. Shraddha is popular at smaller centres too. So it ticks most boxes and it’s a bigger film than Badrinath Ki Dulhania too. Whether it beats 2 States lifetime or not, would obviously depend on content – but opening-wise it should, especially if music really gains popularity. The music album isn’t the ‘Kala Chashma’ or ‘Humma’ sort, it has a lot of feel to it and the audience would want to experience it in theatre.

Q. Who is the biggest music director of this generation?

A. Should be Pritam. A.R Rahman is probably past his prime now, his last few albums haven’t really clicked.

Q. Please describe how Varun Dhawan delivered 8 successful movies. As far as I know there was no other actor with first 8 films all being successful.

A. It’s again a combination of many things. One, he knows the trade well and the potential of his scripts in terms of collections it can achieve – both lower and upper levels. When an actor understands this and ensures that his films have the right budgets, half the battle is already won. For example, he charged less for Badlapur, got the economics of the film right which helped him get a clean-boxoffice-hit at around the 50 crore mark itself. With a budget of 35 crore or so, that film would’ve failed. Two, he knows his audience and wants to grow his fanbase by doing universally appealing films. He rejected Ok Jaanu knowing the scale of the film is small and the reach is limited. He also probably knows that he has a fan-following among kids (below 12) – who would be alienated with a film like Ok Jaanu, but come out in big numbers for Badrinath Ki Dulhania and Judwaa 2.

Choice of films, correct budget, charisma and the whole-hearted effort that he puts into every film, including the promotional campaign – has made him the most bankable young star in the industry.

Q. Can any other newcomer break the unthinkable record which Varun Dhawan has set of 8 successful movies?

A. Difficult now. All of those who have already debuted, have failures against their names. Ranveer has Befikre, Arjun has Tevar, Tiger has A Flying Jatt, Sushant has Detective Byomkesh Bakshi, Sidharth has Baar Baar Dekho.

Q. What will be the impact of Badrinath Ki Dulhania success on Judwaa 2. ABCD 2 after Badlapur and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani after Barfi opened to astonishing numbers.

A. Judwaa 2 is going to be huge. 20 crore plus on opening day should be achievable.

Q. Can Siddharth Malhotra gain good box office numbers with Reload?

A. He can, but it’s an expensive film considering the star cast.

Q. In terms of crowd pull, we all know about the top 5, but can you let us know the top 10 at present?

A. In the right film – the biggest initial crowd pullers would be, Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Akshay Kumar, Ranbir Kapoor, Ajay Devgn, Varun Dhawan, Ranveer Singh. Ajay is huge when it comes to franchises like Golmaal and Singham. He is bigger than the youngsters at smaller centres, but since most of the money is coming from multiplexes and big cities – some of his bigger films like Shivaay are falling behind.

Q. How do you rate the Bahubaali 2 trailer? Do you think it has lived up to the expectations and hype?

A. Not really. It was all over the place. It looked like some scenes were just joined together to make a trailer, it did not have any flow. It could be because the makers wanted to reveal very little about the second film. As long as the film has shaped up well, the trailer is not going to make any difference to a film like Baahubali 2. Even those who haven’t liked the trailer, will want to watch it because they liked the first film.

Q. Can Bollywood ever make a movie like Inception?

A. The question should be – will a film like Inception have an audience in India? Doubtful. Too high-concept and might also be too confusing for most of our audience.

Q. Why a film is judged by how much it has been sold to distributor. If distributors are paying way higher amount then its their fault if they lose money. Producers are making huge money still movie is called a semi hit or average. For example – Raees, Kaabil, Dear zindagi. In Dear Zindagi producer makes around 50 crore with a budget of 30 cr. still its a semi hit.

A. If that’s the case, theatrical collections would be irrelevant. A movie like Dear Zindagi should be called a ‘hit’ even if it collects less than 10 crore at the box office, because the producers made money before release itself. A film like Jai Ho would be one of the biggest blockbusters because it was made on a budget of less than 45 crore and sold by the producers for 110 crore. It doesn’t make sense, the domestic distributors have to earn.

Q. Baahubali 2 trailer released and smashed YouTube records. Do you think it’s time to change your predictions ie 160cr for Hindi version. Because it will start from 20cr first day at least and can show superb trend and growth if the content is as good as first part. What if Hindi version of Baahubali 2 collects 250 or 300 crore net ? Will you change your robot 2 prediction ?

A. All our initial ‘IndicineLBO’ predictions are made on the assumption that the films will carry ‘mixed to good’ word-of-mouth. Extraordinary response cannot be predicted before the release of the film. Of course, things like the track record of the director are taken into consideration, but we like to keep our LBO predictions in the realistic range until we know the word-of-mouth. Because the expectations are so high, if content disappoints Baahubali 2 might even fail to touch 150 crore. We have to look at both sides.

Q. Why superstars of 90s, Govinda and Sunny Deol don’t get good roles even characters roles, but less popular stars like Anil Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt are getting film offers. Indicine i am asking this question for 11th time please give reply atleast this time.

A. The actors who continue to be successful are the ones who have adapted themselves, have been willing to play supporting roles and have now become seasoned performers. Sunny Deol, even at the age of 60, prefers to play lead roles. And it’s sad to see Govinda in B-Grade films like Aagaya Hero. Why would the audience be willing to pay such high ticket prices to watch such poor looking films? Sunny still has an audience in the North, which is helping him atleast get a initial and a respectable total, but Govinda has lost even that. Even for these veterans, it’s about making the right choice of films. Even a small role in a good film can get recognition, while lead roles in bad films will only continue the slide downwards.

Q. Has any actress achieved more than her contemporary male (major) star in Bollywood ?

A. It’s difficult to exactly put a value to actresses in terms of box office pull. Even a top actress like Anushka Sharma has only managed to do 4 crore on Day 1 in a film. Even if the promos had worked and the film had wider appeal, it would still not do more than 6-7 crore. Deepika in Piku took the film to nearly 6. For films featuring top male actors, anything less than 10 crore would be extremely poor.

Q. Has sex-comedy genre died in Bollywood ?

A. It looks like it has. Unless there’s a change in the CBFC (Censor Board) leadership, it might not be attempted.

Q. How much indicine.com earns per month (on average) ?

A. Unfortunately, way lesser than the ‘crore’ figures we quote as box office collections of films.

Q. What do you think about the business of films releasing during IPL season and which movie is best bet to succeed in this period.

A. Baahubali and Half Girlfriend.

Q. Why was Sarkar 3 delayed?

A. As mentioned in the article, it was because of pending post-production work. The film has been delayed by a month.

 

That ends the QnA session, 26 questions were answered today – almost all pending questions from last week. Do join us next Sunday. Thank you.

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