AskIndicine: Live Now

It so happens that we schedule a QnA at a certain time (4PM today) and all visitors visit at around the same time, something which our servers cannot handle. We need to look for a solution, but for now we apologise for the delay.

Q. What according to you is the biggest reason behind Aamir not winning many awards even after being a top superstar and great actor?

A. For top stars, Indian awards are not about winning them, but the actors wanting them.Akshay Kumar recently said, an awards show called him up to say they’ll give him the award as long as he charges half the fee for his award-performance. In response, Akshay said keep the award and give me my full performance-fee. It’s not just Aamir, even a great actor like Ajay Devgn hasn’t won a single Filmfare Award. And we are talking about a two-time National award winner here.

Q. Your views on Aamir’s consistency on major box office records. Aamir is the only actor to give an ATBB, 2 HGOTY and have a movie in top 3 highest grosser biggest hit and most watched film of the decade for 3 consecutive decades (1990-2010).

A. Aamir Khan is not just a name now, he’s a brand. Like the ‘ISI Mark’ is the most recognised and trusted certification, Aamir name assures quality, so even if it’s a small film like Secret Superstar – Aamir producing or acting in a film not only adds tremendous credibility, but it also generates widespread interest. There are many people in the country who only watch Aamir Khan films in theatres. Box office aside, this trust in the audience is probably the most thing to achieve in the industry.

Q. Does the clash between Tubelight and Sunny Deol starrer will affect Tubelight collection… especially in north?

A. It’s not going to make any difference. Sunny Deol is no longer a bankable star.

Q. Are these movies releasing in 2017 (Padman, Dutt biopic, Golmaal 4 and Ittefaq).

A. There’s a release date crunch this year, especially for big films. Dutt biopic is releasing this year, Golmaal Again might take the first week of November. Ittefaq is a small film – it’ll release this year too.

Q. What are your views on the new tactic by producers to clash with bigger films to get publicity because it will limit the amount of records movies make right?

A. The film industry is a business. No one decides on a ‘clash’ just because they do not want the other (bigger) film to not break records. While ego can play a role, most of these are purely business decisions. Shah Rukh wanted the Christmas weekend so that families could come and watch the film. He felt it was the best date and hence they decided to stick to it. Raees makers decided to move even though it was a perfect Eid film, because it did not make business sense to release it against Sultan and the established might of Salman during Eid. The makers of Toilet too planned, strategised and only then announced the date. The decision could prove to be beneficial to them, but it’s certainly not to hurt the other film or stop their film from becoming a big grosser.

Q. Why do Salman khan films open to earth shattering response? Is it his stardom or effect of trailer, songs etc?

A. We think a Salman Khan film does not require promotion – atleast not the usual city tours and TV appearances. Release the trailer, announce the Eid date.. people will come.

Q. Can you give circuit wise maximum capacity of a circuit on 1 day?

A. It depends on a lot of factors like ticket prices, release size etc. For a Salman Khan release, at full capacity we could probably get to 60-65 crore net on a single day – if all shows are house full. Baahubali 2 will certainly challenge this because it’ll perform across all markets – Hindi and single-screen dominated Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada markets too. The release size is going to be much bigger than the biggest of Hindi releases too, so the upper limit is a lot higher.

Q. Don’t you think Gandhi Jayanti could be a better release date for SRK-Imtiaz starrer or Secret Superstar as Judwa 2 is getting a solo release.

A. Judwaa 2 is a big film. It could have a bigger impact on SRK-Imtiaz film than a less commercial film like Toilet Ek Prem Katha. Plus that week may not give the best opportunity for 2 films to do well – because Pre-Diwali will begin to come into effect from the second week of October and footfalls in theatres will reduce.

Q. On paper which year looks bigger for Akshay Kumar 2017 or 2018?

A. 2017, because of Robot 2.0.

Q. How’s the response to the trailer of Half Girlfriend?

A. Fairly positive. From the trade and within the industry, the response was mixed. But the normal audience seems to be liking it. We haven’t been able to do our trailer survey because the trailer of Half Girlfriend will be attached to the print of Baahubali 2, so we’ll publish a more accurate ‘response’ article after April 28. Meanwhile, it will allow the music to grow on the audience. Baarish has received a good response and the next song which will be out tomorrow, is the best song in the album.

Q. Tollywood are making big budget films with young star like Prabhas who was not very popular before Baahubali and exploring new genres? Why isn’t this happening with Bollywood? Even big director like Karan Johar is repeating same rom coms again and again?

A. Hindi film industry has done it too – the money invested on Ram Leela and Bajirao Mastani was huge for a star like Ranveer Singh when he signed those films. Established stars bring a certain amount of safety – because a unknown star even in a medium budget commercial film like ‘Machine’ with successful directors, can be a big risk. Genre experimentation is also not as easy as it sounds. Rangoon with several credible actors was a major-major disaster. Business should now be about giving the films the best possible chance to recover the investment.

Q. Will Sanjay Dutt starrer Bhumi release on 4th August, will it affect SRK film or Toilet Ek Prem Katha?

A. It’s still scheduled to release on 4th August. They haven’t announced a different date, except that Dutt was quoted as saying he wouldn’t want to clash with Secret Superstar.  It’s unlikely to have any impact on the SRK film or Toilet EKP.

We are still facing technical issues due to high traffic. We’ll continue the QnA once the technical issues are fixed. Apologies.