AskIndicine: Live Now

It’ll be a short QnA session today. One hour and about 10 questions. The comments section is now closed.

Q. Do you think any other actor could have made Fan a success with the same scenario..I mean with same Genre , Star Cast , Release period and with competition from a highly accepted multiplex movie like Jungle Book?

A. There are two big advantages of having a superstar in a film. One, it ensures a good initial (opening day) and if the film finds acceptance, the number of audience that will come out to watch the film is huge. For example, a Bajrangi Bhaijaan with the same content and word-of-mouth, can never do 300 crore if it features Saif Ali Khan in the lead. But with well-established top stars, many more people would be willing to watch the film – as long as the mouth publicity is good and the genre appeals to a wider section of the audience.

For a film like FAN, the problem wasn’t the genre, star cast or release period, but the content that did not find any appreciation with any section of the audience – which includes Shah Rukh Khan fans. With mixed word-of-mouth, the lifetime total of films is usually double its weekend total. But FAN collected 52.5 crore in its first weekend and will finish with less than 85 crore lifetime, which is about 1.6 times. It’s dismal to say the least.

Q. What’s Highest 4th week collection ever? Can The Jungle Book cross it?

A. 3 Idiots collected 16 crore in its fourth week, which is currently the highest ever. The Jungle Book has collected Rs 5.31 crore in 2 days in its fourth week. So yes, it does have a chance as long as it collects about 5 crore today.

Q. Raees release date will be announced? It’s getting late, if they are aiming for Eid. YRF released 2nd teaser inside 1 month while Raees makers haven’t released a single poster in last 6 months.

A. This question has already been answered quite a few times in previous QnA sessions. We have nothing more to add to it. From what we know, Raees has been pushed from EID. They do not have a new date for now.

The Bakrid date (9th September) was fantastic, if they wanted to give Raees a solo release. Baar Baar Dekho was Excel Entertainment’s film too, but since it’s a co-production with Dharma, they probably wanted to release Baar Baar Dekho before Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil during Diwali. There are reports of Republic Day 2017 doing the rounds too, but there is no point speculating.  Let’s wait for Ritesh Sidhwani or Farhan Akhtar to make an announcement.

Q. How much of shoot is still pending for Sultan and do you think post production works can be finished in time for an Eid release considering the scale of the film?

A. The film is on schedule, there have been no major delays. The shoot is progressing smoothly, will be wrapped up by the end of this month. Post-production work is on too. Will definitely be ready in time for Eid.

Q. Your take on the current trend of releasing trailers way before the movie and the buzz fizzes out as the release approaches? Latest examples – Fan, Azhar, Udta Punjab, Rustom.. Is it a practice to show a kind of confirmation to other producers that their films will be releasing on the said date?

A. Different producers have different reasons for releasing teasers way before even the shooting of the film is complete. It could be to create excitement around the find, to find distributors or investors and it could also be to slam the release date. But releasing teasers a year before the release of films, makes no sense whatsoever. The excitement is gone long before the film releases in theatres. A short but effective marketing campaign is more than enough, more so now when it’s all about good content.

Q. What is the buzz of Azhar will it cross 100 crores?

A. It will do well to cross 50 crore. 100 crore will be out of reach unless the content is extraordinary, not looking like that would be the case from the promos.

Q. Which year was the best for Bollywood in terms of business? From 2010 To 2015?

A. 2013 was the best year. Not only did all the festive films (Chennai Express, Krrish 3, Dhoom 3) go onto be blockbusters, but we also had another major grosser in the form of Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. There were many other films that exceeded expectations and the yearly total was higher than both 2014 and 2015.

2016 is off to a fantastic start and we should surpass the Rs 3000 crore total for the first time this year. For that to happen, the success of films like Sultan, Raees, Mohenjo Daro, Dangal, Housefull 3 will be important. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Shivaay, Dishoom, Befikre will also do well to score well over 100.

Q. How is the response of Housefull 3 trailer in public? How will rate it out of 10? – Aman

A. Response has been mixed, extreme reactions. We would rate it 5 on 10. It’ll open very well though, because the trailer sticks to the successful Housefull formula and the franchise has lots of fans.

Q. What are the collections of the last non-holiday release of the Shahrukh, Aamir and Salman? By non-holiday I mean a film that did not release during three EDX festivals. – Neeraj

A. Salman’s Jai Ho (112 crore – 2014), Aamir’s Talaash (93 crore – 2012) and Shah Rukh’s FAN (84-85 crore – 2016). Those films are their last non-festive releases.

Q. Who is Sultan Ali Khan? Is it based on real life of a wrestler? Does a wrestler by that name exist? – Sridhar

A. No. Sultan Ali Khan does not exist in real life. The confusion seems to have come from Dangal, where Aamir Khan plays the role of wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat. Sultan is a fictional character and Ali Abbas Zafar himself has confirmed the same. However, he did add that he has taken ‘inspiration’ from people in real life.

Q. Is Shrradha Kapoor becoming the biggest star among newcomer actress, as she has not given any flop since her second debut.

A. There is nothing called a ‘second debut’, but yes, even though her first two films (Teen Patti and Luv Ka The End) did not do well at the box office, she has comeback strongly with films like Aashiqui 2, Ek Villain and Baaghi. Her lineup of upcoming films is good too – Rock On 2 and Half Girlfriend. If she improves in the acting department, she has the potential to be one of the top female stars in the industry.

Q. Do you think it was a wise decision by Shahrukh Khan to work with directors like Imtiaz Ali and Anand L Rai, considering their movies appeal only to a certain section of the audience? Shahrukh needs movies that appeal universally don’t you think?

A. Both directors are capable of making universally appealing films. Aanand L Rai’s Tanu Weds Manu Returns did well all over India and Imtiaz Ali will also have a film that appeals to a wider section of the audience. Don’t think he would make a film like ‘Tamasha’ with SRK.

Raees is Shah Rukh’s big film, if it works, everything else will fall into place. The teaser has received a overwhelmingly positive response and it has the potential to work at smaller centres too.

Q. Has Aamir Khan signed any other film apart from Dangal?

A. Not so far.

Q. Do you see potential for Tiger Shroff in the future? How will the opening of Baaghi help him? – Meeta

A. Tremendous potential. No one else in the industry can do action like he does and that’ll always remain his USP. But in today’s times, a commercial mainstream actor cannot survive in the industry if the multiplex audience don’t come out to watch his films. If Tiger overdoes his style of action films, it could soon get too boring and repetitive. Variety in the roles that you play on-screen has become equally important too, so it’ll be interesting to see if Tiger can pull-off films that do not have action. And if he does such films, will the audience accept him? That’ll be his big test.

Q. Don’t you think UTV should release Something related to MohenjoDaro. Only 3 months left for the movie and No Poster / Teaser.. It’s said to be one of the most expensive movie of the year, they need to be aggressive

A. There is no real hurry to start the marketing campaign of Mohenjo Daro. More than 3 months to go for the release of the film, there is plenty of time.

Q. Sultan is releasing on Eid day, expected opening?

A. The first prediction will be on IndicineFBO and that’ll be about 24 hours after the theatrical trailer is out.

Q. What are the opening day footfalls of Jai Ho and Fan?

A. Jai Ho was around 20-25% higher than FAN. The average ticket price was probably around 40% lower than FAN.

Q. Don’t you think Amir Khan shall be called the biggest star as of today considering he has overall given bigger blockbusters than Salman at domestic and SRK at international market in last ten years? He has been setting records which everyone else keep chasing and that too with better quality movies. – ANK

A. Yes. It does reflect in both our Top Actors in India and Overseas ranking. He’s ranked No 1 in both and is inarguably the biggest Indian actor worldwide – purely in terms of the numbers that his films manage to generate. But as far as the opening of films and frequency of blockbusters, Salman is ahead. Aamir does very few films. Between Aamir’s last release PK and his next release Dangal, the domestic collections of Salman films would be in the 700 – 800 crore range. That’s huge and also the reason why he’s the numero uno star for the trade.

Q. Fan or PRDP which is more critically acclaim?

A. Prem Ratan Dhan Payo is not the sort of film that is expected to win over critics. And it really does not matter which film gets critical acclaim, it’s only the audience liking the film or not that matters – and this reflects in the box office collections of films. Commercial success with critical acclaim is what everyone aspires for, but every filmmaker or actor (without exceptions) would pick box office success over critics praising their film. Critics rating Baaghi 4 stars wouldn’t make Tiger Shroff a star, it’s the fantastic box office opening of his film that has made him one.

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Q. Do you consider Abhishek Bachchan still as a star?

A. No. He never was a bankable star at the box office.

Q. What are the upcoming films of Sonakshi Sinha? Is Namastey England the only film in her pipeline?

A. No. Sonakshi has quite a few films lined up for release. She has A.R. Murugadoss’ Akira, which is a female-centric film. Force 2 with John Abraham. Namastey England with Akshay Kumar and the remake of Ittefaq with Sidharth Malhotra.

Q. Can Baaghi surpass the lifetime of Fan? And what are the chances of Baaghi entering the 100 cr club?

A. It’ll be very difficult – both to beat FAN and to cross the 100 crore mark. It needs to hold at 6-7 crore on Monday to beat FAN. Won’t be easy, but Baaghi could surpass the footfalls (number of people watching the film) of FAN.

Q. Can Abhishek Bachchan comeback as a solo hero provided he gets the right script coz everybody knows he can act?

A. It’s too late now. He can act, but he doesn’t have the screen-presence or charisma to become a major star.

Q. Can Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan be the first actors to hit the 3000 cr mark this year itself? The current total of their films are 2781 cr(akshay) and 2648 cr(salman).

A. Akshay will hit 3000 crores before Salman, unless Sultan becomes the highest grosser of all time.

Q. Which is the last film Hema malini acted. Why is she not acting like jaya bachan or kiron kher.. Is it because she is avoiding or she is not getting any offer. Also Dharmendra has acted only in Yamla pagala deewana in recent time. Why? – Vinshal

A. She was last seen in 2011’s Aarakshan (Guest Appearance). She’s a full-time politician now, elected member of the Lok Sabha. As for Dharmendra, it could be because of lack of good film offers and age. He turned 80 in December.

That ends the QnA session for. We answered 15 more than we promised, a total of 25 questions were answered. Thank you for joining us this week.