Azhar Box Office Prediction: IndicineFBO

Azhar is the big release this week. The film will hope to cash-in on the craze for biopics and real-life stories that have worked big time at the box office in recent times.

Azhar will also be yet another chance for Emraan Hashmi to regain his standing in the industry, before the release of ‘Raaz Reboot’. He returns a year after the failure of his 2015 films ‘Mr X’ and ‘Hamari Adhuri Kahani’.

Factors in favour of Azhar on Day 1

• Fantastic marketing campaign, which includes extensive promotions on the ongoing IPL tournament. Mohammad Azharuddin himself has made several television appearances to promote the film.
• The songs in the film have gained popularity in the last couple of weeks leading upto the release of the film, especially Bol Do Na Zara.
• Azhar will be the first film on the life of a cricketer, which is always a good advantage to have. Films on sportsmen like ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ and ‘Mary Kom’ have done very well, but cricket is by far the most popular sport in the country. Azhar’s life is controversial too, which has increased curiosity around the film.
• From the promos, it looks like Emraan has made Azhar more charismatic than he ex-captain is in real life.

Factors against Azhar on Day 1

• In the last 4 years, no Emraan Hashmi film has worked at the box office. This could mean the film might struggle for a big initial and instead depend on word-of-mouth.
• Nargis Fakhri can’t act, she could be the weak-link in the film. From the feedback that we have got, promos featuring her have generally not been liked.
• Azhar’s popularity amongst the youth isn’t quite as high as Mahendra Singh Dhoni or Sachin Tendulkar. Would people who have not grown up watching him play, come out to watch the film on Day 1? That remains the big question. Agreed that his life is controversial, but is the man himself interesting enough for the younger section of the audience?

IndicineFBO Prediction: It’s yet again a difficult prediction to make, because it’ll be more about the promos and interest to watch Azhar’s story that will be the factors that decide the initial. The phenomenal marketing campaign has created quite a bit of awareness around the film. So, we are going with Rs 7.5 crore as the Day 1 collections of Azhar.