Begu2The first set of 7 questions have been answered. Next update at 9:45PM. Q. Will any film be able to beat Baahubali 2 soon? Even you guys underestimated Baahubali. What about Randamoozham? A. It’s impossible to estimate or predict outperforming films like Bahubali 2. We can only make realistic predictions based on hype, advance booking etc – but to expect a dubbed film to beat the opening day collections of holiday releases like Prem Ratan Dhan Payo or even Sultan – on a non-holiday Friday, is impossible. Even on Friday morning it was difficult to predict the film would touch 40 crore. Even our LBO predictions became a bit of a joke. We started with 200 crore before release, which was almost double of the first film (Bahubali The Beginning) – but no one expected it to do nearly 4 times the business. Randamoozham is in the planning stages. It can be big if it manages to rope in superstars from various industries, but even then it would have to be an extraordinary big-screen experience for it to come anywhere close to Bahubali 2: The Conclusion. At the moment, we’d rather put our money on Robot 2.0 than Randamoozham. Q. How much can Dangal collect from China? Also can Bahubali 2 create record in China market also ? A. Lifetime in China cannot be predicted. But if it trends as well as PK, then it can collect somewhere between $40-50 million (Rs 260-320 crore). That itself would be double the lifetime collections of PK in China. On Bahubali 2, the first film didn’t do well, so the second might not even find takers. Even if it does, it’s unlikely to be as big as PK or Dangal. Q. Can you please tell us why Rajkumar Rao is so much underrated inspite of being the most talented youngster.. will he end up being underrated like Nawaz Siddiqui and Manoj Bajpai? A. Rajkumar Rao, Nawazuddin and Manoj are certainly not underrated actors. Their performances are almost always praised. If you mean mainstream acceptance, then the only way for the ‘niche actors’ is to follow the route which Nawazuddin Siddiqui has taken. They need to get to play parts in major films, only then can they reach out to a larger section of the audience. If they continue doing films like ‘Trapped’ which very few people watch, then their audience will always be limited. Q. Would you mind telling when will Dutt Biopic release and what’s your expectations from movie? A. It’s expected to release later this year. We stick to what we said long ago; Dutt Biopic will take the Padmavati date and Tiger Zinda Hai will get a solo release. Do note, that this is not official. It’s more of speculation, just like the time when we said Aamir would move Secret Superstar to a different date – soon after Toilet was announced for Independence Day weekend. It’s the most sensible thing to do for Dutt biopic, no point getting involved in a clash when Bahubali 2 has shown that a good film can collect at any time. Q. What are the chances of final collection of Bahubali 2 in Hindi?? Is there any possibility of 500 cr.?? A. Like we mentioned in the article earlier today, Bahubali 2 Hindi will collect 440 crore plus if it collects as much as Dangal did after its 9th day. But since it’s collecting at a much higher level than Dangal, it could do more than 450 crore and 500 crore net cannot be ruled out. Q. If Judwaa 2 earns big then will Varun joins the likes of Ranveer Singh and Ranbir Kapoor? A. Varun is already bigger than Ranveer and more consistent too. Ranbir is certainly a bigger star. In the right film (Dutt biopic could be that film), his audience will be back in big numbers. Q. Don’t you think you should have posted the article of Tubelight teaser response a few days later as the response would have been more clear. You were bashed a lot and the response isn’t that mixed, its on positive side even outside social media. I hope you will clarify your stand. A. Almost all our articles are well-researched, analysed and we take enough time too. What you get to read on social media, especially on big films – is far from the reality. We know several trade guys who praised the teaser on social media, but off-record said the teaser was average. The point here is, none from the trade will publicly criticise a big film. It could be for the fear of getting bashed, trolled or because of their close relationship within the industry or with the actor/filmmaker/banner involved. Our article was constructive criticism, all we said was that the film did not require a teaser, it hasn’t created the necessary impact which a teaser should and that they should come up with a better trailer. The second part of QnA below: Q. Can Tubelight collect 400 crore and why there is lot negativity regarding teaser. People saying it a remake. A. 400 crore cannot be predicted at this point in time. If it connects with the audience as well as Bajrangi Bhaijaan did, then it will certainly have a good chance of surpassing 400 . The negativity around the teaser is because of the similarities with the Hollywood film ‘Little Boy’ and because it was just a normal teaser – it hasn’t had the impact which teasers of Sultan / Ek Tha Tiger or even Bajrangi Bhaijaan did. It isn’t negative, but mixed. Many have liked it, many haven’t. And the dislike ratio will probably be higher at mass / smaller centres, which is Salman’s core fan-base.. that’s because it doesn’t have those entertaining elements which his audience like to see him in. This could well change after the trailer, which should be watched by a larger section of the audience. Q. How would you rate Tubelight teaser out of 10? What are your expectations from the movie now? A. 5 / 10. Expectations box office-wise doesn’t change, people will still come in big enough numbers because its a Salman Khan film. But it really need to outperform after Ramzan in every circuit to challenge the records set by Bahubali 2. Q. What will be final world wide gross of Baahubali 2? A. 1250 crore plus worldwide gross. Q. Is Aamir really a global superstar if we exclude China? A. Why do we need to exclude China when his film is expected to collect more than the highest ever overseas grosser – just in China? North America he leads with Dangal and PK – the only films to cross $10 million (which now Bahubali 2 has also done). Only in UAE/GCC his films haven’t really set records – apart from that his films are strong in almost all other traditional and non-traditional markets. Certainly the biggest globally when it comes to current standing. Q. Will the adaptation thing affect Tubelight? If Tubelight turns out to be like Little Boy, will it connect the Pan-India audience? A. It won’t affect the film. Most of the Indian audience hasn’t watched ‘Little Boy’. It’s a Indian version with Indian emotions, so the fate of Tubelight depends more on the writing, Kabir Khan’s direction and Salman Khan’s performance.. more than whether or not the film is inspired. Q. What Will Be The Opening Day Collection Of ‘Tubelight’? A. We expect it to be around the 30 crore mark – given the fact that it’s releasing during Ramzan when the muslim audience doesn’t watch films. It also doesn’t have those massy ingredients that ensure a bumper opening, so it’ll be interesting to see how Tubelight tracks. It doesn’t have a heroine or a strong supporting cast. So the selling points will only be Salman Khan and his combo with Kabir Khan. Music could also play a role, so we’ll have to wait to see how the soundtrack is. Q. People saying Prabhas is bigger star than all Bollywood superstar barring Salman Khan or may be even SRK. Is this correct according to you? A. Not true, he’s not even close in the Hindi markets. But Prabhas does have the potential to be a pan-India star and he does have a following with the Hindi audience now. So we’ll have to wait and see how his next film ‘Saaho’ performs. Some more questions answered.. Q. What is Hrithik’s next project before Krrish 4? A. We haven’t heard anything. Q. When will younger generation star give 300cr. Can Ranbir and Ranveer do it as they are the only one who are doing big budget movies with big director? A. Ranbir could with Dutt biopic. If the film is as good as Hirani’s other films, then 300 crore is definitely a possibility – which is one of the reasons why they should avoid a clash. Q. Can Tubelight cross 40 crore mark on any day? How weekend 1 & week 1 are you expecting? Plz reply A. Watch out for the business on Sunday and Monday (currently listed as government holiday for Eid). It could cross 40 crore on those days – provided the word-of-mouth is very good. Q. Does the mixed response to the teaser of TUBELIGHT going to affect its opening day collection? A. It shouldn’t – Salman Khan and Eid has become a habit and the star is too big at the moment. But a good trailer is important. Q. What is Hrithik Roshan’s next film and around when will it release ? Indicine…we all know Hrithik Roshan is a bigger superstar than Akshay Kumar…Hrithik has been far more consistent than Akshay and has by far the better success ratio and Akshay was good only last year . Why do u tell Hrithik is 5th and Akshay is 4th ? In reality Akshay is far behind at 5th and Hrithik is just behind SRK at 4. A. We can only talk about the current standing. Akshay has been much more consistent and does far more films (which is again very important). If an actor does 1 film in 1-2 years and comes with a big disaster like Mohenjo Daro, it simply isn’t good enough. Even Kaabil didn’t open well, but reached a decent total due to word-of-mouth. Q. Don’t you think there should be regular collaborations of south and Bollywood stars to fully utilise the full potential of Indian film market which itself will give bigger budgets for potentially more movies like Bahubali or pan Indian film your take on that. A. The South-North combination does have a lot of potential. Crores of people have watched Bahubali just in the two states of Telangana and Andhra – most of that section of the audience do not watch Hindi films in theatres, even the biggest of films. So if the two industries do collaborate and come up with bilingual mass entertainers – then the film do have the potential to be huge box office wise. A Salman Khan teaming up with Pawan Kalyan or Mahesh Babu could prove to be interesting both for the Telugu as well as Hindi audience. Q. Can Bollywood make a movie that will be watched by pan India audience like baahubali? if yes then which actor/director can make it possible. Plz answer this question, I’ve never got a answer in your Q n A session. A. Apologies for not answering your previous questions. Now that we know the potential of film business in India, some our banners could well be looking at exploring possible opportunities to bring the Pan-India audience to watch a film. The credit should go to Karan Johar for taking a Bahubali from regional to the Hindi audience across the country. If Robot 2.0 we could well be seeing more South-North combinations. Q. What are the next new things which Indicine is planning to bring upon their websites? A. We are currently waiting for clarity on GST from the government. After that some announcements will be made. Thanks for you interest. Q. Is booking EDX about starpower or who is desperate for it. You once said that top stars are those who have the potential to book and ensure a solo release for their film on EDX. So putting the Khans aside, if we take a look at Hrithik, Akshay and Ajay, Ajay is way ahead of Akki and Hrithik in booking Diwali and has a good record on that weekend. Hrithik had just 2 festival releases in his entire career(Mission Kashmir and Krrish 3) while Akshay’s last festive release was in 2010(Tees Maar Khan). Does it mean Ajay is bigger star than Hrithik-Akshay or why are Hrithik and Akshay not eager to book Diwali or Eid-Xmas? A. It isn’t that simple. Any producer can book any date, but holding on to the date and getting a solo release – like Sultan did last year, is what we call true star power. Even next year’s Eid has no announcement as yet, because most in the industry know that the weekend belongs to Salman. A franchise like Golmaal or Dhoom isn’t about stardom alone, the franchise itself is more powerful than the star. Q. Is it true that Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif are trying to be together again? Salman Khan, who once never used to talk about Katrina Kaif nowadays posted and welcomed Kat in Viber and even facebook. What is their relationship status? A. Please do not post any question relating to the personal life of stars. Thanks. Q. Good morning indicine Big fan of your site and great job always. I have a question pls. Between Aamir Khan Salman Khan Ajay Devgan Shah Rukh Khan who was the youngest among them to win the back then respected Filmfare award for Best debut actor. Thank you. A. Aamir Khan was the youngest. He won the away in 1989, before Salman made his debut. All three Khans are of the same age, Ajay is about 2 years younger. Q. Who is the highest paid actors in the industry today? Can you name five of them with their charge per film? A. Most of the top actors are producing their own films. We can only go by market value – which is the same as the Top 5 – Aamir, Salman, SRK, Akshay, Hrithik. Aamir would probably command a bigger pay check because his films earn more globally and he does fewer films as compared to Salman. Q. Doesn’t Akshay have the best lineup of movies? At times when most of the films are the routine rom-coms, look at how diverse films he has, each film something new to offer- Airlift, Rustom, Jolly LLB 2 followed by Toilet, Padman, 2.0, Gold, Crack and Mogul. A. It’s a strong line-up for sure. But most of those films are ‘content-driven’ and not commercial or massy. So it’s also about content finding acceptance, especially for a film like Padman which looks quite risky on paper. Q. Do you think there is any chance of averting clash between SRK with Imtiaz and Akshay’s Toilet Ek Prem Katha… A. We still have 3 months to go, so it’s enough time to avert the clash. But it’ll have to be the SRK films that’ll have to move. We doubt the makers of ‘Toilet:EPK’ will move now. They already knew the SRK film was releasing, so we doubt they’d want to move now. Q. Can 2.0 be a major grosser? How much will losing a weekend like Diwali affect it? A. We’ve seen ‘Bahubali 2’ now. It was a normal weekend and it’s Hindi version alone is going to beat Dangal. If the audience is interested in watching and the film is good, the weekend of release does not matter. Q. I have no questions.. But from the heart, I wanna say Thank You soo much for all your effort that you bring up each day to entertain us. Its been more than 2 years since I have become the regular Indiciner and will continue to love and support you. Love From Nepal!!!!!! A. Thank you so much. Do keep visiting and reading. Q. What is GST and how it will increase footfalls of movies? A. GST is Goods and Service Tax which is expected to come into effect from 1st July. Whether it will increase collections or footfalls is something that we have to wait and see. The reason we’ve said in the past that GST could increase footfalls is when taxes are reduced and if theatre owners decide to pass on the benefit to the consumer – then tickets could get cheaper, which should encourage more people to watch films. GST could also affect the South film industries, because some say there won’t be tax exemption for South films after GST. Q. What are the total collections and verdicts of Jolly LLB 2, Rangoon, Trapped, Commando 2, Badrinath Ki Dulhania, Phillauri, Naam Shabana, Begum Jaan, Noor, Fast 8 (in India) and The Ghazi Attack (Hindi+Tamil+Telugu) versions ? A. Jolly LLB 2 116 crore (Hit), Rangoon 20 crore (Disaster), Trapped 2.85 crore (Flop), Commando 2 25 crore (Flop), Badrinath Ki Dulhania 118 crore (Super Hit), Phillauri 26 crore (Below Average), Naam Shabana 36 crore (Below Average), Begum Jaan 18.5 crore (Flop), Noor 7.5 crore (Flop), Fast 8 87 crore (Super Hit), The Ghazi Attack 21 crore (Average). That’s it for today. We have many more questions. We’ll answer some of the unanswered questions next Sunday. Thank you for joining us.
