AskIndicine: Live Now

Post your questions in the comments section below. QnA starts at 4PM Indian Standard Time.

Q. Happy Bhaag Jayegi trailer review ? Your expectations about the content not BO collection… And Will Jagga Jasoos ever release?

A. Good trailer, looks like a typical Aanand L Rai film, even though he hasn’t directed it. Box office would depend on content, should open around 3-4 crore. Jagga Jasoos is releasing next year.

Q. Which are the top 5 movies in Indian cinema with highest footfalls on Day 1?

A. Kabali, Baahubali, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, Happy New Year, Sultan.

Q. When will the trailer of Baar Baar Dekho release?

A. The song ‘Kala Chashma’ from Baar Baar Dekho  will be out on July 27. The trailer will release in the first week of August.

Q. Which is the biggest hit of Akshay Kumar’s career?

A. Hit biggest solo hit is ‘Rowdy Rathore’.

Q. I am a regular Indicine user from Pakistan. I hope i get an answer this time.. If Mohenjo Daro works, will it take Hritik ahead of SRK? If it fails and Rustom works, will it take Akshay ahead of Hrithik?

A. In our Top 15 ranking system, Mohenjo Daro would have to collect 145 crore or more for Hrithik to go past Shah Rukh Khan. For Akshay to beat Hrithik, Rustom will have to collect Rs 232 crore more than what Mohenjo Daro collects. Akshay has a better chance of going past Ranveer to make it back into the Top 5.

Q. Why Kabali is being compared to Sultan in terms of Box Office Collections and Other aspects as both the films are of different genre and the Collections from a single State (Tamil Nadu) of Kabali are much higher than the other Hindi releases this Year?

A. Like we said in our Kabali box office report yesterday, comparison is unfair. It’s like comparing collections of a Hollywood film to Bollywood. Salman’s market is much bigger, it’s Pan-India, while Rajnikanth is popular only in Tamilnadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka. He simply does not have a market with 3/4th population of the country. So when it comes to population to number of tickets sold ratio, Rajnikanth is way ahead.

Q. Do you think Rustom has the potential to be third consecutive 100 crore movie of Akshay Kumar in India? And If it is yes then can it be safe to say that this year belongs to Akshay Kumar?

A. Unlike 2015 when most of his films either failed to recover or just about recovered investment, 2016 has been a better year. Airlift was a theatrical success, Housefull 3 recovered investment even though it was expected to collect more than Housefull 2. There is plenty of interest for his upcoming film ‘Rustom’ as well, the trailer was liked and the music has done fairly well too. Rustom should open well at the box office.

Q. Which film will have better opening 2.0 or Baahubali 2?

A. It’s difficult to pick between the two, but we’ll go with Robot 2.0. Looking at the craze that ‘Kabali’ has generated in the South, the casting of ‘2.0’ is looking like a masterstroke. While the makers of ‘Baahubali’ will have a tough task ahead of living up to unrealistically high expectations, Robot 2.0 has everything in its favour – superstardom of Rajnikanth, Shankar as director and a major star from the Hindi film industry who has pan-India audience.

Q. What are the chances of Dishoom at the box office? At present which movie is hot in trade, Rustom or Mohenjo Daro?

A. Dishoom should open around 10-11 crore this coming Friday, rest will depend on word-of-mouth. Rustom is currently the ‘hotter’ film.

Q. Which territories are Salman’s strongest zones?

A. Salman is strong all over India currently, he dominates almost every circuit as far as the opening is concerned. Even at ‘class’ circuits like Mysore and West Bengal, Sultan was phenomenal for the entire extended weekend. Different league when it comes to consistency in opening and converting them into big grossers. More importantly, his audience is growing at a rapid pace, because his script-sense / choice of films has improved in the last couple of years.

Q. Rajesh Khanna, Rajnikanth, Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan. Compare them according to the stardom they saw at their peak times.? Was Rajesh Khanna and Rajnikanth is on another level?

A. From the names that you mentioned – we’d put it in this order – Rajnikanth, Amitabh Bachchan / Salman Khan, Rajesh Khanna. Simply because of the fact that Rajnikanth has sustained his stardom for the longest period, his audience is restricted to a few states and even at the age of 65, he commands a huge audience. Amitabh Bachchan was a one-man industry and was the top star for a much longer period as compared to Rajesh Khanna’s short-lived stardom. It’ll be interesting to see how Salman progresses from here. As he grows older, if he starts doing fewer films, like one film every Eid and creates a perception that it’s a major event.. he could still go a long way from here, even though it looks like his stardom has peaked.  Doing good films, working with good directors and holding on to the weekend he created will be the key. Having said that, he’s already achieved everything in the industry and will be remembered as one of the biggest superstars the country has ever seen.

Q. How much will Dear Zindagi collect on its opening day and please tell its lifetime box office?

A. How exactly do you expect us to predict this? Based on what? Let the trailer release. If the film is off-beat, it’ll only do well in a few cities.

Q. Is it true that ROBOT was offered/Signed by SRK before Rajini Sir?

A. Yes, both Robot and 3 Idiots were first offered to Shah Rukh Khan. He opted to do Ra One instead of Robot.

Q. Will Rustom vs Mohenjo Daro clash make an impact on Kabil vs Raees clash? If there any possibility that makers of Kabil waiting to see how Mohenjo Daro performs on B.O?Can they change the release date of Mohenjo Daro if it fails at the box office?

A. The success or failure of Mohenjo Daro could make a difference if the clash between Kaabil and Raees does take place, but as for averting the clash, Rakesh Roshan has confirmed that his film is arriving on Republic Day. He has also sold a few circuits and has committed the date to his distributors. So the ball is in the court of Excel and Red Chillies. It’ll be their decision whether to go ahead with the clash or postpone / prepone their film.

Q. What is the release date of Robot 2 and release date of the trailer of Baar Baar Dekho. Please answer my question I am asking you for the fifth time.

A. Robot 2 is releasing late 2017. Trailer of Baar Baar Dekho will be out in the first week of August. Releases September 9.

Q. In today’s time reviews spoils movies. Don’t you think that all the critics should give their reviews on monday after the release of movie. Let audience decide about the movie because to some extent critics review matter.

A. We are all for banning press screening of films. The atmosphere is negative and most critics aren’t professional either. Most would be busy on their phones during the screening. Let critics pay for ticket and watch the film on Friday morning with the audience. Reaction of the real audience would help them better understand the pulse of the theatre going public and also not spoil the film for the first-day-first-show audience.

Q. Your response to Dear Zindagi Scheduled release, November 25?

A. Not the best of dates, because it sets up yet another clash with ‘Kahaani 2’. However, they have two open weeks before the release of ‘Befikre’ on December 9. Ample time for the film to do well if the word-of-mouth is good. Will be an excellent date if ‘Kahaani 2’ moves.

Q. What do you think should Excel Entertainment do with Raees ? Clash with Kaabil or postpone the movie to a better solo date or prepone the movie to Nov or Dec 2016 ? What should be the ideal decision according to your perspective ?

A. It’s not right to only blame Excel Entertainment for the mess that ‘Raees’ is in. It’s a Red Chillies Entertainment co-production. All three producers – Ritesh, Farhan, SRK – are involved in the decision making process and all three signed the statement (of postponing the film).

First of all, like we’ve said in other QnA, it didn’t make any sense to postpone the film by 7 months – more so when the trailer was released in July last year. The teaser was unanimously praised, so the poor decision making is hurting a promising film and fans have been let down too. Secondly, September 9th was an excellent date – it was with Excel’s own Baar Baar Dekho and there were no major releases two weeks before or after. Even Christmas was a better date than Republic Day, as there is space for two films. There is no ‘ideal’ decision now. You can’t postpone it again, it’ll further hurt the film, but it’ll be difficult to clash too. So preponing the release could work in favour, but there aren’t any good dates available anymore.

Q. How much sultan needs to cross 300cr?

A. Sultan needs 16 crore, should be 9-10 crore after 3rd Sunday (today).

Q. How a movie collect 20 crore from one state itself in one day? Kabali earn 20 cr from Tamilnadu.. Tamil films are tax free in Tamilnadu.. but i think 20 crore in a day is out of its potential?

A. Not really. Only a small section of the Tamil audience watch Hindi films, majority of Tamilians do not even understand Hindi. So it’s completely different when it comes to Tamil films, especially those starring superstars like Rajnikanth. Tamilnadu has plenty of single-screens too and Kabali was packed to capacity on Day 1. A working day becomes a festive holiday for a lot of people when a Rajnikanth film releases. Tickets were also priced higher.

Q. Are collections of Kabali real?

A. They are unreal. On a non-holiday, Kabali was bigger than the opening day of the biggest of Hindi films on the biggest holiday of the year (Diwali).

Q. Recent teasers of Mohenojo Daro is looking nice. Given the fact Hrithik’s acting is always brilliant and Ashutosh is master class with its direction skill. It is not too early to predict the opening of movie with too low (14 crore)?

A. If you’re talking about our FBO predictions, it’ll change closer to release. Currently, a 15 crore opening is looking like the best case scenario for ‘Mohenjo Daro’, which will be a very good total for a film releasing on normal working day, with Rustom on the same day. What’ll be much more important will be the word-of-mouth, which will help the film take advantage of the holiday on Sunday and Monday. For Mohenjo Daro to succeed, the crucial days will be Sat – Sun – Mon. If the trend on these 3 days is good / excellent, the film will be a success.

Q. How do you see Salman, Shahrukh and Aamir after 7-8 years from now? All the three have been the backbone of Hindi Cinema for quite a long time and have huge loyal fanbase which is only increasing with each passing year. Any of the younger actors you think can enjoy as much fan following and command over the hindi film industry as these 3 Khans have?

A. Such things cannot be predicted, anything is possible in the industry. We could even have a superstar who is bigger than the Khans in the future. Who knows? 7-8 films will be too long a period to think about for the Khans. It’ll be one film at a time and holding on the weekend they created – Eid and Christmas.

Q. Why Bobby Deol doesn’t get any films in last 7-8 years. He is handsome, can act well . Then what went wrong with him. Is there any chance that a movie will be made with him as a solo hero like Naqaab, Humraaz etc.

A. It’s important to be a bankable star in the industry. Even if your film doesn’t do well in the long run (lifetime), a solid opening will get you more solo offers. Unfortunately, even though Bobby Deol’s career started well, he wasn’t able to sustain his following and eventually lost his value when he started doing multi starrers.

Q. Suppose if both Shivaay and ADHM are successful in meeting their expectations before release (i.e chartbuster songs and feel good trailer for ADHM and Bahubali and Bajirao Mastani range speculation for Shivaay), how much will they roughly earn on Day 1?

A. About 35-40 crore should be shared between the two films. We think it’ll be 55:45 in favour of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. Our first prediction for ADHM will be out after the teaser (if it’s not too short) and for Shivaay in the second week of August.

Q. Would like to applaud you on your sensational predictions of your LBO. Especially Dilwale, BM, Housefull3 and now Sultan. Even more so Sultan as the 1st 5 days collections were indicating 400 crore life time. Even the so-called experts were predicting 400 crore after the 1st day of sultan. Even more special was the reason that you gave for your LBO for Sultan. That the WOM is not as +ve as BB or PK. Just wanted to understand how did you figure this out?

A. Thank you. There is plenty of research involved. Talking to people we trust in the trade, feedback from the audience, reports from exhibitors, along with our own analysis of the trend and factors over the next few days. Everything is taken into consideration before making the final prediction. Numbers like 50 crore opening and 400 crore lifetime are thrown around too loosely these days. For such big numbers to be achieved, the circumstances around release need to be near-perfect and the word-of-mouth has to be extraordinary. WOM for Sultan was very good, but not quite as perfect as Bajrangi Bhaijaan – which was a easy 350 – 375 crore film if it released during Christmas with 3 opening weeks.

Q. In your last QnA you said that Robot 2 will open better than most Hindi films. Can you elaborate a bit more on that?

A. There are several reasons for this. First and foremost, Rajnikanth’s presence itself could ensure a 50 crore net total from South (Tamilnadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra/ Telangana). To add to it, Akshay Kumar’s following in the Hindi belt is strong and he’ll also ensure that major Hindi circuits where Rajnikanth doesn’t have a following – Mumbai, Delhi/UP, East Punjab, Rajasthan, Central India –  will open well. Then there is Shankar, whose films are commercial, massy and he’s the biggest director in the Tamil film industry. The film also has A.R. Rahman and is being simultaneously shot in three different languages. In short, Robot 2.0 ticks every box. It’ll plunder box office records.

Q. Time in again you and lot of other trade pundits have said that the clash of 2 BIG films is not good for both films. Yet the big films are clashing for no apparent reasons. I mean Rustom could have easily released in September (5th sep holiday, 9th sep holiday). Same case with Kaabil / Raees. In fact one of the co producers of Rustom (Mr Girish Johar) last year spoke strongly against clash of Dilwale and BM. Yet they are clashing. Whats even worse that apart from SRK, there is no visible efforts from any other filmmakers to avoid the clash. Why is this happening? could you throw some light on this?

A. Two big films shouldn’t clash on the same day, as recovery for the costlier film becomes very very difficult. This applies for all weekend, except probably the Christmas weekend. Having said that, it’s a calculated and well-planned move that the makers of ‘Rustom’ have taken. So far, things have worked well for them and their strategy is working. We’ll elaborate on this after the release of the two films. As for Raees vs Kaabil, it’s very different. The stakes are higher with Raees. Shah Rukh can’t afford another failure or under-performer and Rakesh Roshan has the backing of individual distributors. They are good friends too.

Q. Is it safe to say that Kabali is the biggest opening movie of all time in india, considering the fact that a regional movie challenging the biggest hindi movies. Is Rajnikant the biggest star ever? I have never heard of the sort of craze his movies generate. Office holidays, tickets selling in black at 4000, building temples with his statue etc. In there any site which gives authentic information about south movies, like yours for hindi movies?

A. The craze for superstars in the South is different from how it is for Hindi film stars. Stars like Rajnikanth, Pawan Kalyan, Chiranjeevi and a few others is simply in a different league. They are worshipped like gods. We don’t really get to see it in Mumbai or North India. You can watch the video below of Pawan Kalyan attending a music launch event.. the ovation simply goes on and on.. Rajnikanth is one of the few stars to also appeal outside his state and command following that crosses the limitation of language.. that’s why he gets national media coverage and some of the other superstars don’t.

Q. Is it official that Anushka Sharma will be opposite SRK in Imtiaz Ali’s next?

A. It’s not official, but Anushka is confirmed.

Q. Why are regional films like Bahubali, Kabali etc are having a bigger opening day collection than bollywood films

A. Hindi film industry is suffering because of entertainment tax. The average all-India tax is close to 40%. Whereas a Tamil film gets 100% tax exemption in Tamilnadu if it gets universal rating.

Q. Why there are no theatres in village and remote areas in Bollywood Belt? Major Chunk of our population resides in Village and that’s why Footfalls are so less for Bollywood movies now while in South there are many theatres in village where regional movies are played?

A. How many films that we make, appeals to the mass audience? How many mass heroes do we have in the industry? There is demand, but there is very little supply.

That’s the end of today’s QnA. Thank you for joining us and apologies to those who posted a question, but didn’t get an answer. We can’t possibly answer all of them.