AskIndicine: Live Now

Q. Mohenjodaro announced their release date first.. but now Akshay’s Rustom is releasing on same date and they are trying to scare away competition. Is this ethical? (Neeraj)

A. There are two ways to look at this. One, since there are just 52 weeks in a year and more than 200 film releases, there is no way to escape clashes. Every producer is free to pick the date he believes is right for his film.

On the other hand, there seems to be no unity in the industry. When a big budget film like Mohenjo Daro was announced almost a year ago and Hrithik was returning after nearly two years, the makers of Rustom not only announce the date of their film, but also try to create perception that their film is hot in the trade by releasing posters. Akshay even went to the extent of promoting his film on Zee Cine Awards and ensured that he highlighted the ’12 August 2016′ date in every tweet. For some reason, the intention doesn’t seem to be right. The film has just gone on floors about a month ago, Akshay has Housefull 3 before Rustom (promotional campaign for which hasn’t even started). The message seems to be – not only do we want the Independence Day week, but we will go all out to try to push Mohenjo Daro (since the stakes for the film are way too high) and give Rustom a solo release. Not too sure about the ‘ethical’ part of it, but the tactics that team Rustom is using, isn’t the nicest.

Q. To how much extent will there be an affect of IPL over FAN?

A. It depends on how the film is received. If the word-of-mouth is good, people might skip IPL to watch FAN. The impact on business could be more if the film receives mixed to negative response. IPL matches aren’t the same as international cricket matches featuring India. Games featuring the home team are usually the most watched in that particular state and the schedule is spread out, so the impact is minimal.

Q. What is the recent update on Raees vs Sultan clash? Is the clash still on or will there be a week gap between the two releases?

A. The clash is still on. There is no point in giving a gap of a week between the two films, it’s the holiday weekend of Eid that both films want. If that advantage isn’t there, it’s better to release one film a couple of weeks later.

Discuss: Sultan vs Raees: Which film has the edge?

Q. How much FAN needs to do for HIT , Super HIT and Blockbuster Verdict ?

A. Too early to comment. FAN isn’t a big budget film, but these days for big stars it isn’t about recovery but meeting trade expectations. A Shah Rukh Khan film would be a massive disappointment if it recovers costs, but finishes with business of less than 100 crore in India. It was the same with Dilwale too, SRK the producer made profits, he compensated domestic distributors.. but 148 crore was way below what was expected out of the film. FAN will be considered a solid success for SRK if it does 150 crore plus in India.

Q. How many screen will be shared by both sultan and raaees on eid clash – who is having edge now and what is reason of edge?

A. Again, too early to talk about screen share. Screens can get finalised as late as two days before release. Bajirao Mastani shows were finalised at select multiplexes, just a day before release which also affected the advance booking of the film. As far as the ‘edge’ is concerned, Sultan is the hotter film in the trade at the moment.  Salman has dominated Eid, Eid has become synonymous with Salman. People wait for his films during this time of the year. It’s a no brainer, really.It remains to be seen how it goes after the theatrical trailer of both films are out. But eventually though, it’s all about the content. The better film will win and the weaker might underperform. If both films are extraordinary, they’ll still lose out on 25-30% of business.

Q. If Dangal prepones and releases on Independence Day, don’t you think Sultan or Raees, one of them should move to Christmas?

A. News of Dangal releasing during Independence Day seems to be baseless. We haven’t heard from any reliable source about Dangal getting preponed. It doesn’t make sense either. Why would Aamir Khan want to let go of his most successful release period, which also happens to be the best time of the year to release films? So far, it looks like he will get a solo release too. No logical reason to shift to any other date. The only reason for the confusion is, the director of the film refused to comment when asked if Dangal will be shifted to Independence Day.

Discuss: How much does FAN need to collect for HIT / Super Hit?

Q. How big is south industry? All india pan appealing films with superstars and a big holiday are struggling to cross 300cr. While only tamil or telugu films which dont have appeal in entire south also because of different languages are crossing 250crs. How is it possible?

A. Very few films in the South are collecting as much as Bollywood film. The worldwide average per film would be way lower. There is one big advantage for regional films, which is exemption from entertainment tax. Hindi films don’t get that benefit. In fact, the core markets like Mumbai / Delhi UP are heavily taxed. A film like ‘Baahubali’ which was the highest grossing South film of all time, cannot be compared to other regional films, because it was by far the highest grossing dubbed film too. It did 6 times the business of the previous Hindi dubbed south film. Yet, inspite of all the success for Baahubali, it still failed to surpass the worldwide gross of both Bajrangi Bhaijaan and PK.

Q. Do you think egos and rivalry is going to increase in industry as there are so many clashes. For example, Hera Pheri 3, Rustom and Mohenjo Daro have locked the same date.. when budgets are high, it’s risky. Is it not better to release solo on a non holiday?

A. For good or for bad, the result of Bajirao Mastani vs Dilwale clash has given plenty of filmmakers the confidence to take on big films. For films featuring big stars, ego does play a part, because they aren’t in a position to avert the clash. It’s the smaller film that has to. Also, every producer wants a solo release, at the same time they also want a good date to give their film the best chance to perform well. Extended weekends, national holidays is the target and since there are so few holidays in a year, every big films wants those few dates. About solo release on non-holiday vs clash during a festive weekend, it’s a debatable topic. Would Bajirao Mastani collect 190 crore if it got a solo release during a normal weekend? Possible, but unlikely.

Q. Biggest non-holiday grosser?

A. It’s Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, which is the 11th highest grosser of all time. The other Top 10 films either released during Eid, Diwali or Christmas

Q. How many screens does India have in comparison to USA, UK or China etc? Why can’t we release big, is it because we lack universal appeal ?

A. Along with content, language is probably the biggest barrier for Hindi film. English is much more widely spoken and understood the world over, as compared to Hindi which is restricted to resident and non-resident Indians. Markets like China are opening up, but only 3 films have done well there so far. As for screens, India has more than 10000 screens, but majority of them are either regional screens or single-screens. US has more than 38,000 screens and China has about half that number and growing fast. India, in comparison, has about 2200 multiplex screens. A vast country like ours, has huge potential for growth in the number of screens. The good performance of Hollywood movies like Fast and Furious 7, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Jurassic Park and Telugu dubbed film like Baahubali, is good news for multiplexes, as they are no longer entirely dependent on Hindi films to sustain footfalls. The average increase in multiplex screens every year is around 175-200.

Q. What do the makers do when they watch the rough/final print of the film and realise that the film has been terribly made or the film is bad?

A. There is not much that they can do, except go all out to promote it and try to recover as much as possible in the first weekend itself. They could also try and include an item number or buy the rights to a popular song and include it in the film.  Having said that, it’s really difficult to figure out what works and what doesn’t. A film like Tamasha was acclaimed by a section of the audience, but was completely rejected at B and C centres. The makers were confident it would do well, but it didn’t. Even S.S. Rajamouli was uncertain if Baahubali would be accepted, he was hopeful that it would perform well in the long run.. but the opening itself was earth shattering. Aashiqui 2 wasn’t a great film and even though it had a chartbuster song, it wasn’t expected to collect half of what it did. What clicks and what doesn’t can never be predicted in the film industry. Some bad films perform well and a few good film might tank too.

Q. How will Deepika and Priyanka’s Bollywood career graph play out now due to them signing big Hollywood films? For example, is there a chance that they’ll miss potentially important smaller films, like Piku, to other actors due to the producers thinking they might be too pricey? Would love to hear your thoughts on this (Hari)

A. Priyanka’s international success couldn’t have come at a better time for her. She’s 33 and it’s at this age, unfortunately, that careers in Bollywood tend to take a downward trend for female stars. Katrina is going through that phase now and older generation actors like Rani Mukerji and Preity Zinta also did. In Hollywood, female stars have longer careers and there is also scope to play a variety of roles. Deepika is at the peak of her career here and she would probably continue to remain in the mainstream, featuring in films with top actors in the country. She would probably find it harder to balance between the two films industries and working out dates could be big problem.

Q. What’s your rating on the Fan trailer? (Mitesh)

A. 7 on 10.

Q. Which film has more chance to succeed,  single screen oriented or multiplex oriented? I’m not consider universally acceptance

A. Any ‘A-grade’ film will struggle to recover costs just from single-screen business. Whereas quite a few multiplex-targeted films are very successful - Airlift, Neerja, Queen just to name a few. Even for universally successful films, the ratio is more than 70 : 30 in favour of multiplexes – the ticket prices are higher, so one ticket sold in Noida could be equivalent to 10 tickets sold in Bihar.

Q. How much potential you see in Ranveer Singh to stand tall in Bollywood after Bajirao Mastani? I personally think that he doesn’t have some extra charm above acting to woo audience as SRK, Salman, Aamir have.

A. Ranveer Singh has immense potential to be a top star in the industry. We would even give him an edge over Ranbir Kapoor, because Ranveer also has the potential to be a massy star. Ranbir’s appeal at smaller centres is currently limited, even though YJHD did well. And it doesn’t make any sense to compare him with SRK, Salman or Aamir. He doesn’t even need to be as big as them. He has his own USP, he has plenty of energy and now the ‘acceptance’ factor will give a huge boost to his career. In all his previous films before ‘Bajirao Mastani’, he was liked, but he wasn’t universally praised and appreciated. His performance wasn’t hailed as incredible or flawless. When the audience ‘accepts’ an actor, it increases his confidence and this translates into improved performances on screen.

Q. How does T-series Generate Revenue by launching online video songs? (Sanchit Sachdev)

A. Youtube (owned by Google) shares revenue from ads that are played before videos or when the viewer clicks on ads displayed at the bottom part of the video. Since T-Series generates millions of views, it’s good money.

Q. Chances of Baahubali: The Conclusion and Robot 2 beating PK worldwide? (Amish)

A. Not sure about Robot 2, but since we know what to expect from Baahubali 2, it has every chance of surpassing PK worldwide. In fact, there are expectations that the Hindi version of the second film could do 200 crore or more! It’s the biggest release of 2017, easily the most anticipated.

Q. You never answered my questions. But I cannot deny that everyone has better ones than me. Any tips?

A. Try asking questions not related to SRK, we get a lot of questions on him every week. But now since we answered, why would you need a tip?

Q. Who do you think will last longer in Bollywood. An actor that chooses quality over quantity or someone that churns out as many films as he can?

A. It’s going to be all about good films in the future. Even for top stars, if they need big 300 crore plus grosser, it has to be a good film. Bajrangi did 320, PRDP did 210. Salman was the common factor in both, the difference was one film was universally liked, the other found acceptance only at select centres.

Q. Which is the highest ever March grosser? Can rocky handsome break it?

A. Highest is Race 1 (63 crore).  Both Kapoor & Sons and Rocky Handsome have a chance, but it’ll be difficult. Kapoor & Sons will be competing with World Cup cricket matches and on Saturday of its release, there is India vs Pakistan.

Q. What could be the opening day figures of Housefull 3 since Akshay kumar is returning after big success of Airlift?

A. Should be 20 crore plus, because even Welcome Back without a top star, did 15 crore on opening day.

Q. Are you in contact with Taran Adarsh because every time I see the box office collections or any type of news posted by you and him are exactly same? (Mian G)

A. We publish producer figures and he does the same. The difference is, we have to write articles, he has to tweet, which is always faster. Collections of released by production houses like Eros, Red Chillies, T-Series etc. We don’t publish the same news as him.

Q. Why Vidyut Jamwal is being ignored by Bollywood and on the other hand Tiger Shroff is being supported?

A. It’s always easier for star kids in the industry. But Vidyut Jamwal is doing Commando 2.

Q. How has been the response of the first look posters of Rustom? Do the makers looks very confident that they had started promoting the movie well in advance.

A. The response to Rustom has been terrific so far. Early promotion is not about confidence, but to try and build pressure on makers of Mohenjo Daro to push their film ahead (our opinion, could be wrong).

Q. What might be the verdict of Ra.One if it starred any other star other than SRK?

A. Flop, because it wouldn’t have collected as much as it did.

Q. Arrange the acting skills of the actors like Shahrukh, Salman , Aamir, Ranveer Singh, Ranveer Kapoor, Ajay Devgan, Hritik Roshan, Akshay Kumar?

A. Impossible to rate them because all are good. We would instead pick our favourite performances in order of preference: Aamir (PK, thought he was simply extraordinary), Sanjay Dutt (Vaastav), Shah Rukh (Chak De India), Ajay Devgn (The Legend Of Bhagat Singh, OUATIM), Ranbir (Barfi), Hrithik (Koi Mil Gaya), Ranveer (Bajirao Mastani), Salman (Tere Naam), Akshay Kumar (Airlift).

Q. What is the trade verdict of Ghayal Once Again?

A. Below average grosser.

Q. Who will win today’s match? (Yuvraj)

A. Since we have a 80% success ratio with FBO prediction, trying out luck with cricket – India will win both the Asia Cup final and upcoming T20 world cup. We wouldn’t mind getting a couple of FBO / LBO predictions wrong, if the cricket predictions go right. And on that note, it’s time to end the QnA and watch the match.

Thank you for joining us for QnA. Remaining questions will be answered through the week.