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This week, we start taking questions as soon as they start coming in. Live QnA begins in about 10 minutes from now. Post your questions in the comments section below:

Q. Why are item numbers so important in movies these days?

A. Item numbers are not important and the trend itself is fading. ‘Jaanemann Aah’ didn’t help Dishoom at the box office. Only a select few songs like Fevicol Se, Munni, Chikni Chameli, Sheila Ki Jawaani have actually added value to films as far as the box opening is concerned. And all those films were targeted at the masses and featured major stars. In recent times, even a good music album (Baar Baar Dekho for example) is not helping films open well at the box office. For multiplex films, good music alone isn’t selling tickets anymore, but it does add value if the promos are appealing and the content is good.

Q. What is update on Raees and Kaabil clash? News is out that Kaabil release will postpone. Is it true?

A. Officially, the clash is still on. The shoot of ‘Kaabil’ is going on smoothly and the film should be wrapped up in October. As for Raees, industry-insiders say the film has shaped up really well.

Q. Who is bigger star Ranbir, Ranveer, Varun, Shahid?

A. It’s between Ranbir, Ranveer and Varun.. We’d say Varun because he’s been very consistent with the opening day of his films – Student Of The Year was 7.5 crore, Main Tera Hero was 6 crore, Humpty Sharma was 9 crore, a niche film like Badlapur opened at 7 crore, ABCD 2 was 14.5 crore and Dishoom was 11 crore.

Ranbir isn’t really the star that he was in 2013. Bombay Velvet and even Tamasha (with a top female star like Deepika) were way below expectations. It’s Ranveer’s time to be more consistent now, because some of his films in the past (Kill Dil 6 crore, Lootera 4 crore) haven’t really opened.

Q. What is the status of Shraddha Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor in Bollywood in terms of popularity?

A. Shraddha is one of the most popular female stars in the country. At smaller centres, she’s way ahead of Alia Bhatt and could be in the Top 3 after Deepika and Anushka. Ranbir, like we already mentioned, isn’t the star that he once was. But he’s a terrific actor, one of the best in the industry, which is why he’s the top choice among young stars for big directors like Rajkumar Hirani and Karan Johar.

Q. On which basis National award for best actor is given? They consider only acting or they also consider the plot and message and story of the movie?

A. We are not too sure about the criteria, because a film like Swades should have won Shah Rukh Khan a national award for Best Actor, but it went to Saif Ali Khan for Hum Tum. That was probably the only odd year when a commercial film won the Best Actor award. Even Amitabh Bachchan for Piku was a surprise, there were better performances last year.

Q. Is Kaabil postponed? Is it low budget or high budget? What is the real reason behind Hrithik rejecting Thug? Why media is so negative regarding Hrithik nowadays?

A. Kaabil’s release date remains 26th January 2017, until the day Rakesh Roshan officially announces a change in plan. Hrithik wasn’t convinced with the script of ‘Thug’.

Q. In which language does regional movies get released in overseas?

A. In the same language i.e Tamil films release in Tamil. Subtitles are included.

Q. Apart from Salman and Aamir, did Hrithik, Akshay or Ajay ever give a tough competition to SRK or beat his opening collections in overseas?

A. Shah Rukh Khan is in a different league when it comes to popularity of Indian actors in the overseas markets. For a lot of non-Indians, Bollywood still means Shah Rukh Khan. That will probably never ever change. He has been ruling the overseas markets for nearly 2 decades and even now his films open very well. He’ll shatter overseas records the day he gives a very good film that trends well there.

Aamir has gained a following by doing quality films, people love him for his films. Salman was never a major star overseas, but that has changed quite drastically after the release of Bajrangi Bhaijaan.

Q. Please rank KK Menon, Manoj Bajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Irffan Khan, Rajkumar Rao acting wise. Please compare them with current superstars in acting department and their importance to Bollywood.

A. Our pick, in order of preference – Irrfan Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Rajkumar Rai, Manoj Bajpayee, KK Menon. Comparing them to top superstars is like comparing apples to oranges. Actors like Irrfan or Nawaz can never create mass hysteria or even ensure a good opening. Their films will almost always open slow and then grow on word-of-mouth.

Q. Are Jolly LLB 2 and Raabta seriously about to clash or will it be averted in future?

A. The clash is still on, but Raabta could be push to a later date.

Q. As per your opinion, which movie get higher buzz among ADHM and Shivaay as the title tracks for both films are out. ADHM songs is already superhit which justified the theme of the movie, Shivaay also done the same for me. So what’s your opinion about the Shivaay song and overall buzz of both films.

A. Shivaay will appeal to a wider section of the audience, plus the trailer has received a very positive response – both of which are big advantages to have during a weekend like Diwali. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is a big film too, but it remains to be seen if the film will appeal to audience outside major cities. Trailer will be the key. Buzz-wise, Shivaay is ahead at the moment.

Q. Does Crack have the potential be a 150 crore grosser?

A. Unlikely. But it’s too early to talk about the film without even watching the trailer.

Q. Do you think Raaz Reboot can take a good initial on its opening day?

A. The response to the trailer and music has been lukewarm. It could still open well because of the popularity of the franchise, but we don’t think Raaz Reboot is going to open the way Raaz 3 did.

Q. Won’t the release of Jolly LLB 2 just after Rustom be a negative factor for it as both are going to revolve around courtroom, it might be something similar that happened to Holiday and Baby.

A. It’s not going to be a negative factor, in fact it could be a positive because the audience in cities now believe Akshay does good films. The variety and quality of his films has improved. The change of perception has come in 2016. The coming year could be huge for him if content is upto expectations.

Q. As a big fan of your site.. I want to know something my question is once you said your site is going to complete 10 years in 2016 so on which day and what are the plans ?

A. We completed 10 years on 20 August. There were no celebrations. Thank you for visiting.

Q. What is the role of a director because the actor does acting, then there are cameramen, writers, etc etc and many times even the screen play is written by others.
So why the director is important?

A. A director is like a supervisor who gives directions to his cast and crew. It’s his / her responsibility to ensure that every department of filmmaking comes blends together. The director visualises the film and then works closely with his actors, cinematographers etc. A film belongs to the director. If the direction isn’t good enough, even a good script won’t translate into a good film.

Q. What was the verdict of Singh Saab The Great, Ghayal Once Again for producers and distributors. What is the line up Sunny Deol in 2017? is he still a bankable star in north atleast for distributors?

A. Both Singh Saab The Great and Ghayal Once Again flopped at the box office. Sunny has a few delayed films like Bhayyaji Super Hit, but no big release. His films open well in the North, but he’s not even close to the star that he once was. Sunny Deol during his peak, was like Salman Khan at single-screens today. The industry doesn’t really produce massy stars like Sunny anymore.

Q. How would you rate the promotional strategy of Befikre.. people in indicine are not appreciating the posters and the video.. How is trade response?? Don’t you think banners like YRF and Dharma should start producing film other than these rom com?

A. It has been difficult to understand the strategy behind pushing the kissing scenes as much as they have. The response from the audience even at bigger centres has been mixed to negative. But there is still a long way to go, let’s wait and see what they give us in the trailer. Our LBO ‘expectation’ (not prediction) for Befikre is already down 82 crore from 100 crore plus.

Q. What would be the ideal release date for SRK starrer the Ring?

A. The tentative date is still the Independence Day weekend. But they are also looking at a couple of other dates, announcement will be made soon.

Q. Did ‘Brothers’ help Siddharth Malhotra make his presence felt among the masses? Will Ittefaq remake be a film for the masses?

A. Ek Villain helped Sidharth more than Brothers. But he has a long way to go before we can even call him a mass hero.

Q. Why some people are questioning Sidharth’s stardom just after one flop? In his 6 films short career he has already delivered 2 super-hits including one 100 cr grosser with Kapoor and Sons still being the 3rd highest overseas grosser. His debut SOTY is still the highest grossing film starring a debutant and Hasee Toh Phasee did reasonably well?

A. That’s how it is for every actor. When your film opens well, you get praised, when it falls below expectations, box office pull of lead stars is questioned. Sidharth has started his career well, but has a long way to go before we can call him an ‘established star’.

Q. What is the status of Kahaani 2?

A. It’s releasing on November 25. On the same day as ‘Dear Zindagi’ starring Alia and SRK. There have been rumours that the film is likely to be postponed, but that’s PR at work. Official sources have said, the film is still on schedule to release in November.

Q. What’s the reason for the below average opening of Bar Bar Dekho?

A. It can never be said with certainty that a film will open well at the box office. Film business is unpredictable, what appeals to the audience and what doesn’t cannot be predicted. It could be the casting that didn’t work, Sidharth and Katrina are not the greatest of actors and watching them together on screen was probably not very exciting for the audience. It could also be the concept of time-travel that limited the audience. Difficult to pin-point and give you the exact reason. Chartbuster music raised expectations, but the multiplex audience don’t come to watch songs, they come to watch good films. If the content isn’t liked, the film will be rejected.

It’s also a game of perception. When the expectations for a good opening is low, a 7 crore start becomes decent, but when a film is expected to do 9-10 crore and it opens at 7.. negativity spreads quickly. Having said that, for the costs, the film should have opened at 8-9 crore and then shown good growth over the weekend.

Q. Yesterday I saw an article of Kannada film Mungaru Male review of part 1 which you reviewed 10years ago.. can you tell me why you stopped reviewing the other regional movie which are biggies.. if possible can you give me the update of Mungaru male 2..or any similar site where we get updates of box office collection of Kannada films as how we get the update of hindi film here.. I mean the true box office collection..

A. The site was first planned to cover all Indian films, that why the name Indi (Indian) Cine (Cinema), but we later decided to cover only Hindi films. We do not know any site that gives accurate estimates or collections of Kannada films. We do get multiplex collections of regional films and have contacts with some individual distributors in Karnataka. Maybe sometime in the future we might give estimates for Kannada films too. Thank you for your interest.

Q. Why national awards of all Ajay Devgn movies was not successful at hindi box office.but still given best actor? Even National award film like Raincoat was a flop. Why its confusing

A. Box office collections isn’t taken into consideration for national awards, neither for Best Film nor for Best Actor. Ideally, film awards should never be about popular choice.

Q. How much business did Rustom lose due to Mohenjo Daro and Happy Bhaag Jayegi?

A. We think the film benefitted because of the big clash with Mohenjo Daro. It increased its business potential. We say this because Rustom over performed, such films don’t usually collect 130 crore. Happy Bhaag Jayegi was too small a film to affect Rustom.

Q. Do you think Sultan can remain the highest grosser of the year? What do you think about the prospects of the lifetime of Dangal?

A. Dangal will have to be a terrific film if it has to cross the 300 crore mark. Even 250 crore won’t be easy if it doesn’t find acceptance. We have been hearing good things about the film, but we’d put our money on Sultan topping the year.

Q. What do you think of Befikre marketing strategy?

A. Difficult to understand.

Q. Is there any possibility of Hera Pheri 3 with Akshay as it will be a great (huge) success as we all know about the franchises craze around the 3 actors.

A. The next Hera Pheri film has been shelved.

Q. The rate at which salman is going he could have 12 or more blockbusters this decade only. are there any words to describe this unbeatable achievement?

A. If he can continue at this level for the next 4-5 years or more, he could be the biggest Bollywood superstar of all time. There is also a chance that he could take it to the next level as films like Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Sultan have really set box office benchmarks, both when it comes to opening, weekend and lifetime collections. One actor generating 1000 crore of business within a span of 12 months (Bajrangi Bhaijaan to Sultan – just domestic business) is simply phenomenal.