AskIndicine: 30 Questions Answered

First 10 questions answered:

Q. Will the Hindi version of Baahubali cross Dangal lifetime collection in India?

A. Difficult to put any number at this point in time. It all depends on the level of business during the weekdays. If Bahubali 2 Hindi holds above the 25 crore mark on Monday, then there is a chance of beating Dangal. If collections are at 30 crore plus levels, then Dangal will be history. The advance booking for Baahubali 2 is excellent for Monday. Better than the opening day advance of all Hindi films this year.

Q. Can Sanjay Dutt biopic cross 200 cr? What will be the position of Ranbir after that?

A. It should, given Rajkumar Hirani’s track record. But it’s very difficult to put any number with certainty without watching the trailer or without even knowing the exact release date of the film. Even then it’s difficult to predict now, because 200 crore requires the film to be good. Hirani is a fantastic writer / director, but when the expectations are big, the chances of disappointing the audience is high too.

Q. Even after seeing what Bahubali 2 has pulled off…will the silly egoist Bollywood filmmakers stop washing dirty linen in public for the release dates of superstar movies..? Will the EDX factor thing gets decimated and more and more superstar big budget movies will get released in normal weekends thus getting a free run without much competition…? If not now then when will Bollywood wake up…?

A. The trend of booking festive weekends in advance is unlikely to change. Why would someone like a Salman let go of the weekend that he created, just because a film like Bahubali 2 has worked during a non-holiday/festive weekend. But we hope, filmmakers realise that a good film can work any weekend. The Jungle Book collected 190 crore in April, Bahubali 2 is setting records in the same month – which was not too long ago considered to be weak due to IPL. Even Badrinath Ki Dulhania did very well considering the exam period. So it’s not about getting the release date right, it’s about getting the film right. Filmmakers in the Hindi film industry need to realise that there is a huge audience for Indian films out there, but if you make urban films for the Juhu / Bandra audience, 95% of the movie audience won’t be interested. The obsession behind holiday, could also be the pressure and insecurity of a superstar, that makes him feel more comfortable with the boost that a extra holiday or two provides. But going solo during a normal weekend is better than a clash like Raees/Kaabil during Republic Day.

Q. What is the LBO Bahubali 2 according to you, is this Indian Avatar movie

A. We have no idea at the moment, we’ll probably give the final LBO prediction tomorrow because it’s unpredictable at the moment. It isn’t a normal Hindi film and it could pretty much do anything depending on how it sustains over the weekdays. On an all India level, it has raised the bar for film business in India – like Sholay, Hum Aapke Hai Kaun and maybe even 3 Idiots. It has also shown the true potential of a Pan-India film – it’ll go past a Dangal in a short span of 3 to 4 days. But even when it comes to a film like ‘Bahubali 2’ only around 8-10 crore (expected) of the 130 crore population will be watching the film in theatres. It’s still 2 or 3 times more than the biggest of Hindi films in the last couple of decades, but back in the 70s and 80s, Amitabh Bachchan films used to get as many footfalls as a Bahubali 2 of today. With plenty of entertainment options and piracy, times are different, but still there’s tremendous potential for film business in India.

Q. How are the inside reports of Tubelight from your trustworthy sources? Anywhere same as Dangal? I hope I will get an answer this time dear Indicine.

A. We don’t know any trustworthy source who has seen the film, but internally the reports are positive.

Q. Do you think the Opening day record of Baahubali 2 will cross by any other films in the next 2/3 years..??? Is there any Bollywood film in development to compete with Baahubali in terms of scale and appeal..?

A. Again, it’s impossible to predict the future. Most of us in the trade thought the Dangal record is safe for the next couple of years, but Bahubali 2 Hindi could beat it if it holds for 2-3 weeks. There’s Robot 2.0 too.. it’s a unique combination of Bollywood + South. So if it turns out to be very well made and entertaining.. who knows? Rajnikanth is massive in the entire south, Akshay will add star value in the north and Shankar has top-class masala director, whose films have excellent repeat-value. Let’s not even get into 2-3 years, when a film releasing in 8-9 months has big potential.

Q. Looking at the craze can bahubali 2 cross 400crs in Hindi version only ? As the weekend collections are looking like 120+Cr.. what’s your take ?

A. Possible, but improbable. Let’s wait to see where it lands on Monday.

Q. SRK once said that he is going to do a film with Adithya Chopra which is made on a huge budget with heavy dose VFX. After that there were no updates…So do you think the film will happen…?? If its big on scale and appeal do you it will have a impact on all India Level like Baahubali?

A. Just because a Bahubali 2 released, does not mean unrealistic expectations. And even a Bahubali 2 has happened because of unique circumstances. Also, our Hindi stars are not watched by the core audience of South films, which pretty much rules out any possibility of a Bahubali 2 like scenario. The only film that can closest to Bahubali 2 is Robot 2.0.

Q. Vinod Khanna or Dharmemdra… who was the bigger star?

A. Dharmendra.

Q. Briefly compare the careers of Akshay and Ajay from 1991-2017…. in three portions 1990-2000, 2000-2001, 2010-2017?

A. Akshay Kumar has been ahead all the way through, barring those years when Golmaal 3 and Singham Returns released. The Singham Returns year (2014) was a mixed year for both stars, both had one big success and one failure. 2010 belonged to Ajay, when Golmaal 3 finished off Action Replay during Diwali.

This page will be updated with 10 more answers at 10PM Indian Time:

Q. Would u please explain how can a film earn 80+ crore from just 3000-3500 screen like Bahubali did in south where the Bollywood movie are grossing just 45 Crore with 4500 screen.

A. Hindi films are heavily taxed in the major states of business, whereas South /Regional films either get complete tax exemption or pay very low taxes compared to 30-40-50% for Hindi films. The net figures are after deduction of entertainment taxes, while the gross figures include tax. This is likely to change after GST and the tax system will be uniform all across. Regional films may not get tax exemption, which will negatively impact them and benefit the Hindi Film Industry.

Q. Which movie can break records of Bahubali2 in Bollywood?

A. We don’t see any Hindi film coming close to Bahubali 2 in the next few months / years.

Q. Padmavathi, Thugs, Dragon , Dhoom 4*, Krrish 4, SOS2, Ra One 2 ….all are expected to be a once in a lifetime Theatre experience movies in terms of Indian movie standards . All these films will also be in the Baahubali scale …yet do you think it can generate high collection from South just like Baahubali 1 ( avoid Baahubali 2)did in Hindi movie market if all these films get good response ?

A. Bahubali 1 was a fantastic film, but the makers were lucky to get a filmmaker like Karan Johar to back it and promote it. Once the base was provided, the content took over. People who watched the film in theatre, were eager to watch the second part.. while those who missed out and watched it on TV.. wanted to experience the second film on the big screen. Without the boost that television provided, it was impossible to get the kind of opening that it got. Welcome Back and Singham Returns had similar recall value, although both performed at a much lower level, television provided a boost.

The problem with Dhoom series is.. inspite of it being extremely popular, the quality of films is going lower with each new film. Dhoom 1 was the best, then comes Dhoom 2 and Dhoom 3 was probably the weakest film. It lessens the brand value and the eagerness of the audience to watch it in theatres.

Krrish suffers to an extent because of constant comparisons with Hollywood superhero films. The collections were very weak in ‘class’ circuits like Mysore. The problem is limited budget. How can a Hindi superhero film compete with Hollywood.. when they invest Rs 1500 crore and we have only 100 crore? Bahubali makers spent nearly 250 crore plus on the two films.. yet somewhere the VFX wasn’t upto the mark in the second film. The scale was there though and that’s because of the genius of Rajamouli. So while the audience come to see Bahubali for the film.. Krrish series is more about Hrithik himself, put anyone else and it’ll fall flat.

Sequel of Ra One should not even be attempted, it was a rejected film. Let’s see how the other films go.

Q. Hello indicine . Absolutely love your work . You guys are gem. My question : Bahubali is huge everyone knows that . How big is it gonna be for the star cast I.E. prabhas and Rana in their upcoming movies ? Does this movie make the biggest stars up south and put up against newcomers in Bollywood or it’s the content that’s the star here ? Since Bahubali is such huge grosser in two days that khans numbers looks puny specially srk’s . Does it also affect the khans since almost everyone today is more curious and driven by the number it grossed than the content . Will it put pressure on them ??Reason for asking is everyone on web is mentioning the numbers Bahubali grossed than the efforts whole team made specially Prabhas , Rana and Anushka Shetty except of course the reviewers which no one is interested in for this movie. You made right move not reviewing this . Admire your decision :)

A. Thank you. The decision to not review the film is because Bahubali is a big-screen experience. People know exactly what to expect. Even otherwise, we believe the audience should decide whether to watch a film or not for themselves by watching the trailer. Reviews create preconceived notions, which can ruin the pleasure of watching a film in a theatre and there’s the big difference in taste between what critics and the normal audience like to watch.

To answer your main question, it’ll be interesting to see if Prabhas can make a mark in the Hindi film industry. If he’s presented well and he can do a commercial film under commercial directors— then he could become the first male star to make a mark in the Hindi market. He definitely seems to be interested in going Pan-India, has excellent screen presence and he has a bi-lingual film Saaho that is being on a big budget and shot simultaneously in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi. As for the Khans, they’ll largely remain unaffected by Bahubali, but the pressure of box office will be there. They’ll have to take things to the next level now, especially Salman because he is the biggest we have when it comes to box office initial – especially at smaller centres.

Q. Do you think with the huge appreciation and love baahubali 2 is getting throughout the world, it will create more recognition for indian films in overseas market in future?

A. Unlikely. It’s still the Indian audience that are watching Bahubali.

Q. Who is more important for the industry… Akshay or Aamir? As Aamir keep the bar getting higher every time while Akshay keeps the wheel turning for everyone involved on a regular basis? Your take

A. Both. Aamir films will be treasured and watched for years – it’ll be watched by the future generation as some of the best films of the current decade. Most of us have only watched a select few films from the 70s and the most watched would be Sholay, Amar Akbar Anthony and a few others. Those few would be 3 Idiots, Dangal, Lagaan etc. But for exhibitors, definitely Akshay Kumar.

Q. Indicine I am a die hard Srk fan and want to write an open letter to him as a miniscule effort in my capacity,will you be kind enough to publish it?

A. Sure. Please mail your article to indicineteam at gmail dot com.

Some short answers…

Q. Do you really think Bahubali’s storm at box office is because of Prabhas? According to so many people’s perception after Bahubali-2 released, Prabhas is ahead of Bollywood big stars like khans, AK, HR. What is your take in this claimed? Don’t you think the same success will achieved even anyone of these Telugu stars either Mahesh or Pawan Kalyan were cast in the Bahubali?

A. Not true. Bahubali is not about star power, but the power of people’s love for the first film. We’ll have to wait and see how successful he will be with his next few films, but it would be a surprise if it manages to even open at 20% of Bahubali 2.

Q. Who is a bigger superstar among these actors of their time, Dilip Kumar, Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan or Vinod Khanna.

A. Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan were the biggest of the names you mentioned.

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Q. How come Bahubali earn so much on single day when you yourself said once that the total capacity of Indian theatres is max 60 crores if they run full? Please explain.

A. Please don’t misquote us. We never said the max All-India limit is 60 crore. We said 60-65 crore is probably the limit of the Hindi market at full capacity, but even that depends on ticket prices etc. Below is the answer in the QnA two weeks ago:

“It depends on a lot of factors like ticket prices, release size etc. For a Salman Khan release, at full capacity we could probably get to 60-65 crore net on a single day – if all shows are house full. Baahubali 2 will certainly challenge this because it’ll perform across all markets – Hindi and single-screen dominated Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada markets too. The release size is going to be much bigger than the biggest of Hindi releases too, so the upper limit is a lot higher.”

20 questions have been answered. 10 more answers will be added to this page at 10:45PM – Stay tuned.

Q. What is real potential of India box office according to you?

A. There’s plenty of potential for growth in India, we do not even have theatres at several ’Tier 2 and 3’ cities. But it’s about justifying the high price of tickets and giving the audience a big-screen experience. Like we already mentioned, not even 2.5% of the population is watching the biggest of Hindi films in theatres. The emphasis should be on making films that appeal to ‘Pan India’ audience, once that happens and the footfalls increase, the number of screens will also increase – which will also increase the collections and reduce the over-dependence on stars.

Q. Give more insight about Ring vs Toilet clash

A. We’ve already spoken in detail about the clash. Click here to read the article. We can only add more once the trailers are out.

Q. How is the WOM for bahubali 2? Good or excellent?

A. Not as good as the first part, but certainly very good. A clearer picture on the word-of-mouth will emerge in the next 2 days.

Q. Which SRK film is coming between The Ring and dwarf ? Will dwarf movie be single release of him in 2018 ?

A. The ‘Dwarf’ film is big film that goes on floors soon. He probably won’t have any release in between – unless SRK signs a quick film that can be wrapped up in 2-3 months.

Q. Will Half girlfriend collection be affected due to Bahubali 2 ;especially as a lot of cinegoers have spent a lot of money on baahubali 2, will they be willing to spend again on half girlfriend in 15-20 days time?

A. It’s difficult to answer such questions. A 3 week gap is big enough to not have much of an impact on film business. Having said that – there could be a small impact, because a majority of audience have already spent big money on Bahubali tickets – prices of which were hiked. How big an impact depends on Half Girlfriend – if the movie is good, the impact will be limited. If the content isn’t upto the mark and the movie fails, the blame could go on Bahubali 2 releasing so close and doing so well.

Q. Will 2.0 open massive? Because this is the only big film of Akshay Kumar after many years so don’t you think it’ll perform extremely well both in metros and mass center?

A. 2.0 will open in the core markets because of Rajnikanth. So the credit can only go to Akshay Kumar if the film manages a bumper opening in the North. Only that will show his real value, although Rajnikanth films are performing much better than before even in some of the Hindi markets. It would’ve been a different story altogether had it been a Rajnikanth – Salman film. That would’ve really made it insanely huge all over and maybe even challenged Bahubali 2. Akshay has done big films – Brothers, QUATIMD and even Housefull 3 – none of them were even close to be classified as ‘Bumper’ or ‘Record Breaking’.

Q. Am a huge follower of this website but i wonder why there is so less coverage on this website for Baahubali 2? When Sultan released there used to be about 2-3 articles per day.

A. Sultan is a Hindi film, Bahubali 2 isn’t.

Q. U always say that there will be a drop on Saturday compared to Friday. Why is it so because Saturday is a holiday for most of the mnc’s. Even govt offices are closed so actually it should always be more unless movie is outrightly rejected. Your views

A. Not true. Saturday is not a universal holiday and secondly, when it comes to big films – especially those that are targeted at mass centres – a drop on Saturday is normal. In South, most films drop on Saturday. It’s a different story with multiplex films, those peak on Saturday night and hence the trend is upwards from Friday to Saturday.

Q. What is Hrithik Roshan doing now? Is he in a mood to do movies or not?

A. No clue. Maybe reading scripts or taking a break.

Q. Is Mahabharata with 1000 crore budget really happening or it’s just rumour?

A. Yes, there are reports of UAE businessman investing in a feature film which is based on Randamoozham – which tells the story of Mahabharatha through the eyes of Bheema. It’s said to be directed by Shrikumar Menon. It’ll be made in different languages. But all this has only been announced – Mohanlal has also confirmed that he’ll be playing Bheema and there are reports that they want Hrithik as Krishna. We’ll wait till the film goes on floors – because such projects can so easily fall through.

That’s the end of QnA. As expected, more questions were on Bahubali 2 this week and we tried to answer most of them. Thank you for joining us.