AskIndicine: Live Now

Q. Is it true that Raees has been postponed to Eid 2018 as the makers say a lot of the shooting is yet to be shot?

A. Not true. We have not been informed about any change in release date.

Q. Does piracy of films, increased ticket prices affect smaller films? Collections are decreasing day by day and people are coming out to watch movies in 3 major festivals only. Also it affect some of good films as well like FAN, MS Dhoni etc. What is the future of business of Bollywood, Hollywood and regional films? Now families are willing to spend their money only during Christmas, New year release. How much it will affect Raees?

A. That’s not true. The problem is not release period, but content. Some of our big films have been huge disappointments this year. Films like Fan and Mohenjo Daro were expected to collect double of what they did.  Even Shivaay has been way below expectations. But other films like ‘The Jungle Book’, ‘Pink’, ‘Neerja’ have over performed. So the audience is willing to spend only if there is a good film in theatres.

For example a film like Robot (Enthiran) was released 6 years ago, but that level of action, visual effects or scale has not been made in the Hindi Film Industry. We have acting talent, we have superstars.. but that vision to take the industry forward doesn’t seen to be there among filmmakers. To add to the woes, most of our films are now targeted at 5-10 city audience, very few universal films are being made.

Q. How much ADHM need to attain hit and super hit status?

A. Economics-wise, ADHM is a very safe film. It’ll recover its entire investment from Satellite right, digital rights, music and overseas business. It may not even need domestic business to be a profitable venture, but it’s about getting that perception hit number, which is 100 crore. We’ll publish the economics soon.

Q. What really happened to SRK’s career, he was the undisputed No.1 and then suddenly it all crashed. I firmly believe it was due to the content of his movies. What is your opinion? Can he really comeback and overtake Salman?

A. It’s been a case of Shah Rukh’s level dropping and the other two (Salman and Aamir) rising to an altogether different level. Some of Shah Rukh’s biggest blockbusters in the last few years are Om Shanti Om, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Chennai Express. Now compare the average footfalls (number of tickets sold) of those films, to the average footfalls of Aamir and Salman’s Top 3, and you’ll realise that they are selling a lot more tickets than Shah Rukh did after year 2000. Even a film like Sultan, which wasn’t really carrying excellent word-of-mouth, was watched by many more people than a film like Chennai Express.

Choice of films play a big role here, to get those 250-300 crore grossers, you need a film that connect with every section of the audience. Shah Rukh simply hasn’t been doing those kind of films, even Raees and The Ring won’t get him those big grossers. Even though he has the star power, craze and following to become a top star – it’s his choice of films that stopping him. Aanand L Rai film could be his biggie, but there is a lot of time for that film.

Q. Why are you delaying the reviews for Dangal and Kaabil trailer?

A. The delay was because we have tied up with three exhibitors to get reactions for trailers. Most reactions on the internet are unreliable in today’s times, whereas the reactions that we get at theatres is the most unbiased and gives us the real picture. We get to know exactly what the response is like. In the last couple of weeks, there have been no major releases, footfalls were very low at theatres. The trailer of Dangal and Kaabil were also attached to films that just released on Friday. We have the reactions of both films now, both reports will be out very soon. Sorry for the delay and thank you for your interest.

Q. What is your opinion on Dear Zindagi teasers? About the box office prospect of the movie?

A. The teasers of Dear Zindagi has received a good response, but the interest to watch the film will only be at major cities. Shah Rukh’s presence might help the film get a opening at ‘Tier 2’ cities too, but isn’t really his film. It’s an Alia Bhatt film, which is being smartly promoted. It will open well because of SRK and Alia, but rest would depend on content. We are expecting a 12 crore opening for the film at this point in time (will change depending on other promos). Please follow our FBO page.

Q. Is the failure of Shivaay going to be fatal for Ajay Devgn’s career?

A. Too early to call ‘Shivaay’ a failure. Collections tomorrow will decide, but the advance booking isn’t upto the mark so far. But even if it fails, Ajay has seen many failures in his career, it won’t affect his standing, but will be a huge blow for him financially.

Q. Rank the younger actors in terms of fan following.

A. There are three actors who are leading and they are Varun Dhawan, Ranbir Kapoor and Ranveer Singh. In no particular order. Next few films will decide. Ranbir and Ranveer are huge with the youth, Varun has following amongst kids too. The actor to rise and grow bigger will be the one who taps into the huge market at smaller centres.

Q. Do you think that collection of Dangal will get effected due to its genre because we have seen same genre in Sultan?

A. Difficult to answer this at this point in time. People have noticed the similarities, but there is no reason not to watch Dangal. It’s a different story, based on real-life people. And since it features someone like Aamir, who the audience has immense trust in, there is no reason why people would want to skip it.

Q. How will the failure of Shivaay affect Ajay Devgn’s upcoming films(Golmaal 4 specially)? Also you mentioned that he is making a shift from medium to heavy budget films. Is that also going to be affected?

A. Golmaal 4 is a big film, a perfect film for Diwali. This year, that fun and masti sort of film which the audience like to watch during Diwali is missing. As for the shift from medium to heavy budget film, there is a big risk involved too. Ajay doesn’t really command a huge following at cities, so unless he wins over the urban multiplex audience, it’s difficult to recover investment of 100 crore plus from his films. He isn’t a huge star in the overseas markets either. So he either needs a really well-made film or Rohit Shetty franchises like Golmaal or Singham to get him those big grossers. We don’t mean to be harsh on any actor in our QnA, but it’s the truth, ask anyone in the trade and they’ll give you the real picture.

Q. How are so sure about Robot 2 releasing on Diwali next year? There hasn’t been any official announcement from the makers yet. Is it a strong belief or because of rumours floating around.

A. One of the producers of the film has said they are targeting Diwali next year. Unlike the Hindi film industry, release dates are not firm down south. They change, delays are normal.

Q. How is the word of mouth of ADHM and Shivaay?

A. Mixed for both.

Q. The most disappointing film for you indicine? The one you expected to be a blockbuster but it failed to live up to its hype?

A. This year, it has to be Mohenjo Daro. Pre-Trailer hype was huge, but from the time the trailer was released, everything related to the film was a huge disappointment.

Q. Nothing to ask Indicine. Just wanted to wish you and your users a very very happy diwali!

A. Thank you. Here’s wishing all our readers a very happy Diwali too.

Q. Ajay Devgn hasn’t even given many excellent openers, forget bumper, since 2000, without franchise. And now we have the poor opening of Shivaay, so won’t that raise questions on his stardom?

A. He has never been a major superstar, he has always been known for his outstanding acting talent more than sheer charisma or star power. He may not be as big a star as others, but not many can be as good in the acting department as him.

Q. I heard on tv that there were protest against ADHM in Andra Pradesh and at another place.. Is it true or just rumours?

A. There was nothing major. Some minor incidents in a few places. Some journalist, including a film journalist, gave it more attention than it deserved. We haven’t heard of any show getting affected due to protests.

Q. Out of the two what would you pick for the future of Bollywood. A) Directors like Rajkumar Hirani, Kabir Khan who make masala movies true to the Indian sensibilities or B) star culture like that of Bachchan, Khans, Kumars etc considering the fact that star culture is already declining (loss of exclusivity due to social media) and considerable change in taste of Indian audience confusing film-makers and stars alike, what actually works – masala movie or content-driven film?

A.300-350 crore films or all-time grossers are only possible when both combine to give us a good film. Star power will always be more important for the industry, else Hollywood is far superior in every other department. ‘Phantom’ had the same director, but it finished under 60. Put Salman in the same film and it will easily do 200 plus. Big stars give films a lot of face value and our audience too like having their own favourite stars. We don’t think the ‘star culture’ will die in the industry, there will always be someone or the other who’ll be ruling the hearts of the audience. As for Rajkumar Hirani, he belongs to a different league. Way above every writer / director in the industry. But even he will probably need a star, a Hirani film starring newcomers might be a big grosser, but it’ll struggle to get anywhere close to what he has achieved with Aamir Khan.

Q. Why things that Ajay Devgn said and did to promote Shivaay over ADHM , will be forgotten ? If this was SRK , this negativity would have carried a long time. Do you think he crossed the line ?

A. Industry still remembers everything that happened when Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Son Of Sardaar clashed.

Q. Can Shivaay do 300+ as Ajay sir movies always does well on Diwali?

A. They’ll celebrate if they get half of that. Even a third of 300 looks difficult at the moment. The first weekend is going to be around 30 crore, it needs 20 crore plus on Diwali holiday to have any chance of crossing 100.

Q. How will the trade be looking at Jagga Jasoos after ADHM. Did ADHM bring the much needed positive perception towards Ranbir that he needed?

A. ADHM still has a long way to go before it can be called a domestic box office success. The opening of the film wasn’t because of Ranbir alone, Karan Johar is a big director, Anushka Sharma is one of the Top 2 female stars today and music was a massive hit too. It all combined to give ADHM a good opening. That aside, Ranbir is loved as an actor, he’ll only grow bigger from here.  Good actors can afford a few failures, while others like Imran Khan who made his debut at around the same time has already retired.

Q. Why didn’t ADHM team promote SRK’s cameo in the movie because SRK even in his bad phase is capable of pulling in huge crowds in the initial days?

A. If cameos could help box office opening of films, then Dulha Mil Gaya, Bhoothnath or Billu would be record openers. The audience is smart. SRK’s ADHM cameo was only meant to pleasantly surprise the audience. It wouldn’t help the opening.

Q. What is more important for the opening of a commercial film today, trailer or music? Reasons if possible.

A. Most definitely, the trailer. Music adds value only if the film is good. Baar Baar Dekho didn’t have one bad song, all worked, yet the film was rejected. People can listen to songs and even watch the song promo on their mobile phones or computers, why spend on costly tickets to watch the same songs on the big screen if the movie isn’t worth the ticket price?

Q. As you’re against this idea of clash in Jan, who do ‘you’ feel should move and avert the clash, Raees or Kaabil, and why?

A. Good question. Firstly, Raees should never have been announced for January 26. Roshans are close to SRK and Hrithik shares a good working relationship with Excel Entertainment too. Internal fights have crossed all limits in the last year or so. But now since the damage has already been done and ‘Raees’ is already a much-delayed film, we think ‘Kaabil’ could move to the April 14 Good Friday holiday. It’ll give the film GST tax benefits and two open weeks before the release of ‘Baahubali’.

If ‘Raees’ and ‘Kaabil’ clash, it’s going to be suicidal. Both films are also targeted at the masses, so both will affect each others business. One film should move to a new date.

Q. If both Salman and Srk comes on same day today with all the ingredients of a commercial potboiler then who do you think will win and what could be the margin of win?

A. Only Indicine will win because of huge traffic.

Q. Among the top directors in India, what is the standing of Karan Johar after ADHM?

A. He is one of the biggest directors in India. All his films have opened well at the box office, with or without star power. So his name does command a following. Overseas, he is huge.

Q. Can any movie survive with good word-of-mouth against Salman in Eid and Aamir in Christmas? If yes, then why nobody has clashed with them during that period?

A. Taking on Salman is very difficult because the competing film wouldn’t get a good release at single-screens and his films would also get higher number of shows at multiplexes. People come to theatres to watch him during Eid, more than even the film that he features in.. which makes it very risky. Aamir has content and like we all know, content is king. Why risk? Better to take on someone else.

Q. Does Shivaay has any chance of becoming a hit after such poor opening day figures?

A. Very difficult now, unless it does 20 plus tomorrow and follows it up with another 15 crore plus day. It needs one massive day and a couple of goods days to have any chance of recovering costs.

Q. Do you think Kaabil Trailer released at an apt time – 3 months before movie release ? And what is the best time to release Raees Trailer ?

A. Best time to release is with Dear Zindagi. Even Dangal isn’t a bad choice if they do not have too many units to follow up after the trailer.

Q. Who do you think shown more maturity between Ajay and Karan Johar in the latest ugly clash of Shivaay and ADHM ?

A. Dignity was in silence.

Q. Dear Indicine my question is regarding GST, according to news it will be implemented from April 2017 so how much it will affect the collections of BAHUBALI 2 . thank you

A. It’s going to be a huge advantage, but it remains to be seen if ‘tax free’ status will remain in the state. There is no clarity over this for now, but if home state is tax free, then it’s definitely a huge advantage for the producers of the film. Hindi version will benefit for sure. There are four tax slabs that have been proposed – 6%, 12%, 18% and 26%.. Entertainment tax could come under the 26% slab. More on this, as soon as the government takes a decision.

Q. Which movie according to you could record higher collection on Monday – ADHM or Shivaay?

A. We think Shivaay could lead on Monday. It will be the only choice for the masses, who might come out in big numbers.

Q. Shivaay response was so fabulous, everyone was saying Ajay sir is one of the finest directors, social media was booming with go watch Shivaay, married women and men were posting the same too but why collection is low?

A. Social media perception can be created these days. On the ground, things were very different. The interest to watch the film wasn’t there, atleast in big cities. The problem for Shivaay was, the trailer was very well-received, but what came after that did not create any impact. In fact, the promos were sometimes dark, gloomy and even unexciting.. just like Mohenjo Daro.  Because of this, the music also did not track. This reflected in our FBO too, we started at nearly 15 crore and came down to 10 crore finally.

 

That ends today’s QnA. Thank you for joining us. Once again, on behalf of our team, we wish you all a very Happy Diwali.