AskIndicine: Live Now

Q. What are your expectations from SRK-Imtiaz Ali Film?

A. Trade expectations aren’t very high at the moment because of the director and also the fact that romantic films aren’t really performing at the box office. The film will get a initial, but it’s the business during the weekdays that will be the key. SRK films haven’t performed in the long run. As far as ‘our’ expectations are concerned, we’ll have to wait for the final title and the trailer.

Q. What will be the impact of Half Girlfriend on Arjun and Shraddha career?

A. It’s neither very positive (as was expected) nor is it negative, because the film will finish with lifetime business of 60 crore plus. The timing of release went horribly wrong at the very last moment. There was Bahubali 2 in theatres, Hindi Medium was doing well and Sachin: A Billion Dreams has also open very well. Three films performing in  a single month is a rarity these days. For Arjun, Mubarakan will be the key, Shraddha is going through a tough phase and at 30, age is no longer on her side.

Q. How is the overall response of Tubelight trailer?

A. Very positive. Detailed report soon.

Q. As Tubelight is looking more emotional n content oriented than Bajrangi Bhaijaan so can we expect Tubelight doing better business than BB?What are your views in it?

A. Such questions are difficult to answer, because a lot of things have to fall in place for a film to perform as well as ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’. It has the same team, but it doesn’t have a popular female star nor does it have title that’ll instantly attract the masses to the film.

Q. Before release of Hindi medium you said that small films face outright rejection in 2017, now after the strong performance of Hindi medium, don’t you think it’s all about content and not about how big or small film is? Example: One of the biggest film of year half girlfriend will finish in similar range to one the smallest film of the year Hindi medium! Size really does not matter in the end.

A. Very few small films are working. We have a Pink and Neerja last year, but both of them maxed out below 70 crore – even with excellent word-of-mouth. The all-India net collections was less than a Marathi film like Sairat. So even the ‘strong performance’ of these films is limited to metro cities, more than 95% of the audience is not even watching these films.  Which was the last ‘small’ film that went on to become a blockbuster? We’d have to go back to ‘Tanu Weds Manu Returns’ and apart from that no small film has even crossed the 100 crore mark. Also, the success-ratio of these small films is less than 1%. Almost all films are flops or disasters, and those that work are mostly social media and mainstream media driven films. For example, a Pink worked big time at the box office but a lesser known film like ‘Angry Indian Goddesses’ which had a very similar story and treatment – wasn’t watched by anyone, even though it was released before Pink. So films like ‘Hindi Medium’ are lottery. When things fall in place, they work. Otherwise, people may not even be aware it has released.

Q. What is the Worldwide collection of DANGAL & BAHUBALI 2 till 27 may ..

A. Bahubali 2 has collected around 1575 crore worldwide, Dangal is 1645 crore including collections from China and Taiwan.

Q. Is Abhishek Bachchan an underrated actor? I know he has a lot of flops but he had also given good performance in Guru and Yuva?

A. Abhishek’s problem is, he has never found acceptance when carrying a film in commercial roles. Yuva flopped at the box office and Guru just about managed a decent box office performance – which is probably equivalent to a 70-80 crore grosser today.

Q. What is the prospects of Toilet Ek Prem Katha in terms of box office?? Any internal report regarding that movie.

A. Reliable sources have said, the story of Toilet Ek Prem Katha is very good. But it isn’t a commercial film that would take a initial. It will be content-driven. The target will be matching upto the SRK starrer after the first extended weekend.

Q. What is the perception of Tubelight as now Baahubali2 seems to have taken the rug out of the box office matrix with it’s insane collections. Will Tubelight be compared to it or Dangal?

A. Every big film that releases from here on.. will be compared to ‘Bahubali 2 Hindi’. The pressure will be on the Khans to match upto the box office performance of Bahubali 2 – if not lifetime, atleast match the opening of the film

Q. Please give some valid reasons for the debacle of srk’s fan.The movie is critically acclaimed and first weekend is also great start than what’s wrong happened after that which leads to outright rejection of such a brilliant film with top notch performances with content fails big time at the box office?

A. Only a small section of the audience found the film to be ‘brilliant’. But a vast majority did not like it. If a big film of a superstar is good and has found acceptance, there is no way it can trend the way FAN did. The trailer was good, the reviews were good.. but audience rejected the film.

Q. Why earlier blockbusters like HAHK had 7.39cr footfalls inspite of having so much less screens in those days but today even the highest grossers like dangal finds it difficult to reach even 4cr footfalls even though number screens have increased exponentially in past 23 years since HAHK, so practically footfalls should be double atleast as compared to those days. Then why is this difference?

A. We’ve answered this question in detail in previous QnAs. The main reasons are exponential increase in the number of available entertainment options (television, internet etc), increase in ticket prices and easy access to pirated content.

Q. Do you think The big clash of Ring vs Tepk will be averted?? There’s news that akki want a solo release?? Is it true??

A. We haven’t heard anything about Toilet Ek Prem Katha being postponed to a different date. It’s confirmed for Independence Day weekend.

Q. Ranbir Kapoor or Ranveer Singh, Who is more versatile in acting?

A. Ranbir Kapoor.

Q. How has the buzz been for Jagga Jasoos after the poster? Are people liking it?

A. Mixed response both to the trailer and the poster.  It will get a initial, but the costs are on the higher side.. so recovery will depend on content.

Q. Is Padmavati releasing this year? All of them seem to be doing everything else but shooting most of the time.

A. They are currently shooting for the film. Officially, it’s still scheduled to release in November.

Q. Is it a wise decision by Dutt to avert clash with Tiger Zinda Hai given the fact that both Xmas and New Year Holiday fall on Monday?

A. Two big films should never be clashing at the box office, especially a film like Dutt biopic – which is expected be a classic. A good film can work during any weekend, like Bahubali 2 has shown. It’s better to pick a normal month, like April or May for example, and take advantage of the dullish period when there aren’t too many big films. This gives the film open weeks at the box office, a lot of breathing space to grow,  sustain and perform. A massive film like Tiger Zinda Hai would’ve cut into the business of the film, especially at mass centres. Getting a wide enough release and enough shows at multiplexes would’ve also been a problem. And finally, it’s impossible to take on Salman Khan at the moment. He’s too big across the country. So it is a wise and sensible decision.

Q. According to your sources, Has Dangal surpassed Bahubali 2 lifetime or not. As per official figures Dangal still behind by some crores?

A. Dangal is the highest worldwide grosser of all time.

Q. Golmaal 4 prediction 190 cr what’s the basis for your prediction? Not that I have any doubt on Ajay devgan stardom but dont you think Secret superstar will dent Golmaal 4 lifetime collection?

A. Golmaal 3 released in 2010 and collected more than 100 crore at the box office. It was one of the first few films to cross 100. The fourth film is coming after 7 years and people like the franchise. It’ll take a big start and even though Secret Superstar is releasing, it’s likely to be a word-of-mouth film (i.e slow start with the film growing from there depending on content). A 200-crore total is not a big deal for big films today. If Golmaal Again is entertaining, it should cross 200 by the end of its run.

Q. Did half girlfriend perform better at single screens than multiplexes?what is more important-make an out and out massy film(Wanted) or a multiplex-oriented film(hindi medium)?

A. Yes, Half Girlfriend performed better in the core Hindi belt, but failed to do well at metro cities and multiplex-dominated areas. It was because the film itself wasn’t exceptionally good and the audience had other choices (Bahubali 2, Hindi Medium and Sachin this week). Striking the right balance is the key, but it’s very difficult to achieve. It’s something that Aamir and Salman have been doing so well and that has enabled them to get those big grossers. What works for them is a combination of universal content along with star power. Not every film can have that.

Q. Do you think Indian critics influence the so called intelligent audience to stop watching masala movies with are the reason why this days movies are flopping.

A. A good film can’t be stopped, irrespective of the kind of reviews it gets. But when films are thrashed across all television channels and internet, it does affect the business of films at bigger centres. Half Girlfriend is an example of media reviews affecting the film at bigger centres.

Q. How much excited you are about Tubelight? As compared to Salman Khan’s other Eid releases. ..regular Indiciner from Pakistan, I hope you will answer this time..

A. Thank you for visiting. The trailer of the film has received a good response. It’s difficult to compare this film with other Eid releases of Salman, because all those films were out and out commercial entertainers with action, romance and humour. Tubelight seems like a different film and may be a little unconventional or unexciting for the masses – atleast initially before the word-of-mouth takes over. It’ll be interesting to see upto what extent the Salman Khan factor can negate these factors. If Tubelight takes a record-breaking opening, then it would only mean he’s become bigger than the film.