The Biggest Blockbuster in Indian Cinema?

Q. Biggest Blockbuster In Indian Cinema and Biggest Disaster? – IMAM

A. The biggest money spinner in the history of Indian Cinema is PK. The worldwide gross of the film is more than Rs 750 crore, it’s also the only film to gross more than Rs 300 crore both in India and the overseas markets (including collections from China). In terms of footfalls, Sholay remains the biggest blockbuster. The biggest disaster is Bombay Velvet, the film lost 80-90 crore of its investment. Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Broken Horses also lost more than 95% of its investment.

Q. Can Brothers cross Rs 200 crore with solid word-of-mouth? – Saksham Sobti

A. Positive word-of-mouth doesn’t always translate into outstanding collections at the box office. The genre is also important. For a film to do 200 crore, it has to open very well and the family audience has to come out in big numbers too. If a film is too violent or has blood, then families might stay away. The opening numbers will be the key for Brothers. Most Akshay Kumar films in recent times, haven’t opened well (including Holiday, Baby, Gabbar Is Back). So if the opening is less than Rs 17-18 crore on Day 1, it would need a hugely positive response for the film to do business of 200 crore in the long run. Here’s one stat – Only one film has opened to collections of less than Rs 25 crore on Day 1 and managed to cross the 200 crore mark. That film was 3 Idiots, with inarguably the best word-of-mouth in the last 10 years. All others films that did business of 200 crore, have collected more than 25 crore on opening day.

Q. When will Hrithik’s ’DHEERE DHEERE SE’ music video will be out?- SMK

A. It’ll be out on the day when ‘Aashiqui’ (1990 film) celebrates 25 years i.e August 17 2015.

Q. Don’t you think consistency scores and matters more? SRK is the most consistent actor or may be we can say that no one is more consistent than SRK as he has not done badly from his debut. while others are always compared to SRK at different times. Still every time SRK has to proof his supremacy. Don’t you think this is injustice with SRK? – Gary

A. We have said it before, we say it again. Shah Rukh Khan has nothing left to prove. He has achieved absolutely everything that a Hindi movie star can achieve in this industry. If he quits acting today, it wouldn’t make a difference to his overall standing. Comparisons will continue, because they are made based on the current standing in the industry. Since Shahrukh has been consistent for 20 plus years, he is expected to sustain his stardom at the same level, more so because his contemporaries, who are of his age, are still at the top of their game.

Q. Who is the bigger star: Ranbir Kapoor, Varun Dhawan or Shahid Kapoor? – Noor Ali

A. It’s between Ranbir Kapoor and Varun Dhawan. Ranbir is still the more popular actor at urban centres. Two of his films have opened at 20 crore or more on the opening day, something which only the Khans, Hrithik and Ajay have achieved. Tamasha is also expected to open very well at the box office.

Q. Any upcoming superhero movie in Bollywood? – Prince

A. Ranbir Kapoor is doing a superhero film, directed by Ayan Mukerji, also starring Alia Bhatt in the lead. The film was first announced for Christmas 2016, but will release in 2017.

Q. Which is the most progressive circuit both in INDIA and OVERSEAS for bollywood movie which was at very low level few years ago but now emerging very rapidly. Are number of screens in INDIA are increasing with years? If yes then how much per year? – Sweetheart

A. Overseas business of Hindi films has shown staggering year-on-year growth in the last few years, but the business is restricted to only a few major films. An Indian film earning more than 100 crore just from one overseas country (PK – China) was unthinkable. 3 Idiots also performed very well, which has helped the business of other Aamir Khan films and will help the business of Hindi films in general. In India, yes, new multiplexes are coming up all over the country. The average ticket price is rising too. To give you an example, US has more than 38,000 screens and China has about half that number. India, in comparison, has about 2100 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. Is Akshay nullifying the impact of his good films (e.g. Baby, Brothers) by following them up with below par films which Singh Is Bling looks to be? – Raj

A. While it’s too early to call ‘Brothers’ a good film without even watching it, it’s an interesting question. There was a time when Akshay tried his hand at comedy and it worked big time. He followed it up with a lot of comedy films, most of them worked and then when those comedy films stopped working, he decided to do massy-entertainers which were working at the box office. Rowdy Rathore worked, but films that followed like Khiladi 786, Boss etc, didn’t. Now, he’s trying to mix things up and do films that belong to different genres and also working with different directors. The challenge for him will be to bring back the multiplex audience, especially in major cities, to watch his films again. That’s something even Salman Khan was struggling with when Wanted and Veer released in theatres. For the multiplex audience, a film needs to be well-packaged and the content has to be appealing. Brothers looks like a film that has the potential to open well at multiplexes, but Singh Is Bling, don’t think it’ll open well in cities even if Brothers does well.

Q. Dilwale has 5 open weeks till the arrival of Airlift on 22nd Jan. So don’t you think it can easily topple the record of PK with word-of-mouth same as Chennai Express or better? – Ranger

A. The key will be word-of-mouth. All those open weeks will mean nothing, if the film trends like Happy New Year. Also, if the clash does take place, Dilwale will lose a minimum of 20-25% of its business in Week 1, because of the reduced number of shows. If ‘Dilwale’ gets a solo release and the word-of-mouth is positive, then sky is the limit because Christmas is the best festive period to release films. The only reason why Bajrangi Bhaijaan couldn’t get closer to the record of PK is because of fewer holidays.

Q. Isn’t Hrithik a bigger superstar than Khans as he has biggest collections even when his movies open on non festivals and his movies often breaks the opening day records and he is a decade younger to them – Abhishek

A. When it comes to the opening of his films, Hrithik has been one of the most consistent stars in the industry. Almost all his films, even in the worst case scenario (Guzaarish, Na Tum Jaano Na Hum), have opened to a decent response. Kites took a record-breaking start. So it all boils down to getting the right release period and good content. Bang Bang had the potential to collect atleast 50% more than it did, if it was a good film and released solo.

Q. You repeatedly answer who is the most consistent actor but you ignore is SRK losing his stardom. Why? – Ultron

A. We have answered this question several times too. When an actor is still capable of giving highest opening day and highest opening weekend, the question of losing stardom doesn’t even arise. It’s all about good content for a film to be a major grosser. If Bajrangi Bhaijaan wasn’t liked by the audience, it wouldn’t have done 300 crore, Salman Khan or not. Same applies for PK. A superstar can only ensure a record-breaking initial, something that Shahrukh has done with most of his films in recent times.

Q. Which are the most promising south directors in bollywood (made successful transition from south to bollywood or can make transition)? Best writers currently in bollywood? Please answer these and try to answer upto 20 questions in this session. – IamBollywoodFan

A. SS Rajamouli and Shankar are two of the most talented and successful directors from South. In fact, Rajamouli is in huge demand after the success of Baahubali. Rajkumar Hirani and Abhijat Joshi are two of the most successful writers in the industry. Imtiaz Ali, Jaideep Sahni (Chak De, Khosla Ka Ghosla), Neeraj Pandey, Juhi Chaturvedi (Vicky Donor, Piku, Madras Cafe).. there are so many good and talented writers.

Q. Will Salman achieve that place what Amitabh did in 70s? 

A. Amitabh Bachchan was one-man-industry. He had no competition when he was at the top of his super stardom. Salman has Shahrukh and Aamir.. so the accolades will be shared, even though Salman’s record of 7 blockbusters in just 5 years will be hard to beat for anyone!

Q. How do actors earn money? Recently Akshay Kumar, Salman & BigB were among top 10 highest earning actors in the world. So what exactly are the sources of their income? – JP

A. Salary or profit-share from films and brand endorsements are the main sources of income for actors. Some actors perform at private functions, attend events, openings etc.

Q. My question is what is the budget of #Brothers including everything and how much it needs to be a hit atleast? Because there are few guys who are spreading negative rumours that it needs 200 cr. To recover only in my whole life I don’t know which Bollywood picture needs minimum 200 cr. Just to recover cost. plz tell everyone the reality. Thanks hope you guys will notice. - Aarush kaushik

A. Brothers has to cross the 100 crore mark in India to break even. It’s an expensive film, but a lot of it will be recovered from satellite, music and various other rights. It’s also expected to take a decent opening in the overseas markets.

End of the LIVE Question and Answer session.