Can ‘Khiladi 786’ outdo ‘Talaash’ in final box office numbers?

First part of the weekly special ‘Ask Joginder’. Film critic and trade analyst Joginder Tuteja answers 5 questions from Indicine readers.

Do you see audience fatigue kicking in? Would it not be difficult for the audience to turn out in huge numbers for ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’, ‘Son Of Sardaar’, ‘Talaash’, ‘Khiladi 786’ and ‘Dabangg 2’ given they release so close to each other? – Taha

• Excess of entertainment is never bad, especially in the last quarter of the year when there are festivities and celebrations all around. Moreover, when the films are indeed entertaining, audience don’t mind stepping in theatres week after week. It has been proven a number of times. So yes, each of the aforementioned films is guaranteed to take very big opening at the box office.

Can ‘Special Chabbis’ cross 100 crores and regain Akshay Kumar’s spot in the big league and win him a Best Actor award since it is a drama based on real life heist? – Amar Talla

• Popular award and real life drama don’t really have a correlation. Also, in any case, Akshay Kumar doesn’t make films for fetching awards; they are an added bonus. He doesn’t have to ‘regain’ spot in the big league as he is already there. As for ‘Special Chabbis’ crossing the 100 crore mark, it would be redundant by the time of film’s release since Bollywood would have already seen five more films entering the club – ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’, ‘Son Of Sardaar’, ‘Talaash’, ‘Khiladi 786’ and ‘Dabangg 2’. The stakes would be even higher.

Why is Shahid kapoor so obsessed with his physique and bodybuilding? I never read about Ranbir, Ranveer, Imran, Emraan or Arjun doing some body building or making six-packs, but I am reading news about Shahid’s bodybuilding for various roles. Do you feel that he’s trying a bit too hard and often falling flat on his face? Do you think he is trying to emulate Aamir Khan who is so far ahead of him in every sense? Why can’t he simply concentrate on character of the role rather than physique? – Asim

• Hmmpph, too many questions! To structure this a little better, to begin with nothing that Shahid is currently doing suggests that he is trying to go an Aamir way. As for him focusing on his physique then well, something has to be fed to audience when an actor is waiting for a right project to start. After ‘Mausam’ and ‘Teri Meri Kahaani’, no news would have been bad news. As for concentrating on his character, he is an able actor. It is a matter of picking a right script and this is the reason why there was a long wait before ‘Phata Poster Nikla Hero’ and ‘Namak’ were announced, both of which are looking good on paper.

What is the maximum business a film can do (in present conditions) having full star power, excellent response and hit music? – ARQAM

• This is a very hypothetical question as so many factors go into making a film successful. If star-power and music were the only criteria then we would have had far bigger number of successes! Also, by ‘excellent response’ I presume that you mean response towards the First Look. However, to still answer your question, taking into other considerations a holiday period as well as solo release along with aforementioned factors, it is possible for a film to fetch 80 crores 3 day weekend just in India.

How much can ‘Talaash’ fetch at the Box Office as just a week later ‘Khiladi 786’ is coming which has a brilliant response and is creating a great buzz. Can ‘Khiladi 786’ outdo ‘Talaash’ in final numbers? – Abhishek

• ‘Talaash’ would be arriving more than two weeks after ‘Son of Sardaar’ and ‘Jab Tak Jai Jaan’ which means audience would be waiting to catch a flick by then. Moreover this is Aamir’s first commercial release in three years. While the opening would be humungous, it would further enjoy great run till ‘Dabangg 2’ release. To enjoy three weeks of run with only one film (Khiladi 786) as competition in the times when two biggies (JTJH v/s SOS) are clashing with each other is any day a better preposition. To answer your question, both films would open well and the final total would be based on the actual content, not reputations.

Joginder Tuteja tweets @tutejajoginder

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