Reasons why Jai Ho didn’t take a record-breaking start

Salman Khan’s Jai Ho has opened well at the domestic box office, but the start was way below trade expectations. After Dhoom 3’s record-breaking opening in December, most in the trade were expecting a 25 crore+ opening as the film released on a record number of screens in India. However, the official figures for Friday is 17.55 crore on a total capacity of more than 40 crore.

When every Salman Khan film since Dabangg (2010) has opened well, why hasn’t Jai Ho – with good reviews and reports – taken a flying start? Below are a few reasons why we think the film disappointed on day 1.

Salman Khan with Sajid Ali and Wajid Ali

1. Unexciting Promos: There is a saying in the industry that the audience decides whether to watch a film or not, depending on how they like the first trailer. Jai Ho was expected to be different from other Salman films, but the trailer gave the audience an impression that it is a typical run-of-the-mill action-masala film. Also there were way too many mass-pleasing action scenes, due to which the family audience probably decided to give the film a skip.

2. Music: Sajid-Wajid failed big time with the music of Jai Ho. While the album had a couple of good songs, none of those went on to top charts. In the recent past, every Salman Khan film has had a hugely popular song or two  - Dabangg (Munni Badnaam, Chori Kiya Re Jiya.. others), Ready (Character Dheela, Dhinka Chika), Bodyguard (Teri Meri, I love you), Ek Tha Tiger (Mashallah, Saiyaara), Dabangg 2 (Fevicol Se).

3. Excess of action masala films: It’s a catch-22 situation for Salman. If he does ‘classy’ films, his hardcore fan-base in the interiors of India might walk out of the theatre disappointed. At the same time, he is well aware of the fact that the ‘masala entertainer’ genre has been done to death. Just before the release of Akshay Kumar’s Boss, Salman had said “This space (masala films) will die totally. I think this was a beautiful format when we had films like Wanted, Dabangg etc. Now everybody has overdone it so much that it might die away. These kinds of films are popular but the creativity is becoming less… It seems the same stuff is happening. I don’t know which genre will click now”. However, what has come as a shocker is the opening of Jai Ho in Salman strongholds like Rajasthan, C.P, C.I and UP. The film was expected to shatter records in these circuits, but failed to do so on Friday. Its time to mix it up a bit and signing films with directors like Shimit Amin is a step in the right direction for Salman.

4. Mediocre Production values: Multiplex tickets cost a bomb. Unless a film has high-production values and has that big-film feel like Dhoom 3 or Krrish 3 or Ek Tha Tiger, the audience will think twice before spending Rs 2,000 for a movie outing with family. The release of Dhoom 3 a month before Jai Ho could also have had an impact on business.

5. Leading lady: Both the media and the audience have been way too harsh on Daisy Shah. Having said that, she doesn’t really belong to that group of quintessential Bollywood leading ladies.

6. Release Date: Each of Salman’s last 5 blockbusters have released during the holiday season (Eid / Christmas) or just after the conclusion of IPL (Ready). Jai Ho didn’t get a perfect release date. In fact, with Republic Day falling on January 26th, it was a normal release for the film.

7. Over-dependence on Salman: “The audience only come to watch Salman” – both the trade and probably Salman himself took this statement way too seriously. You can’t blame them either as each of his last 5 films have not only been hits, but major blockbusters. That, however, might have back-fired big time with Jai Ho – the film was a south Indian remake, directed by his brother (just like his last film Dabangg 2), music composed by Sajid-Wajid, new leading lady – the film had absolutely nothing to excite the audience apart from the presence of Salman. When the superstar is over-exposed on television and provides enough and more entertainment with his antics on the small screen.. the audience need a little more incentive to pay those hard-earned bucks on his movies.