STAR POWER
PART 1 – What is SUPER STARDOM?
(Article by Archit Mishra)
“Change is inevitable, growth is intentional.”
And Indian cinema has witnessed this intentional growth quite significantly over the last decade.
A balcony ticket that used to cost Rs 50, has now been replaced by a ‘Platinum’ ticket costing no less than Rs 500. A 10-rupee Samosa, now comes in a combo offer of Rs 250. The star who dominated the 90s, when a movie could be watched at a price of less than Rs 15, continue to rule the roost, but watching their films in theatre today is significantly more expensive today. In fact, quality entertainment with family and friends at a cinema hall is getting more expensive with each passing day. Booming multiplexes, war-like promotional / advertising strategies, internet, social media and cable TV, all of these factors have their bit of contribution in this growth.
This, in turn, has led to creating lot of awareness and curiosity amongst the movie going public. Today, the audience is cognizant enough to judge as to what they are going to spend 1000 bucks for over the weekend. ‘So and so film has collected 100 crore in 3 days’, ‘My superstar has broken your superstar’s record’, ‘I predict that this Diwali release shall collect 50 crores on one day’, you will find a movie critic and trade analyst in every household of India. Be it Tea-break conversation in offices, argument at Pan-Shops or News Channel debates, the Box office collections, Movie Reviews and Bollywood Fans are everywhere. Just like Cricketers, Bollywood superstars are no less than role models for the gen-next and some of them are even god-worshipped by their fanatic fans.
What is STAR-POWER or SUPER-STARDOM?
‘A’ is the mightiest star of Bollywood as he has been the most consistent over past few decades, ‘B’ is the true synonym to Superstardom as he commands the craziest fan following of all time, and ‘C’ risks his stardom with most releases every year so he is the best, this list shall go on and so can the unending debate without understanding the crux of box office model. Unfortunately, time and again, virtuous fan-following has got converted into ugly fan wars.
With this write up, our aim is to solve this enigma of Superstardom. Most of us don’t understand that there are numerous reasons other than just the lead actor which contribute to the opening day collections of a film. Genre, banner, song promos and so on. Well, according to me, if you remove all these factors, what’s left is star power.
So, the theory behind our blog is pretty simple. In layman terms, if the same story, release date, banner, co-stars, music, etc. is given to all the actors, what probably would be their respective ‘Opening Day collections’ or how much footfalls can a particular star guarantee on his might alone in the theatres? This is what I call as Superstar Power.
X-Factor
After researching the recent Bollywood trends, we’ve identified 8 most vital X-Factors that influence the first day collections of films other than the lead actor. These X- factors are listed in the below diagram.
Factors other than Star Power that can influence opening day collections of films
RULES
There are three straight-forward rules to calculate star power.
CONCEPT: Our idea for calculating the Star Power is actually to neutralize the effect of all the X-Factors. So, if an actor has an advantage in terms of any of the X-Factors, then we would subtract an amount from his opening collection based upon pre-defined criteria and vice versa. For example, if Aamir Khan has Rajkumar Hirani calling the shots behind the camera (for PK) and Salman has Sohail Khan (for Jai Ho), then Aamir has an advantage and we would subtract the Director X-Factor from PK’s opening. On the other hand Salman has a disadvantage, so he deserves addition in Director X-Factor.
FORMULA: We’ll take the sum of all the X-Factors and then simply subtract that from the First Day collections. Thus, the formula for Star Power can be depicted as below:
STAR POWER = [OPENING DAY COLLECTIONS] minus [Sum of X-Factors]
AVERAGE: Moreover, if an actor has multiple releases in a year, then we will calculate the Star Power figure corresponding to each film and then simply take an average.
NOTE:
This model is unique and one of its kind. Its study and analysis is not stagnant but a continuous process and thus we’ll be upgrading it time and again with enhanced options as per the latest trade trends.
We’re considering only the First Day collections for judging Star Power (and not First Weekend or Lifetime collections) because it is quite evident that movie reviews and word-of-mouth publicity starts affecting the film from the second day itself.
So, who is the biggest Super Star of India?
How can we calculate the above mentioned X-Factors?
What is the actual impact of X-Factors on Star Power?
Well, to get the answer to all these questions, you will have to wait for our next article in this series. The hysteria of crazy Star Power is arriving soon. Until then keep surfing.
We would love to know what you feel about our article. Also tell us what are your criterias to judge Star Power? Please do share your feedback and suggestions in the comments section below.
Very interesting article!!.. like it!! .. about stardom.. a very simple example : brothers – national holiday, kjo banner , agneepath fame director, akshay n sid , lot of hype, millions of trailer views: opening 15 cr , BB : working day,ramadan, pre eid, bahubali effect, non masala salman film, no typical salman chartbuster songs, the good part only kabir khan who again without salman is only as good as phantom or newyork: opening 27 cr!! .. reason superstardom of salman khan!!
interesting one! in my opinion superstardom has been acheived by rajesh khanna, amitabh bachchan, salman khan and shahrukh khan. likes of kumar gaurav and hrithik roshan achieved it too but could not hold it after their first movie.
What kind of superstar Ajay devgan Iz ??
A superstar that was kicked out from all the limelight by a new comer in rajneeti …!
A superstar that has done many short side hero roles in 2000-2010 in many movies due 2 No stardom …!
A superstar that doesn’t hve brand endorsements apart from ikka dukka …!
A superstar that was overshadowed by an actor like emran hashmi in ouatimd nd dil toh bacha h ji …!
Apart from Karina , no other big A Lister actress Has worked with Ajay .. y ? Because he Iz a small star with bad looks ? …!
A superstar that has given most number of disasters …!
A superstar who has made a national award winning movie like drishym Flop …!
A superstar whose wife Iz more popular & more successful then him ..that’s really shameful 4 him …!
Can we call Ajay A superstar ??
Serious question Indicine ??
Even saif hve more brand endorsements then Ajay …brand value also shows the Stardom of an actor …!
Just to conclude my point i would say, giving same story to all guys and checking first day collections cant work. Eg. If Ajay does Bajrangi Bhaijaan. How will this work? Salman is perfect for BB. The role was written and shaped for him. Your model is perfect theoretically but not practical enough.
OUTIMD failed because the trailer showed the audience how Akshay and Imraan were completely miscasted! Wont that hamper first day?
If so the top beneficiaries will be Salman and Ajay. Salman even a new director and with poor negativity always. . Ajay hardly have chartbuster songs , buzz he is a poor promoter. Franchise but he started them and the he produces his movies while rohit his groomed breed directs. Am more happy because its Mega Mega Khan that wil top.
it’s obvious the biggest are the 3 khans (with SRK having big openers in every type of film in last 10 years except CDI). But formula could be useful in seeing who is biggest from the rest or how much a film would collect if it didn’t have sequel or hit music benefits
this is the best article for calculate superstardom and salman is a top superstar by this method.
But why to include genre of the film ???
How can u say that particular gerne always work ??? I think Its only the trailer which could influence the opening collection not the genre .so remove the genre factor .
@indicine, biggest question is ” how to calculate definite figure for x factor? If you remove raju hirani as x factor from aamir khan’s opening collection..but what will be that figure-5cr, 10cr, 15cr ????
When it comes to stardom or star power than only 2 megastars come on this list. Aamir khan and Salman khan. Rest of the stars need heroines, big banners, bankable directors, commercial genre, big release period, etc etc. But aamir and Salman’s movies run only because of their presence.
@ Indicine- if any actor do multiple films then taking average of his films is bad thing because multiple release means less opening day. you should give extra points for multiple release than average.
Intersting..but indicine this is like teasing now cant wait for next article..
for me super stardom is equal to no formulas…but one and only mr salman khan
@Sunny chechi after a long time you made a sensible comment..they r the true superstars of india
@ indicine – how can we give a miss to promotion cost? you can substract collection for grand promoted movie like hny and add for less promoted movie like dlkh.
very difficult to quantify the x factors…..very very subjective….
anyway for me apart from star power, the biggest X factor is the GENRE of a film…..for example films like TZP, Chak De, Talaash, Tere Naam would never break opening box office records even when released on the biggest holiday of the year……
@ Indicine: Food for thought – Aamir had once pointed out that the best way of judging super stardom is to see how much business has an unsuccessful film of a star done…..that gives a true sense of stardom!!!
Lets take the example of PK
Agreed that Aamir benefited from a director like Raju Hirani but at the same time the promo of PK did not reveal anything about the film…..infact some people got an impression that it was almost like an off beat film……thus quantifying x factors is extremely tricky!
@ indicine – you cannot not include promo/first look/trailer of a film as an x factor…..infact it probably is the most important factor!
Opening collection should be TRADE FIGURE not producer figure…or else shahrukh and hrithik movies opening collection will not neutralize anything…
Real super stardom is what aamir khan is , without any major fan following this man creates records & breaks his own record each time. When people say he has worked with raju hirani so his films do well it is actually the other way round lets see what raju can do without aamir in his nxt film . People forget the first 100 cr film was ghajini in india which was not made by raju hirani . So guys just shut up & wait for dangal all hell will break loose.
And again u made a stupid comment regarding ajay..@sunny chechi..see i m also a big fan of akki but i respect ajay as well so dont disrespect anyone..please
@reader than what happened with Jai Ho ??????
Even Indicine include Jai Ho as example but you types of people never wants to understand the realty. They just sing their own song.
Very good analysis
So Me= PK Opening Day Collections – (Anushka (Raju+young popular beautiful heroine+Sanju+Sushant+Saurabh+X’mas+Nanga Poster+Content)
A is SRK, B is Salman and C is me, Dangal Nanga Pandu
Why no D for Duggu=Hrithik????
Is he not a superstar?
When C risks his star power , sometimes, the result is Mangal Pandey, Dhobighat and Backlash!!!
@Moviefan77 brothers dint release on a national holiday
Unconsciously @kiddo has named 1 factor that will favour Ajay. He has worked with no A list
actress. That’s a plus point. though still so dumb! Unconsciously he called superstar with ajays name 9 times. Unfortunately he said drishyam which is an above average movie with highest imdb record a flop. Unconsciously he made a mistake saying ajay played small role from 2000-2010. Unfortunately he ddnt give any source for hits and flops but I will give mine for anyone to check. Visit box office india and check their current actors hit counts. Ajay is directly behind Srk and Salman. He always played the lead except with Amitji in khakhee but stood toe to toe. Foolishly he said eemran overshadowed ajay in ouatimd forgetting it’s outim. Rushing to type but foolish.Unconsciously he said a 2time National award winner made a national award movie flop. Unfortunately he said kajol is bigger than ajay. Unfortunately he forgot Ajay in 90s gave top lead actresses like karishma raveena tabu sonali bendre ayesha jhulka their 1st mainstream hit. Unfortunately he forgot which actor prevented akshay to get his male best debut actor the same year they entered Bollywood. Unfortunately he forgot in today’s terms ajays 1st movie was a blockbuster/super hit!,.. unfortunately he forgot that it took akshay 10 movies to deliver a hit and that was even for multistarrer Mohra and yeh dilaghi…Unconsciously he forgot Ajay is
d current superstar to have a national and a film fare award along with Big B. Unknowingly he forgot Ajay is a reserve human and down to earth. What does he need endorsements for. Unfortunately he forgot Ajay opening weekend lifetime is way ahead of ??? It’s a shame to just jump into an actors profile that nobody even brought d topic. Meaning what? INFERIORITY COMPLEX and TOTAL FRUSTRATION WITH THE NAME AJAY DEVGN.
@indicine…. irrespective how or what criteria you use and judge. Am ok because I am not self centred or envious. The audience the fans here, u guys, upcoming movies and past records be it box office or movie awards are all in the reference Library of BOLLYWOOD to always check and either concur with or not. All real and true fans will always love and be with their superstar irrespective of any sort of article instead of jumping to your next house neighbour house to ask for dinner when dinner is already waiting for you in your home!! Peace?
its a race between salman and shahrukh. when it comes to superstardom then there’s only salman and shahrukh.
With a gud trailer+music and superman salman Prdp day 1=50
Fortunate for him I ddnt mention anything about 100 crores club or that 2013 ranveer opening day was higher than any of akkis highest grossing opening that year..neither did I say Arjun kapoor 2 movies were higher than akkis highest all in 2014. 2 states and gunday.
Then according to this formula. There are only two superstars ie Srk nd Salman. Amir is a great actor but not superstar with mad fan following.
i jst feel,..
indicine has taken a big step towards becoming best site for indian cinema…
i.think.u should promote it more nw.
love u all…