STAR POWER: What is Super Stardom? (Part 1)

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A balcony ticket that used to cost Rs 50, has now been replaced by a ‘Platinum’ ticket costing no less than Rs 500.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

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.

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212 Comments

  • what is time period for calculating superstardom? i feel 3-5 years because it is not good if we call somebody superstar after one movie.

  • wth??
    half article…was expecting u will have a conclusion.
    now have to wait…plz indicine umm eagerly waiting foh the main article.

  • footfalls of opening day also should add because if any movie do better in multiplex collect more but footfalls is better option for judging craze of actor in mass and class.

  • Very nice article from indicine.Keep it up.
    But tbh you can calculate using any formula, deep down everybody knows Megastardom means The Salman Khan.

  • Happiest Day of my life. Seeing The Salman Khan in real life. So handsomeeee.And the mass hysteria! OMG!!
    Sooraj Pancholi is good looking too.

  • Wow Man! Loved reading it…He must be quite a dedicated Boxoffice follower.
    Anyway,
    I am agree with the basic formula that he has come up with and i m looking forward to the 2nd article!

    But how will one decide what amount to deduct in the form of X Factor?? This is what I am looking forward to..
    nice read! Thumbs up

  • Very Intelligent and useful article @indicine..
    looking forward for Part 2.
    there won’t be fan war in this site any more.

  • You missed one of the most important factor that is Production Value.
    For example just remove all the mentioned factors from Jai ho and Hny but still you can’t compare them because one film is made with 3rd class production value and the other is having biggest production value for any film released in 2014.

  • According to my point of view of 1st day X- Factor
    1) Lead Actor (Ex- Srk,Salman,Aamir And Hritik)

    2) Release Date (Eid,Diwali,Xmas)

    3) Director (Kjo,Aditya,Hirani,Rohit)

    And For Long running with extraordinary Box office collection X – Factor

    1) Lead Actor (Srk,Salman,Aamir And Hritik)

    2) Story (Emotions,Romance,Comedy)

    3) Release Date ( Eid,Diwali,Xmas and extra holidays)

    4) Director (Hirani,Rohit Shetty,KJo,Aditya Chopra)

    5) Banner (Yrf,Dharma,Vvc,Red Chillies)

    And last but important Songs,Co actor, Action, Item Songs,are not so important for a movie for long lasting.

  • To all Akshay fans. (Sorry babaji thallu…vaadha na nibahsakti isiliye…hop u understand). Back to basics… personally I have no grudges with akshay. The reason I always speak with @babaji freely is cos he too very well know I respect Akshay alot why not? I don’t care if I see Akki name above ajay tomorrow because this is just an article on opening day not career highlights.
    This is a very nice piece of article from @indicine. Let’s learn from our senior compatriots the 3 khans. Non of any of their fan just jumped in an attacked either a srk aamir or Salman today without mentioning their favourite actors name for once in any of their long comments. Reason? Maturity! Yes they have internal fan war but come all of them know they belong to the class A list. Did anyone just jump and started showing mere frustration with any of them taking half a page? No! Had one did that it would show immaturity. Am a girl is just that I love mixing up with people here and contributing. I have lots of friends here. Even the @sunny dosent even know that some good comments of his I pass a like remarks. But I just don’t understand the grudge with Ajay. So @babaji and d rest of the men of akki club. Majboori tha that’s why if not why not no one can deny his stardom but I use points based on that boy he brought. Any offence in bringing him down am sorry but no regrets if that comment was posted again.y’all have a splendid weekend and pls there’s a small 4 year old girl from nairobi that has a whole in her heart. Pls take her to be that small girl in kick and please usko dua meh yaad rakhna. Thanks again. If the good news is out I will be d first to post it out her name is deborah. Masalam.

  • How to judge the stardom?? One more method:::—- Practically Impossible though!!

    Make a same film with all SRK,aamir,akki,hrithik,salman,ajay with the same director,same heroine,same banner and release them on the same no. of screens,i.e 6 same film(obviously just with diff actors) in different versions arriving together!
    Evaluate the collections…
    Stardom,Judged ;)

  • Untill and unless u don’t become a household name u can’t be called a superstar

    Some time ago u said varun is bigger star than akki
    To me akki is way bigger than any star otha than khans and roshan

    A guy who is popular among gals and is charming is often referred as srk
    Guy with huge biceps is salman
    Gud luking one is hrithik
    Frnd who can climb a tree is akshay
    Jiski satakgyi woh singham i mean ajay
    Aamir also has many popular roles lyk pk

    Varun rk and others hav a real long way to achieve this

    Boxoffice is sumthing different
    Tom cruise is not a very huge b.o star
    But still he is a very big superstar even jackkie chan is same

    This is what i feel about stardom

  • I laughed a lot when Ajay fan said Ajay has bigger hit ,
    Singham returns

    OK lets check

    Rowdy Rathore – 2400 screens , without any holiday ..collection 135

    Singham returns – 3600 screens , independence day , sequel factor ..collection 140 crs …!

    Even with independence day and sequel factor, far more screens …Ajay fails and their idiots supporters calls him bigger then most favourite superstar of India akshay Kumar …!

    Biggest victory for Ajay fans is that Ajay has been compared with superstar like Akshay Kumar

  • Good one Indicine !!!!

    Salman has more advantages than Srk & Aamir by this module. My analysis :

    * Salman last 5 movies :

    BB, Kick, Jai Ho, Dabangg 2 & ETT !!!!!!

    * BB :

    Un favoring : New production house SKF n Rockline Venkatesh, Average Music, Good director but not as Big as Hirani or Adi or Kjo

    Favoring : Eid + Kareena + Universal genre + Gap of 1 year from his last release

    BB = 1 + Salman (unfavoring factors – favoring factors) + star power

    * Kick

    Unfavoring : New Director + Genre (repeated as it is a Remake + heist (Dhoom Franchise)) + C category heroine + Less than 1 year from last release Jai Ho = 4

    Favoring : Eid + Production value + Hit music = 3

    Kick = 2 + Salman

    * Jai Ho

    Unfavoring : Poor director + poor production value + new heroine + poor music + non festive release (lack of holidays as Republic Day 2014 was on a Sunday) = 5

    Favoring = Remake + Gap of more than 1 year from last release Dabangg 2 = 2

    Jai Ho = 3 + Salman

    * Dabangg 2

    Unfavoring : New director + Average music + B category heroine + average production value = 4

    Favoring : Christmas release + Franchise = 2

    Dabangg 2 = 2 + Salman

    * ETT

    Unfavoring : Not a Remake (Spy Action thriller) + Average director (Kabir was not as big as he is after BB he had directed only John & Arshad Warsi before ETT) = 2

    Favoring : Eid (Independence Day) + Top heroine + Top production house (YRF) + Hit music = 4

    ETT = -2 + Salman

    Total 8-2 = 6 + Salman

    Note : The total is about unfavoring factors means the higher the total the bigger is responsibility of Lead star to bring audience (in this case Salman).

    Will post for Aamir & Srk in a while !!!!!!

  • @aisha iqbal …unfortunately if this is the case then why indicine says akshay is bigger thaN ajay devgn…(also in rankings)….and in 1 article you said ajay is better than akki in action(????)…and you also said something about 1 on 1 fight (if it happens),you should know akshay is black belt in martial arts…and he gives his kicks like slap kick,round kick,drop and his favourite flying kick then ajay will fly back in toonpur…you wont know about these kicks since you are fan of sadakchap action of ajay…

  • Asli baat kiya kro @double face DOCTOR
    U r talking about too old things, …! R u old ??????
    & if u follow box office India then pls visit the collections of singham , Bol bachan nd Son of sardar on that site …they r not 100 cr movies .
    So on wht basis u hve said in past that he hve 5 100 cr movies …!
    He hve only 2 100 crs ..ryte ??
    Now on which statement u will stick to ?
    Don’t be a double face

    U hve trapped yourself in ur own game .

    Nd u always point out small- small things like he bought first cycle, he won 2 kela awards, he bought first anaconda etc etc. he Iz a small star that’s y ?

    talk about big things like fan following , earnings, popularity in media & public , glamour,total lifetime collections etc etc .
    Nd Ajay Iz not even close 2 akshay in these things.

    Ajay started his career in same year with Akshay nd he haven’t cross even 2000 cr lifetime while akshay 2500 plus …!
    Nobody talks about Ajay …
    Media always said that bollywood is ruled by khans,Kumar’s nd kapur’s …!

    Maybe Ajay Iz bigger then Akshay in ur single mental hospital BT in India nd other countries. He Iz not even close 2 akshay,s stardom …! Keep this thing in ur mind always if u really hve mind …!

    ????

  • This article is absolute brilliance . Such articles should be published quite often . Many factors play a important role in the success of a movie . But the fact is if the movie is a Hit then most of the credit goes to the Actor or Actress . But if the movie is a flop then the blame is given to the director . I will definitely wait for your rankings . I have a interesting suggestion i feel the Biggest Superstar is who can make a unfavourable movie successful . So in this regard i feel Aamir and Hrithik both are on No. 1 Spots . For Example – Aamir did Lagaan in 2001 which was a Sports Drama and clashed with Gadar and was the 3rd Highest Grosser of 2001 and also got a Oscar Nomination . Nobody was ready to do this movie but Aamir did it and rest is history . In 2007 he did TZP which clashed with Welcome in Christmas and was the 4th Highest Grosser of 2007 and was a Superhit . The topic of the movie was Dyslexia . Now coming to HR he did KMG which was the 1st Sci-Fi of Bollywood . At that time he was going through the worst phase in his career but it was a Blockbuster and was the Highest Grosser of 2003 . KMG gave way to Krrish, Drona, Ra.One and Krrish 3 . In 2008 he did JA which was a Hit in India and Blockbuster Overseas . It was the 5th Highest Grosser of 2008 . It is the only successful Period movie in the last 2 decades . Asoka and Veer were flops . Apart from the above movies Aamir has done DCH, RDB and Taalash . HR has done Krrish, ZNMD and Krrish 3 . So both of them have found success in unconventional movies and subjects and that makes both of them versatile . Overall a brilliant article and a great job by Archit Mishra well done and keep up the good work !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • If star power count then Srk.

    Is undesputed King of Bollywood ..

    Too much crazy fans behind him in india and all over world .. actually despite of good content and positive whoom his films do well so no one can deni dat ..he is real super stardum star..

  • now we are waiting for next article just like baahubali2- katappa ne baahubali ko kyon maara vs salman ne srk se kitna lead kiya.

  • Very nice written article, waiting for next one, with these criteria Salman would be winner, Srk also can as he has varied generation also. Aamir has less film so release of gap factor and Raju hirani can go against him.
    But I don’t agree that after weekend star power not worked especially at current time, for example movies like PK, BB and CE can’t bring more people in theatre after the weekend if they not starred Aamir,Salman or srk. People still choose Superstar with content to follow, many good films come with good face value but they are far behind than HGOTY film of that year. Yes for a negative wom Star power work more in weekend. But I don’t think any method or calculation can justify everyone different aspect about these superstardom term. Let’s see what is in store in coming article. Though very innovative. Deserves kudos.

  • I still didn’t believe opening day is determining d star power. All those big stars will not get big opening without big budget, big promotion, big screens figures, n so on.

    Its challenge let one of them comes to small budget non promotion small counting screens n open with 20+cr …

  • As already here it was mentioned, an important role is played by ticket price. In the USSR, the popularity of the film was judged not by how much he earned, but by how many spectators attended film.

    The price of the ticket in a multiplex cinema and a simple – very different, but the person is one. Sometimes, 3-5 people from one cinema hall are the share of one person from a multiplex.
    I make the offer:
    Consider not the money (how much earned the movie for the first day), and how many spectators attended on the film!

    This is the true test of popularity!

  • @haroon1986 get a life kid. Aamir is much bigger megastar than srk and Salman combined. Aamir is biggest megastar and srk and Salman are only superstars. Dont compare Aamir to anyone at all.

  • The biggest megastar whose name is enough to pull huge crowds in India as well as overseas is non other than one and only aamir khan. No one can come close to this one and only megastar.

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