Which movie has the higher buzz – Dilwale or Bajirao Mastani?

Q. Which movie has higher buzz after the trailer and song launch – Bajirao Mastani or Dilwale? – Bhupendra Sharma

A. The theatrical trailer of ‘Bajirao Mastani’ has significantly increased the buzz around the film, but ‘Dilwale’ continues to be way ahead of its competition. SRK has signed PVR to distribute the film and this is being seen as a masterstroke, a move that could squeeze the last breath out of ‘Bajirao Mastani’. With nearly 500 screens, PVR is the largest multiplex chain in India and if they, as exhibitors, give a massive release for ‘Dilwale’, then ‘Bajirao Mastani’ will be affected big time.

Like it or not, SRK is smarter and a step ahead of the rest. Even if it’s at the very last moment, he knows how to win these key battles for supremacy. More so when the film is produced under his banner. He went all out against Saawariya in 2007 and then pulled out a last-minute victory against Balaji Motion Pictures when ‘Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai Dobara’ was set to clash against ‘Chennai Express’. He’s a smart businessman and most of them who decided to take him on, have failed. Unless ‘Dilwale’ turns out to be a poorly made film, he should win this battle too. Eid 2016 and ‘Sultan’ will be his real test.

Q. What impact do you think the Intolerance statements by SRK and Aamir will have on the box-office of Dilwale. After Aamir’s statement I read some Whatsapp messages of people boycotting SRK’s and Aamir’s films. Dangal is still 1 year to go but with less than 1 month left for Dilwale, how big can the impact be? (question asked by a lot of people)

A. People have short memories, so Aamir’s Dangal won’t be affected. When it comes to ‘Dilwale’, there could be an impact on collections, but it would be difficult to put that in numbers. In a way, there is no such thing as negative publicity. The #AppWapsi campaign on Twitter and Facebook, where people posted requests to uninstall Snapdeal app. The result was, Snapdeal got plenty of publicity and sympathy, which eventually resulted in an increase in number of app installs. Its Google Play Store ranking shot up. So while we cannot give a clear answer on this, the negative impact is unlikely to be more than 5%.

Q. Can I know that if a film manages to collect good money in overseas, but failed to recover even budget in India, then what will be the verdict of that film?

A. If domestic distributors don’t recover their investment, a film is a failure, irrespective of how well it performs in the overseas markets. Apart from rare cases like My Name Is Khan, most films that do well overseas also perform well in India. Even for films that are extraordinary outside India, the share from the overseas business is not more than 50% of domestic share.

Part 1: How has Tamasha performed in overseas markets?