Why Chennai Express is Shahrukh Khan’s best bet: Box office

After coming off a career high in 2007 when both Chak De India and Om Shanti Om (2nd Highest Grosser Ever at that time) became Blockbusters, a string of unlucky events, incidents and controversies have affected every Shahrukh Khan release since 2008. Whatever be the reason, fact is Shahrukh has not had the highest grosser of the year since 2007 owing to a lot of factors. Let’s discuss the unfortunate, unlucky and sometimes unnecessary incidents that have rocked SRK films and then we’d notice how Chennai Express seems to be devoid of all those problems.

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi: This film was supposed to release on 12th of December and a major marketing campaign was planned for two weeks leading up to the release. But the unfortunate and ghastly events of 26/11 which killed 166 people happened. Owing to this, YRF and Shahrukh put off all the promotional activities related to the film. Anushka Sharma was introduced to the media formally only after the film released. Also, Rab Ne.. had SRK in the look of a common man which the nation wasn’t used to. Even though the film did a business of 84 cr, it was clearly overshadowed by the marketing blitzkrieg of Ghajini and Aamir Khan. As a result, Ghajini (which occupied the crucial Christmas release date) became the first Hindi film ever to cross the 100 cr mark. It can be said that if RNBDJ was promoted like a normal film and enjoyed a holiday release, it COULD have been the first film to do 100 crore nett business in India.

Chennai Express

My Name Is Khan: The film dealt with a very non-commercial subject and did not have an universally appealing subject, which meant the box office prospects of the film in India were limited. Apart from this, there was huge uncertainty about the release of the film because Bal Thackerey and Shiv Sena opposed the release of the film and massive protests were held in many places. SRK’s only fault was saying that all cricketers, including Pakistanis, should be allowed to play in the IPL. People were afraid to go the theatres in its first weekend fearing protests and demonstrations which limited the box office collections in India. However, My Name Is Khan did scorching business overseas and became the 2nd highest grossing film of all time outside India.

Ra One: Shahrukh decided to spend almost all of his hard-earned fortune to fulfil his dream of making a futuristic Superhero film. The only problem was that Superhero films have never been a popular genre in India (Krrish is the only film which has worked so far). SRK decided to carry out the biggest marketing campaign in Hindi film history which ended up doing the film more harm than good. The marketing overkill lead to a Ra.One fatigue even before the release of the film and there was immense negativity all over even before the film was revealed. As a result, the audience rejected Ra.One (amusingly it registered the highest single day collections ever on its second day of release). The film had potential to break 3 Idiots’ record of 202cr but the negativity (both pre and post-release) bunged it from doing so.

Don 2: The bad-will earned from Ra.One badly hurt the chances of Don 2 because it released less than 2 months after Ra.One. Don 2 did not have any commercial hit music nor did it have a commercial storyline or treatment. It was a bland film which was modeled on Hollywood action thrillers. The length and pace of the film also hurt the film badly. Also, the romance track between SRK and Priyanka Chopra was very heretical. A film like Don 2 did not have any chances at the mass theatres but it still went on to earn a hefty 106cr back in 2011. Experienced trade analysts believe that if Don 2 was released before Ra.One, it would have earned a lot more money than it eventually did.

Jab Tak Hai Jaan: This was Shahrukh’s most ill-fated film yet. 3 weeks before the release of the film, the director of the film Yash Chopra passed away. It clashed with a massy action comedy film like Son of Sardaar and was 3 hours long. It released in only about 2600 screens (in comparison, Dabangg 2 released in 3600 screens in India). The Shiv Sena scion Bal Thackerey died and there was a Maharashtra Bandh which led to theatres being closed in Maharashtra on the first Saturday and Sunday of JTHJ’s run (Maharashtra circle was doing the best business for the fulm). The clash and the bad publicity leading up to the clash hurt the film negatively. And on top of that, the music by AR Rahman left a sizeable portion of the audience disappointed. Also the chemistry between SRK and Katrina Kaif wasn’t appreciated by the general audience.

The negative factors, therefore, which have affected SRK’s last 5 films are: 26/11 terrorist attacks, no promotion, too much promotion, poor content, massive protests by a political party against SRK, negative publicity, clash, non-holiday release dates, non-massy films, average soundtracks. Chennai Express does not have any of those problems affecting it right now, except probably a mediocre music album.

Chennai Express seems to be ticking all the right boxes which should give it a very favourable release: a holiday release, no clash, a huge number of screens (3500-3600), the length is rumoured to be around only 135-145 minutes, there have been no major controversies surrounding the film so far, the treatment of the film is massy, the film is directed by the Rohit Shetty whose last 3 films have all crossed 100cr, it stars the current audience favourite Deepika Padukone opposite SRK, it is co-produced and distributed by arguably the No.1 production house in India – UTV. And oh, the last big film (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag) to release would already have been 4 weeks old when Chennai Express releases.

The favourable release conditions would ensure that Chennai Express will take a bumber opening, but at the end of the day the film has to meet audience expectations and it has to entertain everyone to fulfil its true potential. Even if a film releases on a holiday and has 8 open weeks, has super-hit music and is massy it is NOT guaranteed to earn big money if the appreciation is lacking. If it manages to appease the audiences, then more than a few records will be broken this Eid. If it doesn’t there will be serious question marks over Shahrukh Khan’s super-stardom!

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112 Comments

  • @Ishurather:

    Can Salman make a movie like MNIK and guarnatee that it will cross 80crs?
    Salman khan would not take any such risks!
    Anyway be it Salman or SRK both entertain us, both rocks
    So don’t always compare between mixed fried rice and biriyani.
    MIND iT!!

  • @Indicine He rejected Good Directors but Even Aamir , Salman , Akshay everybody did that should not be an Excuse this is bad judgement.Ashutosh Gowariker was not his friend when he did Swades that 2 after Lagaan..Shimit Amin was not his friend ( Chak de India) ..Farhan Akhtar is a super director..Plus as far as money is concerned i rate Karan Johar as the finest producer & powerhouse so MNIK should have grossed a 100cr in India so in short Srk is no longer what he was after Lagaan & Dil Chahta or actually till 1998 he had golden period with Multiplex era his stardom has taken a backseat

  • @jordan we will be disapeared next week,
    The king khan will rock. Boxoffice pridiction of chennai express
    1st day 35cr
    2nd day 25cr
    3rd day 30cr
    weekned 90cr plus
    4th day 22cr
    5th day 20cr
    6th day 18cr
    6days week 150cr plus
    15th aug 20cr plus
    lifetime 205cr min
    240cr max
    oversease 85cr, 14.5$ mm.

  • my prediction for ce is =
    first day =35c+6c paid shows (if film is going 4000 print with high ticket price us we are hearing 40 percent high)

    sec day=30c

    3 day= 32c(sunday)

    4 day=16c

    5day= 14c

    6day=12 if this is a srk type great film

    7day=14c(because ak is come but holiday 15 aug

    8day=12c

    9day=10c

    10day=14c(because sunday)

    after ten day total ce collection =195 crores in india
    11 day =7c
    12day=6c
    13day=10c(holiday is rb)
    14day=5c
    15day=4c
    16day=5c
    17day=7c(sunday)
    18day=3c
    19day=2c
    20day=5c(holiday)

    after 20 day total ce collection =249 crores in india

    and rest of all day ce donig 11 crores or more so total ce collection is =260 crores in india

    total overseas collection =80 crores( because we all know this is mass film but it is going record print and it is srk film )

    total ce collection= 340 crores

    total gross =450 crores ( this ce collection we estimate after once upon a time in mumbaai d)

    last but not least this would be happen when this film is great like we expect to srk.

    thanks

  • CE will do around 170 cr…mark my words…Srk is of course down in recent years..But not that much..

  • “Chennai express made with strong content thats
    why ce will do paid preview like 3i, ghajni and
    bmb.”

    even kites had paid previews

  • Mr. Jorden ..Why are u saying unargued statements…RNBDJ (86 crores ) crossed Dhoom 2 collection(80 crores)…If the collection is everything then Deelip Kumar is not top actor in Indian Cinema .In view of acting SRK is alongwith Deelip kumar n in view of stardom He is with Big B. It is bcoz of his consistency performance n success of his movies. If ur argued things are true then Dhemandra might biggest star due to Sholey playing leading role n Big B playing supporting role. Rishi Kapoor’s Bobby which was biggest hit in 70’s before sholey but after this movie Rishi kapoor was struggling in his cariers. No. of Hits n performances are major factors for any actors to be good actor or star.

  • @anukur kites is not made strong content thats why its openning day col less than houseful. But don’t worry dear just 5days left, everything will clear.

  • remember:

    Before the release of MNIK, it was touted to break the records of 3 Idiots, released near Valentine’s period. Deadly combination of KJo & SRK (according to me the film was very good). It did 70-80 crores business in India.

    Before Ra.One, it was touted to break all the existing records before the 1st week. It had biggest marketing campaign in India till now (according to me the film was average fare, quality wise). It collected around 120 crores.

    Don 2, was touted to be best classic affair. It had good combination of SRK and Farhan Akhtar, releasing on christmas weekend (according to me the film was above average to good). It caoolected around 105-110 crores.

    JTHH, was publicised as last film of evergreen Yash Ji and SRK, releasing in Diwali, music by Rahman Sir, lyrics by Gulzaar Saab, beauty quotient Katrina & Anushka, etc. Collected around Rs. 120 crores. (quality wise I think for Yash Ji it is the classic case of Don Bradman, being out at 0 on on last innings, for me it was an average affair).

    Now, the talk is Chennai Express to break all the records created by SRK himself and that of his colleagues, which I do feel impossible, given current scenario, promos, music, open week, age factor of SRK (e.g. college going audience will like Ranbir over all other actors), etc.

    I bet at best case scenario, it will collect 120 crores to 135 crores.

  • @ Indicine Team: don’t know who is the writer of ur comment posted ”(August 4, 2013
    at 11:17 am)” and why he is eagerly defending srk.

    or indicine is he one of a member of Admin det.?…..

  • You can judge the quality of an actor is by how well non-hindi or non-indian audience likes the movies of the actor!!!!!. Who dare to even compare with SRK for the past 20 years in overseas market!!!!!. SRK is an ICON and a global star!!! In some countries nobody even knows who is aamir or salman khan forget about rest of the actors.

    Aamir’s solo release cant even cross 100 crores..and his movies first day collection is hardly 13crores (even for 3idiots). It means audience doesnt like aamir but his movies..maximum credit should be go to story writers, screenplay but the poor media praises aamir. Salman khan is called lallu khan because he cannot act only showoff his body.

    SRK is the only actor who has got many awards..this is the fact! I am working in dubai and the movie chennai express is releasing on 8th aug itself and already booked 2 shows for the first day!!! eagarly waiting for this movie. I am the biggest fan of SRK!!!

  • Rab ne Bana di jodi was the last film which I liked , but questioning his stardom is extremely foolish.
    He has been here giving superhit movies for 2 decades. People who are jealous and want to prove that someone is better than him , are the ones who doubt about stardom of SRK. It is not that if his films don’t work now , then he will not be superstar. Amitabh Bachhan and Rajesh Khanna are still superstars.
    Truly speaking his movies after Rab ne weren’t impressive and they collected little more than 100 crore.
    Chennai may or may not break any records but SRK will remain superstar and the thing is every sun sets , so it is not only srk , sallu and aamir also come in same category may be 2 or 3 years later or after.
    But I think still 5 yrs remains for all the three actor to hold the flag of bollywood as main lead.
    Now I think Chennai express can break every record that any sallu or aamir film holds provided it should be a good and entertaining movie. Few People are very eager to prove a film that is not even released a flop , but the news is haters might loose this time.

  • @sumit suman……why give wrong info …omg did 82 cr india and 100 worldwide….this is not my word akshay told 2days ago in utvstars for promotion in outmd…he himself surprise when anchor manish told him omg did 100 cr bussiness..he clearly say ..he is the producer…omg did 82 cr bussiness 100 worldwide..plz if you dont believe watch this complete interview with manish

  • According to me CE collection if WOM is good ,will be as follows:-
    1) fri-33cr
    2) sat-25cr
    3)sun-30cr
    4)mon-22cr
    5)tue-19cr
    6)wed-18cr
    7)thu-14cr (ouatimd nd diwali)
    8)fri-13cr
    9)sat-13cr
    10)sun-15cr
    11)mon-7cr
    12)tue-5cr
    13)wed-3cr
    12)thu-3cr
    13)fri-2cr
    14)sat-3cr
    15)sun-2cr

    in total-227cr nd if bad reviews then minimum it will collect around 175-180cr

  • @indicine ..i wanted to know why producer like sos jthj singham give false info about their film collection to get a tag of 100cr?????????????

  • Lol you guys are fighting about srk’s film collections. He wont even think about it. He has already got enough money. He is a successful businessman. He has a great fan following. Has a lovely wife and three great children. He has come from no where to being one of the most self made success person of the entire world. He owns a bugatti veyron. He has a billion dollar house. He owns a cricket team. He has the best vfx studio in india. He has brought a lot of new technology to india. Hense he has done a lot of good deed towards indian cinema. He doesnt need another crore to make him successfull. Cause he is already successful in all the ways possible. Salman may be successful in film collections. But he is nowhere close to being the person srk is. So believe it or not chennai is already a blockbuster for us srk fans even it flops (which it wont). So chill

  • @nilish i am from kolkata and every college goers like srk, salman and amir than any young actor, so plz just wait for few days you will realise the power of king khan. You may visit the videowhen king come to promote ce in kolkata, you should realise the craze of sharukh. 4 days left for ce.

  • Haha sach then why Indian government has not given him padma bhushan? Why dont we see him doing satyameva jayate? Why does he always in tax trouble? Why does he love paki cricketers? why does he abuse and fight with people , security guards, directors ..why does he belive in making camps?

  • @indicine team pls pulbish article on ouatimd.bcoz it needs promotion.ce obviously going to be a blockbuster with 175 crore collection.

  • @khan…no i don’t think so…he was a superstar,he is a superstar nd he will b a superstar…he is undisputed king of bollywood…if C.E will b flop then also audience will go with that charm only for his next movies too..public can never ignore nor hate him for his bad movies…and i think today’s generation INDIAN’s have no sense of watching movies….films like BG,Dabngg2,ETT etc etc are becoming hit now a day’s so we can judge the standard of our today’s audiences …they r to small to judge KING.!!

  • excuses, excuses & excuses this is the new identity of srkian right now, there is every chance for ce to do well but if is not than again we have excuses from srkians, i don’t know who is the writer of this article which want to save srk from his failure by taking use of unfavourable condition, tell me one thing y these condition not been discussing before srk every release at that time srkians and trade saying it has every chance to cross 3 idiots collection but after that srk is still unable to collect 120 cr, one fan said srk is along with Dilip kumar in acting what a shit, kahan raja bhoj aur kaha gangu teli…….. and srkians no one saying srk will collect 150+,200+ etc etc its you fools who start predicting that it will collect huge money and when it performed low you should agree of below performance of your srk as you are the one who predicted so high boxoffice returns from his movies and the best thing about srk he hugely promoted his bad films so he can recover cost from theatrical, but at the last who seen the movie get head ache from his pathetic performance now a days………

  • @suman as simple your fav srk movie officials giving false info like jthj collected rs 121 cr from india while actual figure is 101-102 cr, but in your opinion if srk doing these than its right but when others do it become sin hahaha…..

  • ce collection my prdiction:::::p

    1) fri-45cr
    2) sat-65cr
    3)sun-30cr
    4)mon-25cr
    5)tue-20cr
    6)wed-18cr
    7)thu-17cr (ouatimd nd diwali)
    8)fri-15cr
    9)sat-15cr
    10)sun-20cr
    11)mon-13cr
    12)tue-8cr
    13)wed-9cr
    12)thu-10cr
    13)fri-6cr
    14)sat-11cr
    15)sun-16cr

    in total 343crore….
    break all record….

  • Minimum 300 crores…because of more screens and hiked prices and SRK’s presense is enough for the audience to flock to cinemas…..This is the first time SRK is getting solo release without much hicups….BAL THAKEY TRIED HIS BEST TO STOP KING KHAN’S MY NAME IS KHAN but was unsuccessful and he did success during Jab tak hai jaan by not giving two crucial day (first sat and first sunday collections) by dieying exactly during the release. This time king khan will shower his magic and 100 crores will be crossed easily in 3-4 days…and it will eat into major chunk of akshay kumar movie…Most audience still wanted to see Imran hashmi as don and not akshay kumar..also the pathetic actor of bollywood -Imran khan in the lead villian role against akshay is enough for us to guess that the movie will be flop…its a sensible move by the team to postpone to aug 15th atleast to get some 50 odd crores in its entire lifetime..but I guess king khan’s magic will overshadow this movie…and people will prefer chennai express on Aug 15th also…

    You see the confidence level of chennai express team, they even willingly trying to lose 20 odd crores by not releasing on thrusday…..and the other hand once upon a time team postponed the movie to 15th aug by just seeing the trailer of king khan’s chennai express!! this shows their confidence level.

  • right now indicine says that there is no any problem with chennai express so it will do a very good business. But if the movie will get only around 100cr net then they will again make excuse that
    Genre was south indain ppl does not like it
    Rohit srk combo not work
    CE get onlt six open days
    Ouatimd madrass cafe and satyagrah affected its collection etc

  • @suman

    yes bhai I was wrong about OMG, actually it was rumor that OMG got 100cr in India, but it got 82cr in India and 100cr worldwide..
    .
    it’s true that srk is out of top ten.. and Salman have five(5) movies in top 10 list of bollywood…
    .
    Top successful bollywood movies in India
    till date..
    .
    .
    1) 3 Idiots (2009) — 202Cr
    .
    2) Ek Tha Tiger (2012) — 186Cr
    .
    3) Yeh Jawani Hai Diwani (2013) — 180Cr
    .
    4) Dabangg2 (2012) — 150Cr
    .
    5) Bodyguard (2011) — 141Cr
    .
    6) Dabangg (2010) — 140Cr
    .
    7) Rowdy Rathore (2012) — 134Cr
    .
    8) Ready (2011) — 122Cr
    .
    9) Houseful2 (2012) — 121Cr
    .
    10) Agnipath (2012) — 120Cr
    .
    11) Ra.one (2011) — 114Cr
    .
    12) Gajini (2008) — 114Cr
    .
    13) Golmal3 (2010) — 107Cr
    .
    14) Don2 (2011) — 106Cr
    .
    15) Barfi (2012) — 105Cr
    .
    16) Bhag Milkha Bhag (2013) — 104Cr
    .
    17) Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012) — 103Cr
    .
    18) Bol Bachchan (2012) — 99Cr
    .
    19) Singham (2011) — 98Cr
    .
    20) Talaash (2012) — 94Cr
    .
    21) Raajniti (2010) — 93Cr
    .
    22) Race2 (2013) — 93Cr
    .
    23) Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011) — 90Cr
    .
    24) Son of Sardar (2012) — 89Cr
    .
    25) Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008) — 87Cr
    .
    26) OMG (2012) — 82Cr
    .
    27) Doom2 (2006) — 81Cr
    .
    28) Dirty Picture (2011) — 80Cr
    .
    29) Om Shanti Om (2007) — 80Cr
    .
    30) Gadar (2001) — 75Cr
    .
    .
    This is the current scenario of Bollywood movies.. now you can see the Star power of Aamir Salman Akshay Hritik Ranbir Shahrukh..: )

  • Who is saying srk movies collected 100 crs. His only movie that collected 100 cr (106 cr to be exact) in India is JTHJ.

    Rest all crossed the figure only because of overseas collection, and these collection are not official figures as it cannot be cross-checked.

    Hence, stop saying srk’s films collected 100 cr. If that is the case, then ETT should have already gone past 200 cr.

    Fanboys are going hysteric here.

    Accepted srk still has some hold overseas, but it is going down as Salman and Ranbir have proved in their recent films that made decent collection overseas, particularly Ranbir.

    Also, srk’s movie collection’s biggest percentage is from Indian audience, and with overseas not going great like before, the collection has to come from India.

    This movie is not only his best bet, but a whole lot of questions on his stardom rests on it.

  • hey jordan
    hw can u say all rabne ,jthj,ra-1.don 2 and mnik are all failiers

    ra one depite bad wom collected more than 100cr
    don 2 also more than 100 cr
    jthj depite its flaws collected-122 cr
    mnik -one of the bhiggets hits in overseas,and we all know films like mnik,swads are not very gud grossers in india

    and all these films are big hits bcause thay just have shahrukh khan

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