Why is Aamir Khan not promoting Talaash?

Film critic and trade analysts Joginder Tuteja answers 5 questions from Indicine readers. More questions like “Will Anushka Sharma be the top actress after JTHJ and Peekay”, “Top contender to win Best Actor award this year”, “Response to the Dabangg 2 promo” will be answered tomorrow.

1. Why is Aamir not promoting ‘Talaash’? Is it because it’s an offbeat film and Aamir wants to underplay the promotion in order to manage audience expectations? Or is ‘Talaash’ really a commercial film and is Aamir not promoting it because of the rift with Reema? – Lisa

• Answer to your last question is a definite ‘no’. Also, ‘Talaash’ is NOT an offbeat film. Yes, it is quite apparent that promotion of ‘Talaash’ is not inline with that of other Aamir starrers or even those coming from his contemporaries. However, I strongly believe that there is a strategy behind this as well. Wait till 18th November once the euphoria around ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ and ‘Son of Sardaar’ would have reasonably settled down and the picture is clearer. ‘Talaash’ is expected to pick on momentum after that.

2. Can we say that higher screens count is directly related to higher opening like ‘Ra. One’ but ‘content’ is essential for good lifetime collections, just like ‘3 Idiots’? – Shams Haider

• Bang on. What else explains the fantastic collections of ‘OMG – Oh My God’, ‘Kahaani’, ‘English Vinglish’ and ‘Vicky Donor’, each of which had opened to an average to below average note?

3. ‘Khiladi 786’ looks like a ‘masala’ entertainer but since it is being released in a period where all three Khans are releasing their films, can it gross 100 crores amount? Especially at that time when Aamir’s movie would be in its second week? – Rajnish

• If a film is appreciated, competition – especially from the week before or after – doesn’t really matter. Speed to reach the 100 crore mark may be affected but not the prospects. Last year, six films had released in June and July out of which two did more than 100 crores (Ready, Singham), one came almost close (Zindagi Naa Milegi Dobara), one struck a half century (Delhi Belly) while a couple were almost there (Murder 2, Double Dhamaal). That’s a good enough testimonial to demonstrate the fact that a good film has ample scope to perform. As for ‘Khiladi 786’, it immensely benefits from a free two week run till ‘Dabangg 2’.

4. I have few observations and then I will form my question. These are all related to JTHJ. As it is the most viewed Hindi trailer on YouTube as well as most liked, Yash Chopra & Shahrukh Khan coming together after 8 long years, Shahrukh Khan & Katrina Kaif paired opposite each other for the very first time, Yash Chopra & AR Rahman coming together for the first time and also the death of Yash Chopra (though sounds a bit harsh) – do all these factors give JTHJ an edge over ‘Son of Sardaar’? Also will it give Shahrukh Khan that mass acceptance in India which has been lacking for the past couple of years (because in the overseas markets he is anyways going to do very well? – Dhiraj

• Let’s take just one reference point – ‘Shaan’. The film came after the biggest film ever made, ‘Sholay’. It had Ramesh Sippy and Amitabh Bachchan coming together, had an added cast of Shashi Kapoor, Rakhee, Shatrughan Sinha and Parveen Babi, R.D. Burman had composed some chartbuster songs while production values were huge. Everyone knows what happened to it. Past reputations matter but only for first 2-3 days. Post that it is the film that does the talking. More recently it was the case of ‘All The Best’ v/s ‘Blue’. Whether it is JTJH or SOS, it’s the better film that will score. If both are good, then sky is the limit.

5. What are your expectations from ‘Knight and Day’ remake keeping in mind the fact that it was not a commercial hit in Hollywood? – Rahul

• Very good expectations since the film is just tailor-made for Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif. They are just the perfect fit for films that require a stylish treatment with fabulous looking protagonists. Also, director Sidharth Anand has an eye for visuals and for his first ever hardcore action thriller, he is going all out to give the film a cutting edge treatment.

Joginder Tuteja tweets @tutejajoginder

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