Category - Answers

Update 4PM: A delay of 15 minutes as we wait for the server to stabilise a bit. We have been received excess traffic is morning. Q. Do u think SRK can make a robust comeback and achieve the numero uno position in domestic market? If so what genre and which directors does he need to work with? – Pritampanda A. He has been in the industry for more than 20 years now. He knows the pulse of the audience and the market trends better than most in the industry. If you have been noticing, he has signed films with Maneesh Sharma and Rahul Dholakia. Both FAN and Raees aren’t those typical mindless entertainers, both have a story to tell. Moreover, he will be working with directors, who he hasn’t worked with in the past. A film with Gauri Shinde also starring Alia Bhatt. A rumoured film with Anand L Rai. There is a lot in the pipeline and each will be different. But to return to the numero uno position, he has to find scripts that balance between the masses and classes. By the way, his look from Guari Shindhe’s film has leaked onto the internet. We have attached it below, a separate article will follow. Q. As Airlift was a humongous success would Akshay Kumar get nominated in award shows this year? A. Long way to go for awards, we are only 2 months into the year and Akshay himself has 2 more confirmed releases. Q. Which film had the best word-of-mouth in this decade so far? – Jassi A. Bajrangi Bhaijaan. Q. Is it true that Sultan’s Teaser / Trailer will come with FAN? A. They haven’t officially announced it, but logic says it would. Both are YRF films and FAN will be watched by a lot of people, attaching the trailer will ensure that it gets a lot of eyeballs. Irony, Shah Rukh will be promoting a film that he will take on with Raees in less than 3 months. Q. Is there a proper update yet about ‘Bahubali – The conclusion’ release date as there are lot of ‘X’mas 2016 release’ thing doing rounds now? A. There hasn’t been an official confirmation. The only thing we know is that they are ahead of schedule. Q. What’s the release date of Kabali release date? A. Rajnikanth’s Kabali is scheduled to release in May and the teaser will be out in March. It was first scheduled to release with FAN in the second week of April, but has been postponed. If your question was about Hrithik’s Kaabil, then it releases on Republic Day (Jan 26) 2017. Q. Will Jagga Jasoos get shelved as it is continuously getting delayed? And if it releases this year when can it release? A. A lot of money has already been invested on Jagga Jasoos for it to be shelved. The question is no longer about release date, but when and how they will complete the shoot. Q. Our critics always criticise our own Bollywood commercial movies, but are always praising illogical and crap movies of Hollywood? Why? Riju Basu A. They consider themselves to be the intellectuals, the elite class. The atmosphere at press screenings is probably the worst and even if a film is good, preconceived notions make you dislike it. A bunch of these intellectuals gather and discuss how they are made to sit through such films on a weekly basis, even as they munch on free samosas and popcorns. It’s different when you’re watching a Anurag Kashyap or Dibaker Banerjee movie though – movies that the general audience don’t even want to watch in theatre. As for liking Hollywood films, we as a society have always looked up to and been influenced by the west, haven’t we? It’s the same with the English journalists and news channels too. They behave as if they are the most influential people in the country, but Hindi News channels get nearly 90x times more viewership than top English news channels. There is a big disconnect with the masses. Q. Pick according to acting talent Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Kangna Ranaut, Sonam Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Katrina Kaif, Kareena Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha? A. Difficult, but here’s our pick: Priyanka Chopra, Kangana Ranaut (terrific, but can’t be called the best because she can’t play conventional roles), Deepika Padukone, Kareena Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Sonakshi Sinha, Sonam Kapoor. Did we miss out on any other ‘actor’, don’t think so. She works hard, beautiful, but can’t act to save her life. All credit to Katrina for topping the industry. Q. PRDP 40 crore on Day 1, but Neerja + Dolly Ki Doli less than 10 crore. Happy New Year 44 crore on Day 1, but Piku + Finding Fanny less than 15 CR. My question is, what difference does the lead actress of a movie makes in the first day collection of a big movie of a big actor? A. Opening of a film depends on a lot of factors. Jai Ho 16 crore, Kick 27 crore, PRPD 41 crore. Every film had Salman, didn’t it? Talaash 13 crore, Dhoom 3 36 crore. Dhobi Ghat was 2.75 crore. All were Aamir Khan films. FAN won’t open as well as Dilwale, Don 2 didn’t open as well as Ra One. So it’s not just the actor’s presence, but the entire package that works. Only when a big superstar is put in a commercial film, that has good songs, a beautiful heroine, a bit of comedy and romance.. do films open well universally. If it’s a popular franchise, then it’s a huge advantage because even PK under the industry’s best director couldn’t match upto the collection of Dhoom 3 on Day 1. Both films had Aamir Khan, but Dhoom ensured 30% better opening. The exact percentage of an actresses value cannot be ascertained, but if you put Daisy Shah (with all due respect to her) in Kick, it wouldn’t have added the value that Jacqueline Fernandes did. The lead pair has to click, their pairing has to be pleasing to the eye. These things, like it or not, do make a big difference at smaller centres. Even runtime probably does, as there was a belief not too long ago, that very short film (less than 2 hours) was not considered ‘paisa vasool’ by single screen audience. Q. What do you think, will the intolerance comment affect ‘FAN’ and ‘RAEES’? A. There is unlikely to be cancellation of shows this time around. Red Chillies themselves have said both the centre and state governments were supportive during the release of Dilwale and eventually the film released all over. People who decide not to watch a film starring Shah Rukh, might not watch it. The impact of that on business is difficult to put in numbers. But as long as shows aren’t disrupted, there shouldn’t be a problem. Q. What is the box office potential for Captain America Civil War, Batman vs Superman: Dawn Of Justice in India.. After the spectacular performances of other Hollywood releases? Mayur A. Almost every big Hollywood release after Fast and Furious 7, but none have managed to surpass it. Avengers came the closest, but opening day was 10% lower than Furious 7. So it’s difficult to predict Hollywood films. Action / superhero is by far the most successful genre and Batman vs Superman trailers have received a good response, so it should take the best opening. Q. Now that Jagga Jasoos has been postponed, will Housefull 3 get solo release? A. Yes, it’s a solo release for Housefull 3. Post IPL period belongs to Akshay Kumar this year. Q. What’s your expectation for year-on-year growth in gross business as well as number of footfalls as this year almost every big actor is having releases? A. At the end of February last year, the total collections of all film releases was Rs 378 crore. So far this year, thanks to a big grosser like Airlift, the net collections is around 345 crore. This does not include Neerja and the other remaining releases this month. Neerja is expected to cross the 50 crore mark, so we are looking at a total of 430 crore plus if Tere Bin Laden 2 performs well. Business is up from last year, but we have to also remember that 2015 was a poor year for the industry. Q. Your LBO for both films of Tiger Shroff is above 50 crores? Does he have that potential and are those films hot in trade? A. The one factor that works in favour of Tiger Shroff is that he carries mass-appeal because of action. Heropanti did well at the box office and Baaghi under the same team (Shraddha is the addition), is fairly hot in the trade. 54 crore is on the higher side, but for all our ‘early predictions’ we assume the film will get a mixed to good response. Q. What’s the buzz for FAN after the song, will the trailer help gain more popularity? Aman Agar A. The way the song has been picturised and the energy that SRK has brought to it, has been liked. Music, we believe, could have been better. Reports for the theatrical trailer is fantastic, but we still believe it won’t be a huge opener. Unless the trailer gets a phenomenally good response, the opening should be under 20 crore and then depending on how the film is liked, it should sustain / grow over the weekend. Q. How many movies will be Hit, Super-Hit, Blockbuster & All Time Blockbuster in 2016 ? – Debraj Som A. We don’t have an astrologer in our team, sorry. But seriously, how do you expect us to give answers to such questions? Even after the release of Neerja, we cannot tell with certainty if it’ll be a blockbuster or not. Q. The song of Fan has generated very good interest among the people. Feels like SRK of 2000’s is back. My question is even if Fan is not a commercial masala film if the content is good doesnt it have chance to enter 300 crore. As of now all are positives for fan, (trailer,song,inside industry reports) – Vinshal A. There is no realistic chance of FAN doing 300 crore. Even 200 would be surprising. It’s become a trend to quote these unrealistically big numbers, but a film doing even 200 crore is a big deal.  No film that has released outside the festive weekends of Eid, Christmas and Diwali has even crossed 190. Q. I heard Bajirao Mastani is going to release in China on 6000 screens. Is it true? If so, when and what is the film’s potential there? Can it get at least 50 crores, or even challenge PK’s 100 crore record? – S A. Both Aamir and Rajkumar Hirani have a following in China. 3 Idiots was the first hit, Dhoom 3 did very well and PK was earth-shattering. No other film has even got a initial there. We would have to wait and see how the release goes, and if the Chinese audience like a film like Bajirao Mastani. The genre is untested and there is no face-value, hence it’s unpredictable. Q. Ghayal once again delayed for a month or more because sunny deol thought that vfx was not up to the mark and need to work more in it. but still in the movie it seemed immaturish. Do you think cartoonish climax was main reason for Ghayal to flop? A. All sorts of reasons were given for the delay, but Sunny later confirmed that he wanted to be 100% satisfied before releasing it.  VFX was not the reason why it did not perform well, the multiplex audience did not come to watch the film. Single-screen business alone is not enough to sustain films today, multiplex business is crucial. Q. Where can one find the Original DVDs of acclaimed and award winning films which have won National awards etc., like Court, The Good Road, Mani Kaul’s films? Do you have any idea about? A. It’s available on Amazon India. We have added links below. Court DVD The Good Road DVD Mani Kaul films Q. Did Mastizaade failure affect the Sunny Leone’s career? – Aadi A. Failures always affect careers, whether it’s top superstars or actors who are trying to make a mark in the industry. Erotic thriller / sex comedy were Sunny’s (not Deol) best bet, but the censor board is unwilling to pass movies with a lot of sexual content, so she has very few options left. Having said that, Aamir has said he would love to work with her, so who knows? Q. Why Airlift with the excellent word-of-mouth collected 125 crore in india and Jai Ho with negative word-of-mouth collected around 120 crore.. same as like Airlift? A. Salman is the top actor in the industry, so the footfalls even for his mediocre films will be higher than the rest. We cannot write off a film like Jai Ho calling it negative word-of-mouth, because it did perform fairly well at smaller centres. Word-of-mouth should not be confused with the perception created on the internet or social media websites. There is an audience at mass centres that watch and like films like Jai Ho, Himmatwala and Tevar. As for Airlift, it was a hugely successful film given its limited appeal. Like we have said before, it should probably be compared to a film like Talaash and not the more commercial entertainers. That ends the QnA session for today. Thank you for visiting.

More than 450 questions, so here we go.. Q. Why public response for Fitoor is so disastrous? A. It’s because the appeal of such films is niche. Even metro city audience aren’t too excited about watching arty films in theatre. They wait for critic or social media reviews to find out if it’s worth a watch. Unfortunately for Fitoor and the industry, the response to the film was very poor. It scored 2.3 on our critic review scale, when such films usually need to get better reviews than what Airlift got. Q. What will be the opening day collection of FAN? – Monu A. It would depend on several factors like release size, theatrical trailer, music etc. 20 crore plus opening will be considered excellent for a film like FAN. Our first FBO prediction will be out as soon as the trailer is out, so stay tuned for that. Q. Why the collection of Airlift is just 120 crore, with positive word of mouth, good review and more hype? A. The lifetime collections of Airlift is excellent (which is 125 crore and not 120 crore). It should be compared to other off-beat films like Talaash and not commercial films like Rowdy Rathore or Dilwale. It’s the genre that limited the box office prospects of the film. It has little or no appeal outside 25 odd cities. Q. Which hero till today has delivered the highest number of hits starting way back from Dilip Kumar or even before? A. Such questions need a more detailed analysis, something which we cannot do in live QnA’s. It should be Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar with 35 and Shah Rukh Khan with 32 successful films at the top of the list. SRK has the best success ratio as he has done fewer films than Salman. Akshay has done 100 plus films, compared to Salman’s 70 plus and SRK’s 55 plus. We need to analyse Amitabh Bachchan’s career for a more detailed answer. Q. When will Sultan’s teaser or trailer be released? A. The shoot is still in progress so it’s way too early to discuss the teaser / trailer release. Even the makers wouldn’t know the date as of now. The trailer might come out sometime in May. They might release a teaser earlier. Q. What is the total nett collections of Baahubali in India ? (All versions Hindi+Tamil+Telugu) What is the total Worldwide Collections of Baahubali? A. The domestic collections of Baahubali, according to the makers of the film, crossed the Rs 500 crore figure (gross). The worldwide gross is said to be in the Rs 610 crore range. Q. What do you think about Shahrukh Khan’s career in past 5 years. After My Name Is Khan his movies failed to achieve critical acclaim? – Rishabh A. Critical acclaim is not important. Very few films that are loved by the critics, go on to do well at the box office. What’s important is doing films that the audience like. And today, the audience wants a film that has a good story to tell and also has entertainment value. Q. In terms of fan base who is a bigger star among these.. Salman, SRK, Akshay, Aamir, Hrithik and Ajay? – Satyajit A. Salman and SRK are the top stars, as far as fan-following is concerned. Salman leads in India and SRK edges him out overseas. You can see from the craze that even their Bigg Boss appearance generates, or for that matter the craze around their birthdays both amongst the audience, fans that gather outside their house and the media coverage that it gets. Q. Who will be number one hero in next 5 years. When Khans will be not in contention as their age does not permit to be hero? A. Khans (with all due respect, does not include Zayed, Fardeen and co) have lasted way longer than they themselves would have hoped to. Salman and Aamir are probably at the peak of their popularity and could sustain their stardom for many more years. Rajnikanth is still the top star in the Tamil film industry, romances heroines almost a third his age (Amy Jackson is 24, Rajni is 65). As they get older, it’s all about spacing films out and finding suitable scripts. It’ll be interesting to see if they move on to work with the next generation of top female stars. As for who is the next big star.. it could be anyone. Ranveer are Varun are currently leading the race, but things could change with one or two flops, like it has with Ranbir. Becoming the top star in Bollywood and establishing your following is like running a marathon. It takes time, patience and a lot of hard work. Even Hrithik had to struggle after Kaho Naa.. Pyaar Hai. Salman has gone through low phases, even Aamir has. Akshay and Ajay didn’t have the following that they now have, back in the 90s. Q. Have no question to ask. Just wanted to compliment you on the excellent work that this site is doing on bollywood reporting. Your box office analysis on various films/stars makes intriguing reading. The high no of questions that get asked on AskIndicine are a testimony to your increasing popularity. If you guys can also get interviews of stars/directors wherein the questions will be asked by you, it would be great.This is certainly one of the best and trusted sites which I often visit to get all the information on movies/box office. Keep up the good work. A. First of all, thank you for visiting and reading. As for interviews, it can be done. But we do not like the whole process of handling egos, waiting for stars. They usually give interviews prior to the release of their films and they do not like talking about box office. Hundreds of sites publish interviews and if you read even some of them, most sentences are repeated. ‘He / she was amazing as a co-star, it was great working with’, ‘signed the movie for its story’, ‘blown away by the script’, ‘the director is a genius’, ‘it’s my co-star’s best performance’.  Hrithik said Katrina’s best performance was in Bang Bang. That says a lot, doesn’t it? Stars can’t be honest and frank in their interviews, so it’s pointless in a way. Having said that, what we would like to do is, take a list of questions from our readers and then get stars to answer them. Q. After blockbuster hit PRDP, are Sooraj Barjatya and Salman Khan teams up again for another project? A. The blockbuster part is not true and so are rumours of them coming together. There is a new website that is writing a lot of rubbish to garner publicity, most of what they are writing is baseless. Q. Who is the main lead in Robot 2.0? A. Same as Robot 1 / Endhiran. But Akshay has a meaty role to play, the makers have said the two characters are equally matched. Q. Why is their difference between Producers figure and Trade figure of a film collection and which one is accurate? A. Both are not 100% accurate. Q. Which is Best Year in SRK’s career according to you – 1993, 1995, 2004, 2007? A. 1995, one all-time blockbuster (DDLJ) and one blockbuster (Karan Arjun). Solo release-wise, 2007 because of Om Shanti Om and Chak De India. It was a great year simply because of the fact that one film was a acclaimed classic and the other became the top grosser of all time. Q. Yesterday, you said that Fitoor needs to collect 70-75 CR just to recover costs only.. My question is why these filmmakers spend so much on a film when they know that there is a very little chance of recovery. In today’s time when we see that every second film is failing, then why spending so much on a movie with no face value?  A. From the makers point of view, Abhishek Kapoor’s first two films were also niche, Rock On and Kai Po Che. But both did fairly well at the box office. When Fitoor was planned, Katrina was the top female star in the industry and Aditya Roy Kapur was coming after a big film like ‘Aashiqui 2’. So they probably thought the interesting pairing might work, along with Abhishek Kapoor as director. A lot also depends on the timing of release, because careers can change any Friday. Anurag Basu and Ranbir decided to produce Jagga Jasoos soon after the success of Barfi, look at where the film is now. It once had everything going for it, now almost nothing. Both the lead stars, who were back then one of the tops stars, are now going through the lowest phase in their respective careers. It’s easy to ridicule the makers with the benefit of hindsight, but no filmmaker, actor or producer sets out to do a film that they believe is certain to fail. Getting the economics right is also difficult, because every director has a certain vision for his films. Tamasha would have probably worked if it was not shot at a exotic foreign location. A film like Badlapur would fail if it was made on a budget of 35-40 crore. At the same time, if there is a compromise made on the budget and the product is not upto expectations scale and setting wise, it might again disappoint the audience and fail at the box office. Q. Why do you think Komal Nahta tweeted that Raees is being postponed? Was it a promotional gimmick ? Please share your thoughts – Aban A. We are not quite sure what happened there. From what we know, Komal and Ritesh are close, Komal does visit Excel office to watch promos, trailers etc and he gives his feedback prior to release and after release. So both the tweet and the denial did come as a surprise. Exact reason we do not know. To be very honest, we think we know the reason for the whole drama, but can’t reveal it on a public platform that’s read by many. Q. Kapoor and Sons Trailer Rating? A. 4 stars, loved it. Not many were eagerly waiting for the film, but after the trailer everything has changed. The film looks very promising now. Q. Why media is always biased towards SRK? – Yuvraj A. That’s like asking why our media is biased towards PM Modi. Anything that SRK says or does, is big news. People like reading about his films, his off-screen persona, everything combined generates extreme reactions. People wait to write him off, even when his films gross a massive 380 crore worldwide. His fans want him to succeed, there is another bunch who want to see him fail. This is not glorying SRK, but the truth. SRK related topics are interesting to read or talk about, whether you like him or not! So when a topic is interesting, media covers it. His PR is good too. Q. Can Robot 2.0 become the first 400 crore movie in India? A. Please do not ask us such questions, it’s impossible to answer. It’s like asking if the world might end in 2020. Who knows? Robot 2.0 might do 400 crore or finish at 200 crore or do 800 crore. All depends on content. Even S.S Rajamouli said, he expected Baahubali to open slow and then slowly gain momentum. But Baahubali was record-smashing opener and record-breaking grosser. Anything can happen. Robot 2 is a massive film under a fantastic director and popular stars. Akshay’s presence will further increase its reach. This is the best answer we can give at this point in time. Q. What us the meaning of term Screenplay? A. Apart from the script, it covers the visual aspects of film making. Like how a particular scene will be shot, where the songs will be included, the shooting locations etc. The Oscars awards are presented to the Best Original Screenplay as it includes the entire process of film making, which explains why you probably may have never heard of an award for Best Script – one of our many Bollywood awards might have one, but credible ones only have Best Original Screenplay. Original is also important, even screeplays that are based on novels or plays don’t win awards in that category. That ends our QnA for today. We received more than 450 questions today, we will answer a few more questions after a couple of days. Hope you enjoyed today’s QnA. Feedback is welcome in the comments section below, we do read all your comments. Thank you.  

Q. Can Azhar biopic atleast collect 50 – 60 crore in India? – Prince A. It most certainly won’t collection 50-60 on the strength of its opening. Content, like we have seen in recent times, can take a film way beyond what’s expected out of it. Q. According to you, what would be the lifetime collection of Airlift? – Pushkar A. We expect it to collect around 140-150 crore. Our final IndicineLBO prediction is Rs 143 crore. You can check the LBO page www.indicine.com/lbo Q. How much shooting of Dangal has been completed? What are your expectations quality wise, from the film? A. Most of the film is complete. Only portions of the film where Aamir plays a younger and fitter version of wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat will be shot in June. Aamir will now be losing almost all the weight that he gained to play the older role. Expectations, obviously, are very high. Q. I heard that Salman Khan again in trouble due to hit and run case. Can you please explain why? Can’t he be a free man in his remaining entire life? – Bhatta A. The Maharastra government will be challenging the Bombay High Court’s verdict in the Supreme Court. If the highest and final court of the country upholds the High Court’s verdict, Salman will be free for life. Q. Which film according to you will be the highest grosser of this year Fan, Raees, Sultan, Mohenjodaro, Dangal or Shivaay? – Hardik Lamba A. If Sultan and Raees clash, then Dangal is going to be the trade favourite because Christmas is the best period to release films. Housefull 3 has a better chance than Fan and Shivaay, if it turns out to be an entertaining film. Q. Will there be a 3-way clash on 12 August between Mohenjo Daro, Rustom and Hera Pheri 3 or will one of them back out and prospects of Mohenjo daro if a clash happens with only Hera Pheri 3? – Jaggi (similar question asked by Saksham) A. Highly unlikely. There aren’t enough screens in India to release three big films on the same day. Atleast one film will be postponed to a later date. Hera Pheri is a hugely popular franchise, but without Akshay Kumar it wouldn’t be the same. Difficult to predict clash results, because it’s dependent on content. Even a film like Bajirao Mastani managed to beat arguably the biggest film of last year – which had everything in its favour, including star cast – director – music, except the fact that content didn’t find appreciation. Q. How will u analyse Akshay’s career with Khans in last five years, as he has taken daring risks with OMG, Special 26, Baby, Airlift? A. We wouldn’t call it daring because his others films haven’t performed well at the box office. In fact, nonsensical masala entertainers is the risky genre today. Also, it can be considered a risky career move only when you do one film a year and then decide to go off-beat, like Aamir Khan with Talaash and Dangal. Akshay always has a new film to look forward to, if one doesn’t do well at the box office, he quickly moves on to his next. But for someone like Aamir Khan (Dangal) or Hrithik Roshan (Mohenjo Daro), one failure is equal to two years of their life. Having said that, Akshay is doing terrific films now. The multiplex audience is back to theatres, so it’ll be interesting to see if he can sustain the good work that he’s been doing. Also, genre doesn’t decide if a film is good or bad. Even Housefull 3 can be a good film if it manages to entertain the audience. Q. Why is Akshay Kumar ignored in any award function? He should have got at least nomination for ‘Special 26’, ‘Holiday’, ‘Baby’, ‘Gabbar Is Back’. Do you think all the award functions are fixed? A. In the industry, it isn’t difficult for top actors to win awards. They can win if they “want” to win. Wanting is more important. Actors like Salman, Aamir, Akshay, Ajay don’t want them, nor do they care.. which could be one of the reasons why they don’t win them. Q. Why Salman Khan has never won any Padma awards like Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhusan? A. Not too sure about this, but when he has / had criminal cases against him like 2002 hit-n-run (acquitted by High Court) and Black Buck Hunting case, don’t think he is eligible to be bestowed with country’s top civilian awards. Q. Is this a right decision by Hrithik to work with Sanjay Gupta? – Mishal A. Only Hrithik would know what’s best for him. Sanjay Gupta is a fairly good director, he has directed films like Kaante and Shootout at Wadala. If the script is good, he could make a good big budget film. Q. Which film release on 30 September 2016? There are many holidays 2nd October, then 2nd week Dussera, Muharam, Navaratri? Sanu A. Vishal Bhardwaj’s Rangoon starring Shahid Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan and Kangana Ranaut releases on 30th September. Q. Why PK was so huge in China? Do other movies not release there and if they release then why don’t they collect well there? – Abhishek Vishwakarma A. China has a limit on international films releasing in the country. In a year, not more than 34 foreign language movies are given permission to release in China and most of the foreign language films that release there are Hollywood films. Apart from Aamir Khan, no other Indian actor has managed to make a mark in China. 3 Idiots, Dhoom 3 and PK are by far the biggest grossers. Q. If both Raees & Sultan get huge appreciation from the general audience, & carries that “Must Watch on Big Screen” tag (Neutralizing the Piracy effect to some extent). Can’t they both exist & become Blockbusters? – Tanumoy A. There is always a possibility of both films doing well; Lagaan and Gadar, Taare Zameen Par and Welcome are examples of two films doing well. But when both commercial films release on the same day, business will be affected. Aiming for a longer run doesn’t always prove to be beneficial because distributor’s share reduces quite considerably after the first and second week. It’s always better for two big films to avoid clash and aim for a solo release, even if that means a non-festive weekend. Q. Don’t you think Indian films overseas success is highly overrated in media and among fans. Don’t you think we should take those figures with less interest – Sky A. Domestic collections is what is most important. If local distributors don’t recover their investment, a film cannot be considered successful irrespective of how well it performs overseas. That’s how it has always been, and except rare cases, that’s how it’ll always be. Overseas business is a bonus, films should perform well back home in India – which is still the biggest market for 99% Hindi movies. Q. Can Shivaay collect 250 crore in domestic without clash? – Akash A. It’s funny that people these days have such unrealistically high expectations out of films. Only 3 films have crossed the 250 crore mark and those are PK, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Dhoom 3. Two of those were arguably the most universally acclaimed movies in the last 10 years and featured top superstars in the lead. The other was the biggest franchise in the industry. Ajay Devgn films, apart from Singham Returns (which was a huge brand + holiday release), don’t really open big at the box office. His second best after Singham Returns is Bol Bachchan which did 12 crore. Shivaay would have to be beyond extraordinary to do 250 crore. A realistic target to start with would be 100 – 150 crore domestic. Long way to go though, the trailer would give us a better idea. Q. What difference can one good movie make on an actor’s stardom? Can a good movie take SRK to the top again? And how Dilwale’s underperformance has affected SRK’s stardom and trade expectations from him? A. Ranveer was struggling after Kill Dil and the trade wrote off Bajirao Mastani before its release. But in 3 short weeks, Ranveer is now being touted as the next superstar, has swept top acting awards this year and has a big film in Aditya Chopra’s Befikre. That’s how quickly career’s can turn around in this industry. As for SRK, he is in the late stages of his immensely successful career. One or two films falling below expectations won’t make a big difference to his career. He’s already too big to get bigger. It’s all about doing good films now. He has probably wasted a lot of his talent in films like Chennai Express, Happy New Year and Dilwale. None of those films actually gave him a chance to perform and we wonder if they gave him creative satisfaction. Only 3-4 films in the last 15 years or so have made use of the acting talent that he has and those would be Chak De India, Swades and My Name Is Khan. Fortunately, both his upcoming films promise good performances. Q. Till now Airlift has IMDb rating of 9.4 with 12.5k votes. Is there any chance that Airlift will be Highest rated movie on IMDB beating Shawshank Redemption [9.3]? A. Absolutely no chance. For several reasons. One, IMDb ratings tend to drop over a period of time. Secondly, they only consider ratings from ‘regular users’ when ranking a film in Top 250. Thirdly, it has to receive minimum of 25,000 votes from ‘regular users’. IMDb doesn’t reveal what ‘regular users’ mean, it could be people who review a lot of films and those who have registered a long time ago. If Akshay Kumar fans register and vote in big numbers, it might increase the rating of the film, but it won’t take it to Top 250. Q. Even though films like Dilwale, PRDP, Jai Ho, Talaash made their distributors in losses, why are they called as semi hits? Why not disasters? A. How can films grossing nearly 400 crore worldwide be disasters? Even Talaash and Jai Ho did more than 170 crore worldwide. PRDP was more than a clean hit. As for why some films are declared above average / semi hit, it’s simply because some investors make money, some lose, some just about recover. Most verdicts these days are not ‘strict’, most are given on perception. That’s the end of QnA for today. Hope you enjoyed reading the answers. Thank you.

We have been receiving a lot of requests for AskIndicine: Live QnA. The session goes live at 7PM Indian Standard Time. We will answer a few questions in details and others will get short answers. Q. How much will Kya Kool Hai Hum 3 and Mastizaade affect Airlift’s collection ? Will Airlift cross 100 crore because there is equal buzz for all the 3 movies. (Suhail) A. Kya Kool Hain Hum 3 and Airlift release on the same (January 22). Both belong to different genres and the target audience is completely different. KKHH3 will perform well at single-screens in smaller centres, while Airlift will have a big lead at multiplexes. The latter will be word-of-mouth dependent, because the opening is unlikely to be huge. Both films have to collect around 65-70 crore in the domestic market to recover costs. As for Airlift collecting 100 crore, anything is possible as long as the film strikes a chord with the audience.

A lot of people have been requesting for #AskIndicine Question and Answer session today. So here we go.. we will try and answer as many questions as we possibly can, as it’s the first QnA of the year! Q. Which film will be the highest grosser of 2016 between Dangal, Sultan and Mohenjo Daro? – Suchit A. The top contender is going to be Dangal, simply because of the fact that Aamir Khan returns after 2 years and he’s also going to get a solo release during the most lucrative period i.e Christmas. Also, Aamir movies, more often than not, are strong on content which is the biggest advantage that his films have. If Sultan and Raees manage to get a solo release, then both films have a chance. Mohenjo Daro could score big too, the genre has got a huge boost after the success of Baahubali – Bajirao Mastani and Hrithik returns after nearly 2 years. The problem for 3 of the Top 4 contenders is that they are all scheduled to release on the same day as other big films. It’s almost impossible to collect Rs 250 crore plus when two big films release on the same day. Housefull 3 and Shivaay (set to clash with Ae Dil Hai Mushkil) have potential to surprise too.

Continuation of our QnA.. Read the page if you haven’t Q. What if Prem Ratan Dhan Payo clashed with Bajirao Mastani during Diwali? – Neeraj A. Interesting question. Any clash between two big films will divide the number of available screens and shows both at multiplexes and single-screens. Ratio will differ, but business will be divided. There are three stages for a big clash; One, getting a good release which includes booking single-screens in prime areas and ensuring that your films not only gets good amount of shows at multiplexes, but also gets shows at the right time slots (because evening / night shows perform better than morning / noon). Second stage is the opening, the period when star power ensures high occupancy in theatres. The third stage is when the word-of-mouth comes into play. The film that has the advantage in the last stage, should, in most cases, win the clash. PRDP would have probably won the first two stages, but it’s in the third that Bajirao Mastani would have taken the lead. Also, the Salman starrer would have lost around 30-35% in its first weekend. The advantage for a solo release is, the audience has no other choice. You either watch PRDP or you don’t watch a film. When there is a choice between two films, the film that finds appreciation among the audience, will automatically become the first choice, irrespective of the star cast. So to answer your question, PRDP would have easily lost around 60 crore if it released with Bajirao Mastani. Q. Considering mixed response to Dilwale, what would have been lifetime collections had it released solo on 25 December? It would have easily crossed 100 crore in 3 days. What about lifetime? – Amit Jain A. Like we mentioned in the last question, when there is no other choice, any big film has a serious advantage. If Dilwale released on 25th December, it would have taken a record opening, possibly the highest of all time. Q. Dear Indicine, is box office collections everything nowadays? Is that the only way to count an actor’s greatness? Few days back I saw a Hrithik fan asking you to post an article on comparison between Bang Bang and Dilwale.. So that he can say Hrithik is better than SRK. I mean seriously, SRK has achieved everything that a other actor only can dream of.. But in the end the only thing is matter is crore clubs? A. There are several ways to look at this. For the normal movie going audience, box office collections shouldn’t matter. If you like a star or like the trailer of a film, go and watch it. But for the same audience, box office collections could tell them whether to watch a film or not. If a film has opened strongly and sustains well, it means the audience is liking it. From a star, there is nothing bigger than box office. If your movie is not collecting, people won’t invest in your films. These 100 crore and 200 crore clubs are very very important. Because if an actor is capable of delivering 200 crore grossers, producers can invest upwards of 100 crore on his films. With this, the scale, production design, big directors, world class technicians and everything else becomes more affordable. If you aren’t a star in India, but a great actor like Irrfan Khan, you can’t make a superhero film like Krrish. It won’t even collect 20 crore and the cost of production for such films becomes far more than what ‘talented actor but non-stars’ can recover. Fan wars is something different altogether. Everyone likes to see their own favourite star at the top of the ranking and box office gives the correct picture of the current standing of an actor. About Hrithik vs SRK. Current standing and legacy of an actor are two different things. In a few years from now, if a young actor emerges and delivers bigger results, he will be compared. Even Ranveer Singh could challenge Salman/SRK at the box office in the future, he could be bigger some day, but that doesn’t mean his achievements and legacy are the comparable to those two. End of QnA.

Even though the last #AskIndicine was just 4 days ago, we were planning on a quick QnA session today. Please vote and tell us if you want #AskIndicine today. If more than 50% of people vote for YES, we start at 7PM, else we’ll push it to Sunday. Note: Starts at 7PM. We apologise for the delay. 93% voted for YES? Thank you. You can post your questions in the comments section below. Q. Is Sultan and Raees confirmed? There was news that Salman wanted to postpone it – Sridhar A. We published an article earlier today that Sultan has ‘not’ been delayed. That news was confirmed from a source at Yash Raj Films. The film is on schedule to release in theatres during Eid next year. Salman Khan wants Eid, he’s been successful during that period and he wouldn’t want to let go of it unless he doesn’t have a film ready for release – like 2013. Q. Now looking at the hold of both Bajirao Mastani and Dilwale on Tuesday, Your earlier LBO prediction was too early i guess. Now looking after the tuesday collection of both the movies , tooth and nail fight! Indicine, your take now? – Durgesh A. Our LBO prediction was delayed by two days. Since predictions are difficult to make, it can go either way. Our logic behind the prediction was simple. Films that carry good word of mouth, usually do 3 – 4 times its first weekend. And films that carry mixed word-of-mouth do around 2 – 2.5 times weekend. Dilwale, looking at the trends, seems to be carrying mixed reports. However, the coming weekend will be crucial. Rohit Shetty’s films are huge with the family audience and it’s during Christmas that they come out in big numbers. Dilwale can turn things around, all it needs is one big jump. If it does 15 crore plus on Christmas holiday, then it’s certain to collect more than what we predicted – because the second weekend business can then cross the 35 crore mark. It’s way too early to write off the film. Q. When can we expect a first look poster of Mohenjo Daro? Any chance of it on Jan 10th on Hrithik’s b’day? Also any idea of the production cost for Mohenjo Daro? A. Hrithik once told us that he’s uncomfortable about all the hype around his birthday. So we doubt the makers of Mohenjo Daro have any plans of releasing a poster on his birthday. There hasn’t been any official confirmation either. Releasing the poster nearly 8 months before the film, doesn’t make sense. A effective marketing strategy is when the entire marketing campaign is short. A month is good enough, even for big films. In today’s times, we get to see the two trailers, full song videos and 5-6 dialogues promos before the release, so the audience has already seen around 20% of the film before watching it in theatre. After that they end up reading both positive and negative reviews. When they eventually get to the ticket counter, they know much more about the movie than they should. Marketing campaigns for big concept films should be like PK. The audience was curious to know what the film is all about. Doesn’t work for every film, but from an audience point of view, we hope they watch the trailer and decide whether they want to watch the film or not. Please don’t read reviews, it ends up ruining the movie experience. Q. Please let us have clear picture on screen allocations between Dilwale and Bajirao Mastani A. 2600 for Bajirao Mastani, 3000 for Dilwale. This includes shared screens. Q. Does SRK’s upcoming movies place him in the category of greatest actor? – Ranbir Singh A. He is already one of the greatest actors the Indian film industry has produced. He has made money, earned famed, commercial acclaim, critical acclaim, won awards, Padma Shri, several International awards and recognitions. There is nothing left for him to achieve. The question now is, how many more years he can sustain the level he has maintained for the last 20 odd years. That’s about it. If he retires today, he’ll be still remembered as a legend. Q. Ranveer or Salman? Who will win the Filmare award for the Best Actor?  A. Ranveer is the top contender now, he has already won the Guild award. Salman is unlucky as far as awards are concerned. Don’t think he cares, because the last time he was supposed to receive an award, he attended the ceremony but left minutes before he was declared the winner. Also, films that release in the last quarter of the year, tend to have a better chance of winning awards. However, Filmfare is 50% audience voting and 50% jury. So the performance you like, make sure you vote to make that 50% count. Q. Shahid Kapoor’s upcoming movies Udta Punjab and Rangoon may have 50 crore and 100 crore budget respectively. So if both movies get great trailer reviews and great word-of-mouth, then is there possibility that he will get Hit or Super Hit movies? Anshi Goel A. A Shahid Kapoor movies cannot be made on a budget of Rs 100 crore. A lot of people misunderstand collections. If a film costing 100 crore, earns 100 crore at the box office, it’s a failure, because the distributor / producer only get approximate 50% of the collections. The rest of it goes to the people who screen the film i.e the exhibitors / theatre owners. Of course, there are other means to recover the investment like Satellite, Music rights etc. The reported budget that Rangoon is being made on is Rs 55-60 crore. It’ll be difficult to recover, simply because of the fact that Vishal Bhardwaj films do not go on to be huge commercial hits, even if they get critical acclaim. But one thing we have learnt from the success of Bajirao Mastani – never write off a film. Any film. Who knows, Rangoon could be a 120 crore plus grosser, if it finds appreciation. Q. Compared to the budget that it has been made on, Bajirao Mastani is under performing right? – Nathal A. Not really. The same collections would have been considered to be good, even if it released solo. The trend over the weekend and during the weekdays is much more important than the opening that a film takes. Tanu Weds Manu Returns started at 8 crore, finished with 150 crore! Vidya Balan’s Kahaani started at 2.75 crore, did 63 crore lifetime. On the other hand, Besharam did 21 crore first day, finished with 57 crore. So a film that starts slow and then gains momentum, is always more likely to performs better than a film that starts with a bang and fizzles out. The fact that Bajirao Mastani has matched the collections of Dilwale in its 4th day itself, is a big deal for the entire team. Every investor is happy and celebrating. Q. Don’t you think 25th Dec was better option for Dilwale to release instead of 18th Dec? A. What’s the point discussing this now? Both films have released, one is performing beyond expectations, other is steady during the weekdays. Let’s hope both films do well. Q. How will you rate out of 10 in acting skills for these new crop like Varun Dhawan, Ranveer Singh, Shahid Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Sushant Singh Rajput, Sidharth Malhotra. Please answer, Indicine. A. Personal choice. In this order of preference; Ranbir Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Sushant Singh Rajput, Varun Dhawan, Sidharth Malhotra and Arjun Kapoor. We’d like to know what you all think too.

It’s a quick session, we will be answering a few questions. Starts in 15 minutes i.e 7:30 PM Indian Standard Time. Post your questions in the comments section below. Q. Which movie in the near future has the greatest potential to come near PK’s domestic and worldwide records? Bahubali has most probably shifted to 2017. Ishan Gulati A. For any film to break the record of PK, a lot of things have to fall into place. Apart from the film featuring one of the Top 4 actors in the industry, it has to get these things right – positive word-of-mouth (most important), genre (has to be universally appealing) and release period. Sultan, Raees and Mohenjo Daro have to avert their clashes. For films in 2016, we’d put our money on Dangal.

We have been getting a lot of requests for the Live QnA session. So it’s going to be a quick one today. Shorter answers and we will try and take as many questions as possible. Post your questions in the comments section below. Q. Who has more star power between SRK and Aamir? A. Debatable. SRK has a huge fan-following and is arguably the most loved actor along with Salman. Aamir’s following is very different, they come expecting to watch good films, not just Aamir Khan. Q. Is it smart to release a film like Mohenjo Daro during Independence Weekend? Doesn’t it deserve a better release date? A. Independence Day is one of the best days for film business in India. Next only to the day after Diwali puja. If the content is good, release date doesn’t matter. Dubbed version of Baahubali did Rs 115 crore even though it released just a week before Bajrangi Bhaijaan. Q. Can Dilwale take 25 crore plus opening due to presence of SRK despite clash? It will be test of SRK star power A. Advance booking is excellent. SRK can only ensure high occupancy at theatres on Day 1.  Higher occupancy and good word-of-mouth is more important than opening day numbers, when two big films are releasing on the same day. Q. After seeing the leaked pictures of Mohenjo Daro, What do you think, will it take 30 crore opening considering solo release and also Hrithik Roshan coming after almost 2 years? A. Good trailer will be the key, the reach of leaked pictures is limited to social media. 30 crore opening is definitely a possibility, but if Akshay Kumar’s Rustom releases on the same day, it’ll be very difficult. Q. Will both Shivaay and Mohenjo Daro be one of the all time most expensive projects Bollywood industry will witness? – Aisha Iqbal A. Mohenjo Daro will be an expensive film. Shivaay will also be huge, but the costs won’t be too high because Ajay is producing, directing and acting in the film. All the money will be spent on production. Q. Who is bigger star : Akshay Kumar or Ranbir Kapoor? A. Right now, Akshay Kumar.  Footfalls have always been higher for Akshay, but have not been collecting a lot more is because the occupancy is low at metro cities. In today’s times a big star has to strike the right balance to attract audience both at city multiplexes and mass centres. Baby works to a certain extent at multiplexes, but is a washout at single-screens. Gabbar Is Back does well at mass centres, but underperforms at multiplexes. When both perform well, Akshay films will collect 125 crore plus. Q. There has been news that FAN has shaped up really well.So what to expect from it. Is it a usual fan film as we have seen over many years? Jack A. Fan will be a very different film. Everything related to it is a closely guarded secret. But yes, people associated with the film are extremely pleased with the way it has shaped up. Q. Is it true that SRK has decided to donate 1st day collection of Dilwale to Chennai Flood Victims? A. Not true. Q. What is the screen distribution between Dilwale and Bajirao Mastani – single screens and multiplexes? A. The combined screen count is likely to be around 5500 screens. But many of those screens will be shared by both Dilwale and Bajirao Mastani. For example, a multiplex that has 3 screens running 15 shows per day, might give 8/9 shows to Dilwale and 6/7 shows to Bajirao Mastani. Q. Why are Ranbir and Emraan having a bad time at box office. Is this because of newcomers? A. Ranbir and Emraan have been failing because they have been doing bad films. Besharam and Bombay Velvet were outright rejected, Tamasha only worked at select centres. Emraan’s move to work with bigger banners didn’t work, now even his films with Bhatt’s is failing. There is enough space for 10 more bankable actors, the more the better. It’s a myth that one actor affects the business of the other. As long as two films are not releasing on the same day, it doesn’t matter. And which newcomers are you talking about? The only new actor who has quickly climbed the Bollywood ladder is Varun Dhawan. The rest are inconsistent. Q. SRK’s film with Aanand L. Rai & Imtiaz Ali confirmed? A. He hasn’t signed those films. Still in talks. Q. Will boycott protests against Dilwale affect it? A. No signs of any major impact so far. Advance booking is excellent. SRK has clarified about the intolerance statement and has also donated 1 crore to Chennai Victims. Q. How much Airlift can collect keeping in mind that it is clashing with Kya Kool Hai Hum 3 and if the trailer also gets same kind of response as the teaser had? A. Day 1 should be around 10 crore. Lifetime will depend on how the film is liked. If it turns out to be an excellent film, then anything is possible. Even 150 crore, Indians love well-made patriotic films. Kya Kool Hain Hum 3 has a very different audience, but that audience is huge too. Grand Masti collected 100 crore. Families won’t watch it, but masses will. Q. Has Hrithik Roshan been finalised for Dhoom 4? A. No. Q. Like Salman has ruled the industry for consecutively 5 years and still ruling and on top position. Any other star who ruled same or more? A. In the last 5 years, Aamir Khan has been right up there with Salman. In fact, Salman is yet to deliver the highest grosser of all time in the last 5 years, he came close twice (Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Ek Tha Tiger). This is something that Aamir has done four times - Ghajini, 3 Idiots, Dhoom 3, PK. Having said that, Salman’s 7 blockbuster record is outstanding. Q. When HAHK is a bigger HIT then why DDLJ is more famous? A. There is no explanation for such questions. Andaz Apna Apna was a box office failure when it released theatrically. But today it’s the most loved Bollywood comedy. DDLJ was probably a more modern love story, something that even youngsters of today can watch and enjoy. Q. I know Varun is no where near Shah Rukh in terms of Star Power but don’t you think at least 25-30% of Dilwale opening will be dedicated to Varun because of his massive fan youth followers/his 100% track record too, while 70-75% opening day collection is strictly because of SRK? A. Doesn’t work that way. Fans are not always dedicated only to one actor and watch only his films. There might be a bunch of people who are die hard Varun Dhawan fans, but they would watch a Shah Rukh Khan film even if it didn’t feature Varun. It’s a combination of various factors that ensures a big initial, SRK’s presence is obviously the biggest factor. Q. Will Dilwale get 3200 screens in India? A. Yes, the screen count will be in that range. End of the QnA session. Thank you for posting your questions.

Quick answers to the following questions, stay tuned and refresh the page after 10 minutes. Q. Who has best line up in next year? – Shaggy A. Our pick would be Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar. Fan and Raees look interesting. Akshay is mixing it up like 2015. Airlift, Housefull 3, Rustom and Namaste England are his four films for 2016. Q. Will Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo remain 2015’s Top 2 grossers? – Kalia A. Bajrangi Bhaijaan will remain the highest grosser of 2015. Dilwale could be the second highest grosser, but for that it has to find appreciation. Q. Almost all big films are facing clash, is it fair to say 300 crore is impossible for 2016? So overall profit for industry is expected to increase or decrease with clashes? Your 2016 overall business prediction please? – Bhushan Q. Scheduled clashes are not certain clashes. They can still be averted. The result of Bajirao Mastani vs Dilwale, could give us an answer. If both films do well, expect more clashes. If Dilwale wins by a huge margin, others will think twice before taking on SRK or Khans. If the margin isn’t too big, then Shah Rukh / Excel might rethink their decision of clashing with Sultan. Q. Doesn’t FAN have the highest chances of becoming the highest grosser of 2016 as it is the biggest film having solo release, as all others are clashing? Sohom Pramanick A. The insider reports for FAN is terrific, some say the film has shaped up really well. But like we said in the previous question, holiday releases are not certain to clash. They might be averted. Q. General public watches movies for relaxation and entertainment. Then now days why everybody is so obsessed with box office collections rather than the films quality and content? – Riju Basu A. Who doesn’t love numbers? It isn’t just about box office. Aren’t we all curious about who the richest men in the world are, how much they are worth? Or which phone has the highest sales. Even in sport, numbers of Tendulkar or Roger Federer are discussed and compared with others in their sport. For the normal audience who are not interested in fan wars, a higher earning film is one that is watched by more people, which also means a entertaining or ‘liked’ film. For fans, when a film starring their favourite actor breaks records or does well, it’s a feeling that makes them proud and happy. Can’t think of a better way to explain the obsession with numbers. Q. What is the screen count of Dilwale and Bajirao Mastani? A. It will be around 3200 – 3500 for Dilwale and 2000-2200 odd for Bajirao Mastani. Final number will be known only on the Tuesday / Wednesday before release. Screens are still getting booked. Multiplexes have not allotted shows / screens. Q. Can Hrithik’s Mohenjodaro cross the 300 crore in India? This movie has tremendous buzz. What do you think? – Khushee Radhakrishnan A. Depends on the trailer. 300 crore is still very difficult if the word-of-mouth is not excellent and if there is a clash. Q. Is Hrithik capable to give highest grosser like before? – Mishal A. Hrithik is one of the biggest crowd pullers in the industry, he has already delivered a 35 crore single day at the box office. So it’s about getting the content, genre and release date right. Q. What are upcoming films of Salman after Sultan? Which genre appeals most Raees type or Sultan type? A. Salman will be working in a film produced by Atul Agnihotri after Sultan. Can’t take a pick between Raees and Sultan at this point in time. The director of Sultan has said it’s a commercial film, but we need to see the trailer / teaser before commenting. Q. What would it take for non Khan films to consistently release on major festivals as they are the best period to release a film. Would it have to be consistently outperforming Khan films for sometime? Could Bajirao Mastani be the beignning in that direction? Its sort of unfair for only Khan films to release during festive periods. A film like Bahibali 2 deserves a big festival release! – Lisa A. The first step would be to match upto them and not get decimated. Even when the genre was in favour of Son Of Sardaar, it couldn’t outgross Jab Tak Hai Jaan. Overseas, there was no comparison whatsoever. So Bajirao Mastani performing reasonably well, will give others who are willing to take up the fight, some confidence. The other point is, it’s not just the Khans who want festive release, but the trade also wants them to release their films during Eid, Diwali and Christmas. If a film like Bajirao Mastani gets a solo release on Christmas, it won’t be able to generate the kind of ticket sales that a Khan film can or has. Q. Will Emraan Hashmi be able to make a comeback? – Sridhar A. Raaz 4 is his space, should do well. But whether he can make an impact outside the ‘erotic thriller with good songs’ genre, is something that remains to be seen. So far it hasn’t worked. Q. I’m asking you again, Is there any possibility of Dilwale to touch 300cr with extremely positive word-of-mouth? Bicky A. Box office is unpredictable, but it’s highly unlikely. If it does 250 crore, it’ll be huge, considering the clash factor. Q. What will happen to Shahid Kapoor’s career if his movies Udta Punjab and Rangoon get critical acclaim next year and his acting also? What can be box office collection of these movies if liked by public and critics? Please answer this time please? – Anshi Goel A. Critical acclaim alone, unfortunately, isn’t good enough. A film needs to be successful at the box office for investors to have the confidence to invest in Shahid Kapoor films. Since no Shahid film has even crossed the 80 crore mark, producers are unwilling to invest more than 30-40 crore on his films. And with that budget, it’s almost impossible to produce commercial entertainers. He desperately needs a big 100 crore grosser. Udta Punjab and Rangoon are unlikely to achieve those kind of numbers. Q. Can Akshay Kumar win Best Actor of The Year for his Best Performance in Baby? – Aatif A. He hasn’t even been nominated by Stardust this year, which is a shame. Akshay is a terrific actor, arguably the most versatile among superstars. He can slip into any role and do justice to it. But for some strange reason, almost every award show has ignored him over the years. Social media is probably one of the best ways to protest and let the organisers know that Akshay deserves better at award functions. Even Ajay Devgn has been ignored by Stardust this year. As for our pick for the best actor (popular) this year, it has to be Salman Khan for Bajrangi Bhaijaan. That ends our QnA session today. It’s been a long one, nearly 25 questions were answered. And Sunday is supposed to be a holiday? Thankless job.

Q. Who are the most successful director-actor pairs in terms of box office till today? – Mohammed Shah A. Post 1990, the most successful actor – director duo in Bollywood are as follows: Salman Khan and Sooraj Barjatya – 2 All Time Blockbusters, 1 Blockbuster, 1 Super Hit Hrithik Roshan and Rakesh Roshan – 1 All Time Blockbuster, 2 Blockbusters, 1 Super Hit Shah Rukh Khan and Aditya Chopra – 1 All Time Blockbuster, 1 Blockbuster, 1 Super Hit Aamir Khan and Rajkumar Hirani – 2 All Time Blockbusters Salman Khan and Kabir Khan – 1 All Time Blockbuster, 1 Blockbuster Q. Tell me how much occupancy possible on non-holiday? When two movies release on the same day? – Sandeep A. It’s difficult to put a number to occupancy when there is a clash. Because the numbers would vary depending on the film. Dilwale vs Bajirao Mastani, Dilwale will lead by a distance. Sultan vs Raees will be a lot more closer, with Sultan probably having the edge. But assuming your question was specific to the upcoming clash, we expect Dilwale to open at 70-75% and Bajirao Mastani to take a 25-30% opening in the morning. After that the word-of-mouth will come into play at big centres. In most circuits, Dilwale will lead by a distance. It’ll also be the only choice at most single-screens. To be very honest, there is no comparison. Only hope for Bajirao Mastani is good to excellent word-of-mouth. Also, the maximum a film has collecting on a non-holiday is Rs 36 crore – Day 1 business of Dhoom 3. The combined total of both Dilwale and Bajirao Mastani could be in this range. Q. Can today’s Deepika Padukone’s position in industry be compared with Madhuri dixit and Sridevi’s stardom? Although I know she still has a long way to go – Saurabh Chaudhary A. When it comes to box office success, Hema Malini was incredibly successful. Madhuri and Sridevi don’t quite match up. All three are arguably the most ‘complete’ actresses of all time. To include Deepika in the same league or not, is something that is debatable. As far as box office success is concerned, Katrina Kaif too has an excellent hit-ratio, most of her films during her golden period were runaway hits at the box office. She doesn’t get her due credit because she isn’t known for her acting skills. Katrina’s popularity was so high that she managed to deliver a hit (Mere Brother Ki Dulhan), a week after Salman Khan’s Bodyguard released in theatres. Audience came to watch Katrina, not Imran Khan. So as far as popularity is concerned, Katrina is right up there with some of the biggest female stars the industry has ever produced. More praise-worthy when you consider the fact that she is probably the only actress to come from abroad and dominate the industry. Deepika too has been extremely successful. This topic deservers a more detailed article, we will try and publish a Katrina vs Deepika box office analysis soon. Q. Salman was down and out prior to 2009. How has he suddenly become the No 1 star for over 5 years now. He does often repeat his films and south remakes – only recently he made something different like Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo?- Miz A. Apart from hard work and dedication, Salman has been choosing the right films and releasing them at the right time. When he was doing South Remakes, those films were working at the box office. When negativity towards remakes began to creep in about a couple of years ago, he moved away from it and signed films like Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo. Like we have mentioned in several other QnA sessions, Salman now looks into every aspect of filmmaking and marketing. He sits with the writer / director during the planning stage, gives his inputs. Works closely with the director during the production stage and even sits on the editing table. He has been in the industry long enough to know what his audience expects from him, and he has been giving them what they want. In return, they are coming out in big numbers to watch his films. Even his failures like Jai Ho are bigger grossers than successful films of many other actors. His success is truly unreal and unimaginable. Back in the Mid-2000s, when we used to review his films on Friday morning, the occupancy wasn’t even 5% for some of his films. Now, there is a queue 3 hours before the show begins.

Q. Which are Top 10 most awaited 2016 films in Bollywood? A. It would be Dangal / Sultan, Raees, Fan, Mohenjo Daro, Housefull 3, Shivaay, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Baadshaho and Airlift. From the teasers that have already released, Raees has garnered tremendous appreciation and so has the teaser of Airlift. Most actors who didn’t have a release in 2015, will return with massive films in 2016. It promises to be an exciting year for Bollywood.

Note: We won’t be conducting a QnA session next Sunday, so the next one (after today’s session) would be on December 20 i.e after the release of Dilwale and Bajirao Mastani. Q. Is there still any chance of averting clash between Dilwale and Bajirao Mastani? – Danish Gani A. Not anymore. If either of the two producers were keen on averting the clash, they would have done so by now. Theatres have been booked and with less than 12 days to go, the clash is on. Both Dilwale and Bajirao Mastani will release on 18th December. Q. After Tamasha’s Underperformance at the box office can we say Akshay and Ajay are now ahead of Ranbir Kapoor in terms of Stardom? – Ankit A. As things stand today, Ranbir has fallen behind Varun Dhawan. Even Ranveer Singh could sneak ahead of him if Bajirao Mastani can stand up to the might of Dilwale. The big difference between stars like Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn and others like Ranbir Kapoor, is the fan-following that the veteran actors command at smaller centres. It takes years of hard work to gain following at mass centres and the audience in these centres are more ‘faithful’ to their stars – provided they do films that are more commercial. A film like ‘Baby’ won’t garner any interest with Akshay’s core fan base, but when he does ‘Gabbar Is Back’, they come in big numbers. So for stars like Akshay, Ajay, Salman and other superstars, it’s more about balancing the genre to appeal to both masses and city audience. At major cities, the so-called ‘class’ audience are more willing to wait for the response / word-of-mouth to be out, before booking tickets. If the trailer is not liked, even a Imtiaz Ali film starring Ranbir – Deepika doesn’t get a good initial. Also, the word-of-mouth tends to spread faster at bigger cities, which is why there are noticeably drops in the first weekend itself – example Shaandaar, Besharam. Whereas a mass-appealing film can sustain over the weekend and even hold up during the weekdays – e.g Himmatwala. Meanwhile, we will be updating the ‘Top 15 Actors in India‘ article very soon. It was last updated in August. Q. In case of Dilwale – Bajirao Mastani clash, can footfalls lost during weekend be made up during the week? Assume Dilwale gets 3 idiots WOM and has potential for 350 cr. So shouldn’t it get that amount even in clash, irrespective of how Bajirao Mastani does? Say 100 people would have watched Dilwale in solo release. Wouldn’t the same 100 see Dilwale even in clash? If footfalls are not made up the mark, what’s the reason? – KRK A. Achieving 3 Idiots, PK, Bajrangi Bhaijaan word-of-mouth is a dream that very very few films achieve. Films that have been universally liked by every section of the audience are few and far in between. In recent times, most of those films have been directed by Rajkumar Hirani. So expecting Rohit Shetty to pull off a classic, that too from the kind of trailer that we have seen.. is a highly unrealistic expectation to have. Yes, Dilwale can be a wholesome entertainer and if the film is liked by the audience, it could make a huge impact on the business of Bajirao Mastani. As for footfalls, we have said this many times before, not everyone can afford to watch two movies in theatres, that too in the same weekend. So business will definitely be divided. Also, Bajirao Mastani might be a smaller film in comparison, but it most certainly cannot be written off. Sanjay Leela Bhansali has suffered because of Shah Rukh Khan’s Om Shanti Om in the past, so he would be well aware of the consequences. The fact that he is willing to take him on again, has given the trade a feeling that he is supremely confident of his product. Continue Reading and Vote: Top 10 Most Awaited 2016 films in Bollywood? Part 3: Most Successful Actor – Director duo in Bollywood Part 4: 2015 has belonged to which actor? Part 5: Screen count of Dilwale and Bajirao Mastani and 13 other questions answered

Q. Who has more chances to get Filmfare Best Actor award in 2015? And what’s your nomination? A. Salman Khan is the top contender to win the Filmfare Best Actor (popular) award this year and it would be surprising if he doesn’t. Unless Ranveer Singh comes up with an extraordinary performance in Bajirao Mastani, it will be between Ranbir, Salman, Akshay this year. Ranbir has performed very well in Tamasha, but for a popular award, a movie also has to do well. The same applies for Ajay and Akshay.  Both their films weren’t hugely successful at the box office. The problem with Filmfare is, they haven’t been consistent over the years. For example, SRK in Swades was undoubtedly the best performance of the year, but the movie didn’t work at the box office. He was also nominated for Veer Zaara, which was the more popular movie and performance, but didn’t win the Filmfare award. In 2006, Hrithik was nominated for Krrish and Dhoom 2. Krrish was rated as his better performance that year, but he won for Dhoom 2. It’s been difficult to understand Filmfare’s choices over the years, so it would be disappointing for millions of fans, who are expecting not just a Filmfare award for Best Actor (Salman’s first), but also a national award for the superstar. Popular nominations could look something like this (so far in 2015) – Akshay Kumar for Baby, Ajay Devgn for Drishyam, Salman Khan for Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Ranbir Kapoor for Tamasha. SRK, whether his performance is good or bad, always gets a nomination. So he’s likely to be the other nominee, along with Ranveer Singh for Bajirao Mastani. Who do you think is the top contender to win the Filmfare Best Actors Award this year? Vote!

Q. Which are the top 3 Critically Acclaimed Bollywood commercial film of 2015? A. The most critically acclaimed and...

#AskIndicine at 3PM Post your questions in the comments section below. 10 questions will be answered 3PM (Indian Standard Time) onwards. Q. How has Tamasha performed in overseas markets? A. Tamasha has done well in the overseas markets. The two-day business, including paid previews, is around Rs 14-15 crore (without including Saturday collections from North America). Weekend business should cross the $4 million mark. Ranbir and Deepika have a fairly good following overseas and Imtiaz Ali films also get a good opening outside India. Q. Rate the ‘Bajirao Mastani’ Theatrical trailer, with negatives and positives – Raghav A. 9 on 10. Fantastic trailer. Positives would be the massive scale, grandeur, war scenes, performances from the lead cast, promises to be a visual treat on the big screen. Negatives, trailer should have been shorter and VFX wasn’t upto the mark in a few scenes. Q. You had written in your Tamasha Box office article that Ranbir and his fans would be hoping Sanjay Dutt biopic goes on the floor soon. Do you think the film can open well enough to sustain in longer run (assuming the trailer of the film is impressive) because this is neither a sequel to a super-hit film (like Lage Raho Munna Bhai) nor does it have a superstar backing (like Aamir in 3 Idiots and PK) – Gaurav A. Rajkumar Hirani is a superstar director. His value to a film is probably as much or more than a big star, because not only will his films get a good initial at the box office, but also sustain well enough to do well in the long run – assuming that he continues to be in the same form as his last 4 films. He has already promised that ‘Sanjay Dutt biopic’ would be the most entertaining film of his career and irrespective of the star cast, it would be the most awaited film of the year that it releases in. The only non-superstar and non-franchise film that he directed was ‘Munnabhai M.B.B.S’ and that was his debut film. In short, even if Hirani happens to cast a debutant actor, his film should still easily manage a 15-20 crore opening. Part 2: Which movie has the higher buzz – Dilwale or Bajirao Mastani?

Q. Do you think ‘Ghayal Once Again’ will have any effect on Airlift as the latter releases one week after...

Q. What is the response to the theatrical trailer of Dilwale in the general movie going audience and the trade? – Aashish Thapar A. The response has been mixed from the audience, which is always the case with most big films. The trade is super-confident though. Dilwale promises to be a mass-entertainer and if the film manages to entertain the audience like Chennai Express did, it’ll be unstoppable at the box office. The names associated with the film are enough to make it ‘hot’ in the trade. Shah Rukh Khan returns more than a year after his last film. The evergreen jodi of SRK – Kajol. Varun Dhawan is on a dream run at the box office and the youth love him. And then there is Rohit Shetty, who has films like Golmaal series, Singham series, Chennai Express. His films have a strong following amongst the family audience, especially with kids. In short, it cannot get bigger than a film like Dilwale. The ‘only’ hurdle is Bajirao Mastani. Q. Earlier, films that used to take 95-100% opening were termed as bumper openers but today a Prem Ratan Dhan Payo takes a 70% opening and is categorised as a bumper opener. Why? A. These days, big films get massive releases all over the country. A city like Mumbai which used to run around 300 shows of a big film on Day 1, now has more than 1500-1700 shows per day. When the release is so wide and the number of shows are so high, it’s impossible to achieve 100% occupancy in today’s times. In other words, the footfalls (number of people watching the film / tickets sold) on Day 1 has increased quite significantly, but the occupancy is on the lower side due to the size of release. Q. Doesn’t it make sense for Sultan to release on Diwali as SRK is already having a non-holiday release in Fan and Aditya Chopra is well aware of that to give SRK a solo release during EID? Shivaay and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil can come on October 2nd as that holiday is not taken yet – Trooper A. The release date of films is announced by the makers of a film, and it’s not decided based on what fans want. Every producer wants to give his film the best possible release. In the last 6-7 years, Salman Khan has dominated the Eid weekend and because of his success, he and the makers of Sultan (YRF) believe it’s the best time to release their film. Agreed that the makers of Raees announced their film first, but so did the makers of Bajirao Mastani. Since there are only 3 major festive weekends every year and everyone wants those dates, clashes are bound to happen. There is still a long way to go. Raees or Sultan can still shift to Gandhi Jayanti or Diwali. If they do, then it’s upto the producers of Shivaay and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil to take a decision. Part 1: Why is an ensemble cast viewed negatively? Part 2: Audience and trade response to trailer of Dilwale? Part 3: Will Ghayal Once Again affect Airlift at the box office?

We answer three more questions which were posted in the comments section during Sunday’s Live QnA Session. Read more about it here Q. How many Super Hits / Blockbusters does Hrithik have without Rakesh Roshan - Goutam A. Hrithik Roshan has played the lead in 20 films so far in his career, out of which his father has directed four films – Kaho Na Pyaar Hai (Blockbuster), Koi Mil Gaya (Super Hit), Krrish (Blockbuster) and Krrish 3 (All Time Blockbuster). From the remaining 16 films that he acted outside the Filmkraft banner / Rakesh Roshan’s direction, 2 super hits (Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Agneepath) and 2 blockbusters (Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Dhoom 2). Apart from that Jodhaa Akbar can be put in the ‘Super Hit’ category as it managed ‘Super Hit’ business in all territories where it got a full-fledged release. The film was banned in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Uttarakhand. This affected the business of the film in major circuits, outside which it did Super Hit business. Q. What are your expectations from ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ after watching the trailers and songs? Will this concept work in today’s modern cinema? – Khaled A. One thing is for sure – Prem Ratan Dhan Payo will take a record opening on the day after Diwali puja, which also happens to be the best day for film business. The rest would depend on content. The only concern is if the youth will come out in big numbers to watch the film. PRDP is not the sort of film they like to watch and the response from this section of audience (youngsters / college going students) has been mixed. But the family audience, that do not come watch films, are likely to come out in big numbers. Sooraj Barjatya films do have a strong fan-following all across India, whether it is cities, towns or even villages. A film like Vivaah was a record grosser in Bihar. Plus the added factor of Salman and Sooraj reuniting after 15 years. All this will ensure a massive opening, but if the film does indeed have limited youth appeal, business will be affected in the long run. Q. Why Aamir Khan has less fans in social networking site? But when his movie release huge number of people coming to see his movie, aren’t they Aamir fans? – Rehaan

In the last #LiveQnA session that was held on Sunday, nearly 350 questions were posted. We couldn’t answer all of them on Sunday, so we will try and answer a few more questions today. Q. Isn’t it too late to release ‘Dilwale’ trailer just 1 month before release?

Live QnA begins at 8PM today. Post your questions in the comments section below. We will be answering 10 questions today. Q. I have just one question that is regarding Actual and real.box office collection of DDLJ as according to me it is not possible to be remain on 61 crores from last 20 years. I think I will get my answer this time around as I already asked this question several time but till now didn’t get the answer – Sameer