Answers from the just-concluded ‘Live Question and Answer’ session. We answered 15 questions from our readers. This new page was created to have a fresh discussion in the comments section. Q. List of highest grossing bollywood movies in overseas markets - Farhan Haider
The second ‘LiveQnA’ session. Ask any movie related question in the comments section below and get it answered immediately. We pick 10 questions and update this page with answers. A little late in the day because our servers cannot handle the high traffic during ‘LiveQnA’ during the day time. Let’s start. Readers can refresh the page once every 10 minutes or so for the latest answers!
Q. After looking at the opening day collections of ABCD 2, is Varun Dhawan a bigger star than Akshay Kumar? Why...
For the first time here on Indicine, we are introducing a new feature called ‘Live QnA’. Ask any movie related question in the comments section below and get it answered immediately. We pick 10 questions and update this page with answers. Let’s start. Readers can refresh the page once every 10 minutes or so for the latest answers! We already have 895 visitors viewing this page right now!
Q. What will be the opening of Singh Is Bling and will it beat the figures of Bang Bang which released on the same day last year? - Kritagya A. National holiday doesn’t guarantee a good opening. May 1st was also a holiday in most parts of the country, but Gabbar Is Back collected Rs 13 crore on Day 1. Also, Nishikant Kamat’s Rocky Handsome releases on the same day, which will affect the business of Akshay Kumar’s Singh Is Bling. A lot would also depend on how well the trailer and music are received. We expect the opening to be in the same range as Gabbar Is Back and nowhere close to Bang Bang.
Q. Time and time again we have heard about the clashes between Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan. We now see that not only...
Time for yet another ‘Question and Answer’ session. In the last 7 days, we have received a record 3000+ questions related to Shahrukh Khan’s Fan. Most were about release dates and others were about VFX. We answer 5 questions from our readers, do read. You can also ask your questions using the form at the bottom of the article.
Q. Can Akshay Kumar’s Brothers surpass the 20 crore mark on its opening day and become the highest opener of Akshay’s career - Faizan Tariq Khan A. It should most certainly be Akshay’s biggest opener, but we expect the opening day to be somewhere around 17-18 crore. The second day, which happens to be a national holiday for Independence Day,
We answer a few ‘Bombay Velvet’ related questions: Q. What is the screen count of Bombay Velvet? A. Bombay Velvet is releasing on approximately 2600-2700 screens across India. The film will have a limited single-screen release. Even at multiplexes, the number of shows is much lower than what mega-budget films usually get. Q. How much does the film need to collect to be a profitable venture and what is the budget of ‘Bombay Velvet’? A. From its theatrical business (overseas and India), Bombay Velvet has to collect around Rs 150 crore just to recover costs. Assuming that it does fairly well overseas, the film would have to collect around 125-130 crore in India. Cost of production is Rs 90 crore, the makers have spent around 20 crore on marketing. Total costs – 110 crore approx.
We answer a few ‘Gabbar Is Back’ related questions that we have been receiving in the last couple of weeks...
Our Question and Answer section has become quite popular. We receive hundreds of questions every single day, but cannot answer all of them. The problem is, while most questions are repetitive, we cannot answer several others that are too specific (like questions on release date), too personal or funny!
Q. Which movies have best chance of breaking opening day collections of Happy New Year this year? A. This year, only Shahrukh Khan’s Dilwale will have a realistic chance of breaking the opening day record of ‘Happy New Year’ i.e if it releases on Christmas holiday (25th December). Any film releasing on a working day or a restricted holiday will find it difficult. The other two films releasing during the two main festive seasons are Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo. But Bajrangi Bhaijaan releases during the Pre-Eid period and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo is scheduled to release on ‘Diwali puja’ day. However, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo could set to the record for the highest single-day collections (on its second day).
Q. Will there be any movie in future which will cross the footfalls of Hum Aapke Hai Kaun, DDLJ and Gadar? – Lokesh Goel A. It will be difficult. In the last 10 years, 3 Idiots received the highest number of footfalls for a Bollywood film and even then it struggled to come close to the footfalls of films like Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, DDLJ and Gadar. There are several reasons why footfalls at theatres have reduced in the last decade or so. The audience has many more entertainment options today, as compared to 15-20 years ago. Hundreds of television channels and online video streaming websites like Youtube. Also, the ticket prices have increased quite significantly, not many families can afford to pay Rs 2000 for every movie outing. And finally, there is piracy too. Downloading and watching a movie from the internet is easy. So, unless a film is truly worth the price of a ticket, audiences prefer to stay away from theatres.
Q. Is Vivah the biggest hit of Shahid? If Vivah can be a big hit with the support of families, starring Shahid Kapoor, then why are you underestimating Prem Ratan Dhan Payo? - Akbar A. Yes, Vivah remains the biggest hit of Shahid Kapoor’s career. The film under-performed at major cities, but was a major hit in smaller centres. It was the longest running film in Bihar that year too. However, Vivah was a small film which was released on limited number of screens.
Q. Is there any clash between Sultan and Raees? And if not who will get the Eid release? Because as of now it is Salman’s favourite date. – Supratim Basu A. Salman Khan has ‘Diwali 2016’ with him, which happens to be Shahrukh’s ‘favourite weekend’, so it all balances out in the end. There could be some sort of mutual understanding between the Khans that each of them gets one festive release. Since Aamir doesn’t have a release this year, Salman has two films lined up this year - Bajrangi Bhaijaan during Eid and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo during Diwali. Also, there is uncertainty around Sultan and Dharma’s Shhuddhi also goes on floors later this year. For now, Raees is pretty much confirmed to arrive during Eid. It will be Shahrukh Khan during Eid next year! Q. After back to back flops like Happy Ending, Humshakals and Bullett Raja, will Saif Ali Khan’s Phantom stand a chance to become a blockbuster? – Zeeshan Aareez A. Blockbuster looks difficult at this stage as the costs are high. The opening should be decent, but there are reports that the film is too similar to Akshay Kumar’s Baby, which could affect its business in the long run.
Q. Should ‘Dilwale’ release on 18th December or 25th December? Which is a better release date? A. Like we have seen in the last couple of years, releasing films a week before Christmas can prove to be beneficial as they get more than 3 open weeks at the box office. Having said that, such a move can also back-fire if the content is not strong enough. We think Shahrukh and Rohit will wait until the shoot is complete and then decide whether to release the film on 18th or 25, depending on how the film has shaped up. Also, if they are targeting opening day / weekend records, 25th would be a better date to release the film. Q. After back to back flops, is Vidya Balan still a bankable star and is anyone really excited about another biopic? – Ajay Rocks A. Vidya Balan was never really a bankable star at the box office. A film like ‘Kahaani’, which released after ‘The Dirty Picture’ took a slow start (Rs 2.75 crore on Day 1). Her films will do well if the word-of-mouth is good. No female centric film will take a huge initial, unless they sell sex! Q. Dear Indicine, Love your site. Whenever I type letter I on my keypad it shows indicine.com.. that is how frequently I open your site in a day. My only question is, what according to you would be the perfect release date for Shahrukh Khan’s FAN? - Shoaib A. Thank you! ‘Dilwale’ is releasing during Christmas and ‘Raees’ has been confirmed for Eid 2016 (early July). If the makers can complete the film on time, October 2nd would be a good date, as Akshay Kumar’s Singh Is Bling is likely to be postponed. A gap of atleast 3-4 months is necessary between two Shahrukh Khan films, so if ‘FAN’ can’t make it by October, then YRF would probably be looking at releasing their film in March / April 2016. [advert] Q. Don’t you think heroines get less credit for their roles in big films? For example Priyanka Chopra in Barfi!, Katrina Kaif in Rajneeti, Anushka Sharma in PK etc.? – Amith A. All those performances you mentioned were out-shined by male heroes in the same film. Priyanka was outstanding, but so was Ranbir who had a meatier role. Katrina was good, but Ranbir and Ajay were better. Lets not even compare Anushka with one of Aamir’s career best performances in PK. It’s not like heroines don’t get enough credit, Kangana Ranaut just won a National award, Deepika Padukone’s performance in Cocktail and Chennai Express earned her tremendous appreciation. Ditto for Vidya Balan in ‘The Dirty Picture’ and Kahaani. If a performance is outstanding, it will stand out! Q. On what basis do you say that Hritik Roshan is the ‘second’ biggest crowd puller after the Khans, even though his films open as huge the Khans and are one of the biggest grossers? For example, Krrish 3 and Kick both opened on a non-holiday and on pre-Diwali and pre-Eid periods respectively and both earned around 25 crores even though songs of the former didn’t work. Plus pre-Diwali is worse period than pre-Eid and Krrish 3 release on lesser screens - not denying the fact that Krrish was a big brand. A. Difficult question to answer. Hrithik’s star power was comparable to the Khans in the 2000s. In fact, in terms of opening, he was ahead of both Aamir and Salman for most part of last decade (2000 – 2009). Films like Koi Mil Gaya, Dhoom 2, Krrish were not only record-breaking openers, but also went on to be record-grossers and highest grossers of the year too. Even films like Lakshya and Kites opened to near 100% occupancy on Day 1. Unfortunately though, he lags way behind when it comes to his PR machinery, tries to remain out of controversies or link-ups and also does very few films. In short, we’d just say.. if a commercial Hrithik Roshan film releases during one of the 3 major festivals, he is capable of breaking the records set by the Khans. Have a interesting question to ask? Go ahead and fill the form below. Do mention your city if you want it included along with your name! [contact-form-7 id=”40462″ title=”Ask Joginder”]
We answer 5 questions from our readers as part of our popular ‘QnA’ section. You can send us your questions using the form at the bottom of the article. Q. What chances do you think there are of ‘Dilwale’ having an open release date? Do you think Bhansali will bow out of the Christmas slot? - Rahul A. Shahrukh Khan’s ‘Dilwale’ will get a solo release. It would be suicidal for any producer to clash against a Rohit Shetty film starring SRK, Kajol, Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon. More so for a costly film like ‘Bajirao Mastani’. The last time they clashed (Om Shanti Om and Saawariya in 2007) the results were disastrous for Bhansali.
Time to answer some questions from readers as part of our ‘QnA’ section. We answer a few questions on the release date of Dangal, the future after the ‘Khans era’ and a few more. Q. What is the release date of Aamir Khan’s Dangal? Will it get a Christmas release like most other Aamir films? A. While Aamir Khan has said in a couple of interviews that his next is Dangal, the film hasn’t yet been officially announced. So it doesn’t have a release date as of now. Trade sources say, Dangal is not commercial entertainer to take advantage the Christmas weekend that extends to New Year. So Aamir might release the film on some other weekend like Post-IPL, Gandhi Jayanti week etc. Stay tuned to Indicine for the official announcement and more on the final release date of the film.
Our Question and Answer section (which we call Indicine QnA) has become quite popular. We receive hundreds of questions every single day and when we don’t answer some of them, a few of our readers get so upset that we get abusive emails! The problem is, while most questions are repetitive, we cannot answer several others that are too specific (like questions on release date), too personal or funny!
Q. Can Emraan Hashmi Bounce Back After 4 back To Back Flops..? – Avi A. The most difficult part for any actor is to establish his / her fan base amongst the audience. Once they do, fans tend to stick. A few failures in between wouldn’t make any difference. The biggest examples are Salman Khan and Hrithik Roshan. Both had to go through extreme lows in their careers,
Q. Can Akshay Kumar starrer ‘Main Gabbar’ cross 100 crore mark because on the same day one of the biggest franchise of Hollywood ‘Avengers 2’ is also releasing - Vishal Mehta A. We can only answer questions about the box office prospects of films once the trailer has been released.
Q. What is the budget of Varun Dhawan’s Badlapur and how much does it need to be a clean hit at the box office? - Faizan Tariq A. Badlapur has been made on a medium budget of Rs 25 crore with a few more crores spent on marketing the film. The film would be a decent success if it manages to collect Rs 45 crore.
Q. Is ROY a Hit or Flop? How much does it need to collect to be the first HIT of 2015? – Rohit A. ROY has to...
Q. Indicine, I have asked you several questions but you have not answered yet. I hope you answer my question this time. My question is Bajrangi Bhaijaan or SRK-Rohit Shetty next which has got a better release date and which is more likely to be this year’s biggest grosser? – Pratyush
Q. Can Akshay Kumar’s Baby cross the 100 crore mark at the box office? – Aneesh A. Baby has collected Rs 87...
