AskIndicine: Has concluded

Q. How would you rate the Sultan teaser? And what are the prospects of the clash actually happening?

A. The Sultan teaser was short and effective, even though it didn’t reveal anything about the film. The shoot is still in progress, so the whole point behind releasing the teaser early was to attach it to the prints of ‘FAN’ – which was getting a wide release worldwide. The response has been very good so far. As for the clash, it’s not happening. Raees will move to a later date. Official announcement will be made soon.

Q. When Namaste England will happen?

A. The shoot begins in August this year. It’ll be wrapped up by the end of 2016 and release early 2017.

Q. According to you which is the better teaser, Raees or Sultan? And what do you think whether they should clash or not? (Axis)

A. Raees Teaser, any day. It was fantastic, arguably the best teaser in a very long time. There is a genuine reason why the clash between Sultan and Raees can’t take place. Raees wouldn’t get a wide enough single-screen release that it deserves and at multiplexes too the ratio of shows could be higher for Sultan. When it comes to sheer star power, Salman is in a different league right now, especially at smaller centres. He also has a stronghold over Eid, people want to watch his films during the weekend that he created. It would be a very risky move to release Raees during Eid, more so because SRK can’t afford yet another domestic under performer.

Q. Ratings for Udta Punjab Trailer? (Amar)

A. 7 on 10. Good trailer, with what looks like terrific performances by Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt.

Q. Is Shah Rukh Khan - Aditya Chopra film the biggest of their careers? And when is the film releasing? (Adnan)

A. There hasn’t been an official announcement from Yash Raj Films about this, but Shah Rukh Khan has confirmed that Aditya Chopra has asked him to keep his dates free for 2017 end. Shoot begins end of next year, 3 month schedule, release in the second half of 2018. By ‘biggest’, if you mean ambitious, then that’s what we would expect – scale and budget wise. But if you mean career biggest hits, it’ll take something extraordinary to beat DDLJ.

Q. Please post an article comparing three Khans (Salman, SRK and Aamir) with Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna and Dilip Kumar (Rohit Agarwal)

A. That comparison cannot be made. Khans belong to the same era, the other legends you mentioned weren’t really competing with each other and all belonged to different eras. Rajesh Khanna was super-popular for a short period of time and that’s when he delivered those 15 back-to-back successful films. Bachchan was one man industry for more than a decade. Salman has been inconsistent, but has taken super stardom to a different level now. Aamir is one of those rare combination of good films plus stardom. Shah Rukh has been in the industry for a very long time, dominated for long periods and while he has had his share of failures in between, he has been consistent like no other. It’s only in the last year or so that questions are being raised about the domestic (India) box office performance of his films, it’ll get more serious if FAN doesn’t cross the 100 crore mark.

Q. Which film will take the weekend of 2nd October this year? Is the weekend good for Raees if it’s getting postponed? (Faizan)

A. There are rumours of Raees moving to 29th July (date taken by Dishoom) and Diwali (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Shivaay). The two other dates that the makers could look at is September 9 (currently with Excel’s Baar Baar Dekho), it’s a 4-day weekend with Bakrid falling on Monday. October 2nd isn’t the best of dates if a film wants to have a long and successful run. The pre-Diwali period (dull for films) will start affecting business from the second week of October.

Q. According to you who was better acting wise – Akshay Kumar in Airlift or SRK in Fan? (Ayush)

A. Shah Rukh Khan in FAN, he was absolutely terrific. Outstanding would be an understatement for the way he played the role of Gaurav. Award deserving performance. Akshay was very good too, but his role didn’t really require him to modulate his voice or completely change his body language to play a 25 year old like SRK. Quick poll, vote.

Q. Does FAN have any chance to do business over 150 crore? Sachin

A. No, there is no chance now. Final IndicineLBO (lifetime box office prediction) will be published later today.

Q. Do you think Azhar biopic can really hit it out of the park and be a box office success? (Huzaifa Zafar)

A. It’s expected to hit a six on Day 1 i.e we are expecting the opening day to be around the 6 crore mark. Rest would depend on content and how the audience like the film.

Q. Heard Azhar makers already in profit.. How much Azhar needs to get blockbuster tag?

A. It would need 45-50 crore from the domestic box office to break even. 55 crore plus would be HIT, 80 crore range Super Hit and 110-120 crore for Blockbuster. Approx.

Q. Is this the best ever April for industry? First Ki & Ka, then The Jungle Book and now FAN. There is still Baaghi to come. (Hardik Lamba)

A. It’s been a terrific April so far. Ki and Ka was a profitable film. The Jungle Book will be the most profitable film of 2016 and could cross the 150 crore mark. FAN has been a little below expectations, but if it manages 120-130 crore by the end of its run, it’ll be a fantastic April with a mass-film like Baaghi to come.

Q. Do you think Bollywood has raised its bar with films like Fan, Airlift, Neerja, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and upcoming film like Sarbjit, Udta Punjab and many more. No masala film only quality movies work in these days.

A. India is a vast country and what’s ‘quality’ for the city audience is boring / unappealing for audience at smaller centres. We need more universally appealing films like Bajrangi Bhaijaan and if not films of that level, even films like 2 States that appeal to a larger section of the audience. Airlift and Neerja were fantastic films without doubt, but both didn’t work at smaller centres and the exhibitors there aren’t too pleased with Bollywood churning out films that only appeals to the Urban audience. Sarbjit might work, but the ‘heavy’ and ‘depressing’ feel to it, with restrict its business. Udta Punjab is a word-of-mouth film.

Q. What is the word of mouth of FAN?

A. Mixed in cities, negative at smaller centres.

Q. What do you think about the prospect of Kaabil Box office? (Sohail)

A. Too early to talk about Hrithik’s Kaabil. All we can do for now is hope that Sanjay Gupta does a better film than he has in the recent past.

Q. Do you think consistently under performance of SRK’s movies will replace him with Hrithik at No 3 if Mohenjo Daro become huge success? (Ankit)

A. If you’re talking about our Top 15 Actor Ranking, then SRK’s last 4 movies have collected exactly Rs 700 crore and Hrithik’s last 4 have collected Rs 640 crore. So Hrithik’s Mohenjo Daro has to collect Rs 61 crore mark than SRK’s FAN. This is assuming Raees releases after Mohenjo Daro.

Q. What is FAN’s ‘actual real’ Final collection for DAY 1. Some reporting 19.4 crore. Some reporting 20+cr. Some reporting as high as 23 crore?

A. The figure of 19.4 crore was released by Yash Raj Films. Why would they underquote their film? They haven’t inflated either, 19 crore is accurate. We posted it in our early estimate on Friday night too. There are lots of sites on the internet today and most of them quote random figures.

Q. Seeing the collections of Fan, Raees looks certain to get postponed now. Which date you think they will opt for? It will be a non holiday date again I guess as all good dates are already booked.

A. 9th September (Bakrid) or Diwali if Karan Johar is willing to move Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. Raees should be a good film, so it would probably work in the film’s favour if they release it atleast 4-5 months after FAN.

Q. How much have Jungle Book’s excellent box office results affected FAN opening and overall weekend collection?

A. Not much on Friday, but business on Saturday was affected.

Q. Would it have made a difference in collections if they did put the Jabra fan song in the movie?

A. Not by much, but the audience were disappointed that the Jabra song wasn’t a part of the film. Also, songless films don’t work at smaller centres.

Q. What are the changing dynamics that affecting & guiding the movie products into another direction? My question is in the context of “genre” & people’s “tastes” as I think these are changing fast these days. (Ihsan)

A. The audience is more than willing to give every genre a chance. Bajrangi Bhaijaan, PK, Bajirao Mastani, Baahubali, The Jungle Book, Airlift.. all belong to different genres. The audience also got something new from each film. So the message is clear, give us a good film and we are more than willing to watch it. Bad films are biting the dust as early as noon on Friday.

Q. Are there any rumours or actual information about the story or cast of the new Sanjay Leela Bhansali Christmas 2017 movie?

A. None. Few rumours, but no confirmation. There are reports that he wants to sign a big star, because the budget will be high.

Q. Do you think Baaghi will be postponed by a week because of lack of screens. Jungle Book will run for a month looks like. FAN will definitely run for a month. No more screens left for a 60 cr budgeted film like Baaghi.

A. Screens wouldn’t be a problem at all. Baaghi will get a good single-screen release. At multiplexes too, both Jungle Book and FAN will be down to low levels by the time Baaghi releases.

Q. Why has fan underperformed, despite getting good reviews? If the answer is – ‘it hasn’t performed well at mass centres’ then the point is it was never expected to give the genre. So shouldn’t the the expectations be set in the right way?

A. It’s fans who set unrealistically high expectations from a film like FAN. We had always maintained from the day the trailer was out that the film was looking at a 20 crore opening day and 150 crore lifetime total if it carried good word-of-mouth. There are some films that have limited audience, a star alone can’t take a film to a 30 crore opening – the genre has to be universally appealing too. Critical acclaim and celebrity reviews on social media is worthless, if the audience doesn’t like the film in theatres. The word-of-mouth will quickly negate positive reviews.

Q. Do you think its good from Ranveer Singh to do a Rohit Shetty Movie? Yes they make money in the box office but are not critically acclaimed.it seems that the audience is looking for more content oriented movies rather than over the top entertainment

A. Every single actor in the industry would prefer commercial success over critical acclaim. Praise from critics is added bonus if the film does well at the box office. Can’t write off Rohit Shetty after one under performer, he has delivered several hugely successful films. Families and children love his films. Even Dilwale would have done 200 plus with solo release.

Q. Which film has the biggest opening day for films which do not have universally appealing genres or which are slightly off beat/ non massy or which have been promoted/relied on only one ‘factor’ or a ‘face’ to get an initial? (Ashish Thapar)

A. Interesting question. It’s FAN that has managed the biggest opening without a universally appealing genre. It was also the highest opening day for a film without songs. Full list of Highest First Day Collections

Q. Why we always compare every movie with box office collection and not with quality?

A. Because it’s box office collections that suggest whether the audience is liking the film or not. There can be nothing bigger than people paying their hard-earned on a film. A critic who watches a movie for free during a press screening shouldn’t be the one who decides the ‘quality’ level of a film. If someone in Bihar watches a film like Bodyguard or Aashiqui 2 and enjoys it to the fullest, it’s a quality film for him. Liking or not liking a film is completely subjective.

Q. What does does verdict ‘under performer’ means exactly?

A. Under performer means a film that has fallen below trade expectations. A film like FAN is expected to do around 130 crore to be a decent grosser, if it doesn’t do that, it’s an under-performer. Same with films like Jai Ho, Talaash or Dilwale.

Q. How much fee does SRK charge for doing Fan?

A. SRK doesn’t charge for his films. Outside producer he takes a share if the film is profitable. Otherwise, he himself produces it. He himself has said he hasn’t charged for his films in the last 20 years.

Q. Can Baaghi get opening of more than 10 cr?

A. The expectation is around 8-9 crore opening. It could do 10, if the songs get popular.

Q. Is the SRKs film with Anand Rai targeting next year Christmas release and is he playing the role of a dwarf in it?

A. Yes.

Q. What about Rangoon, Sonakshi’s Haseena?

A. Haseena is on hold at the moment. Date and production issues. Ragoon: The shoot has been wrapped up two days ago. Releases 30th September.

That ends today’s QnA. Thank you for joining us. We have taken quite a few questions from the first 15 pages in the comments section. We will answer remaining questions from the last 5 pages tomorrow.  32 questions were answered today.