#AskIndicine: Live QnA begins at 8PM today, post your questions!

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

A. Ticket prices are as cheap as Rs 20 even for the balcony tickets and the film is running only one show in a day. So even though it does go houseful once in a while on Sunday, Yash Raj Films is funding the screening of DDLJ. It’s not for money or box office collections, it’s about the legacy of DDLJ as the longest running film in the world.

Q. How did Abhishek Bachchan’s career go off the track so badly when he was apparently doing reasonably well till 2008 (Dostana in 2008, Guru in 2007)? – Siddharth

A. Abhishek Bachchan was never a bankable star. The two solo-hits of his career are ‘Bunty Aur Babli’ (2005) and ‘Guru’ (2007). The former came when almost every Yash Raj Films was working at the box office and Rani Mukerji was at the peak of her career. The release of ‘Guru’ was perfectly timed with Aishwarya and Abhishek’s engagement and marriage announcement, so that helped the opening of the film. We don’t mean to be too harsh on him here, but as a solo hero he was never a crowd-puller.

Q. Do you think Prem Ratan Dhan Payo will do very less business at box office? It stars Neil Nitin Mukesh, Arman Kohli and Sonam Kapoor who are not A-list actors. Moreover, Sooraj Barjatya has returned to direction after 10 years, people have become more modern now for his films? – SK

A. It’s difficult to explain the craze that Salman Khan is commanding currently. Kick didn’t have a popular heroine and the director (Sajid Nadiadwala) was making his debut. It still managed a huge opening at the box office. Jai Ho was a complete washout as far as the production values, music, director and it didn’t have a particularly ‘stunning’ looking or established heroine either. Even then, it collected Rs 26 crore on its 3rd day, which is huge because the word-of-mouth did come into play, but people still came to watch because of Salman. Prem Ratan Dhan Payo will take a record-breaking opening. If the music, trailer and other promos work, then sky will be the limit as far as the opening is concerned. Lifetime, obviously, will be content dependent.

Q. What do you think about clash of Dilwale vs Bajirao Mastani and Raees vs Sultan? You think clash will happen or will it be averted? – Sahir

A. So far there hasn’t been any sign of the Dilwale and Bajirao Mastani clash getting averted. In fact, the makers of Bajirao Mastani are booking single screens for December 18 release. Shah Rukh himself has said in several interviews that clashes don’t affect him because he has won most of them and there are 300 movies releasing in a year and we only have 52 weeks. A clash will affect the opening of both films, more so for Bajirao Mastani because it doesn’t belong to a universally appealing genre. A film like Son Of Sardaar has a better chance against Jab Tak Hai Jaan, but releasing an expensive film like ‘Bajirao Mastani’ on the same day as a massive film like ‘Dilwale’ is an extremely risky business decision. But then, Sanjay Leela Bhansali knows better. He has suffered because of a similar clash – Saawariya vs Om Shanti Om back in 2007 – so he’ll be well aware of the consequences if the content of ‘Bajirao Mastani’ doesn’t find appreciation.

Q. Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhat are doing well, but will they be able to carry the high budget of Shhuddhi? – Shweta

A. A film with Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt would cost Karan Johar as lot less than a film starring Salman Khan or Hrithik Roshan in the lead. A film like ‘Baahubali’ had unknown names for the audience outside South Indian markets, but the film did very well due to its content, grandeur and scale. Also, Varun has shown that he is a bankable star. He has his audience that come to watch his films and that’s set to grow further with the release of ‘Dilwale’ later this year.

Q. What do you think the collection of Bahubali if it was done by Hrithik and the film will be just a Bollywood movie – Vinshal

A. Well, the reason why 3 films release each week, even though most fail, is because the film industry is highly creative and extremely unpredictable. Baahubali has collected nearly 3 times more than the previous highest grossing film in Telugu. It has collected 5-6 times more than the previous highest dubbed Hindi film. 3 Idiots smashed all records by a huge margin. So a film like Baahubali starring Hrithik Roshan, if it manages to find the appreciation that the Telugu film did, could potentially break all previous records by a distance.

Q. What’s your take on the movie signing spree Shah Rukh Khan has been on? In all probabilities, he would have 5 releases in approx 1.5 years (starting from Dec 2015). Do you think it can act as an overdose of SRK? Which may or may not be an ideal thing for a superstar of his stature?

A. Shah Rukh has always said that he wants to do 3 films per year and if he does manage that many films a year, the trade including exhibitors will be delighted. As long as the genre of the three films that are releasing back-to-back, don’t get repetitive, the audience will come to watch. In a way the release gap between two films featuring the same star is talked about only because Akshay Kumar releases 4 films every year. While a gap of 49 days (Brothers to Singh Is Bling) is not ideal, that can’t be the reason for poor opening or a film’s failure. For example, Salman Khan’s Bodyguard released less than 3 months after the release of Ready, both were blockbusters. Jai Ho released 13 months after Dabangg 2 and that film didn’t do too well at the box office. So as long as ‘Dilwale’, ‘Fan’ and ‘Raees’ are good films, they will do well at the box office. Shah Rukh Khan films always open well at the box office, that won’t change even if he happens to have two releases in two months.

Q. Does Varun have it in him to challenge the position of Ajay/Akshay? – Shweta

A. Most certainly. He has already taken giant strides with films like Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhani and ABCD 2. Even an off-beat film like Badlapur did well at the box office. The budget of his films are under control, because his remuneration is much lower than the likes of Akshay and Ajay. That, along with his popularity with the urban youth (who spend more on films), gives him a huge advantage.

Q. How much Phantom needs to collect to be called a clean hit?

A. Phantom is an expensive film which was delayed for more than a year. It had to collect more than 80-85 crore to be a reasonably good grosser, but it looks like the film will finish with lifetime business of around 60 crore, maybe a little more if the film shows growth in its second weekend. But with ‘Welcome Back’ releasing tomorrow, business of Phantom will be affected.

Q. I believe opening day collection depends on Buzz and lifetime depends on WOM, so why are you playing safe by not answering the question that whether ‘PRDP will be able to break HNY’s opening day record’ ? Abhyuday

A. It’s impossible to accurately predict opening day business without watching the trailer. It definitely has the potential to beat the opening day business of Happy New Year. The day after Diwali Puja is the best day for film business in the year.

That ends the Live QnA session. We will now be giving short answers to the questions below.

Q. Budget of Bajrangi Bhaijaan? – Prakash Jha

A. 120 crore.

Q. I read an article about SRK doing an Anand L Rai movie opposite Katrina! Also there was a rumour that he will play a dwarf! is it true? – James Khan

A. It’s partially true. But wait for the official announcement.

Q. What is ur expectation from Welcome Back? How much it need to collect to become clean Hit? Rabbe

A. It’s expected to open well. The first film did well at the box office and was also hugely popular on television. Akshay Kumar will be missed.

Q. Currently the highest paid Bollywood celebrities? Farhan Haider

A. The Khans, Hrithik and Akshay. Kangana and Deepika get the highest remuneration among female stars.

Q. Top Highest grossing hollywood films in india? Bhaumik

A. Furious 7 and Jurrasic Park. Spiderman 3, Avatar, Avengers: Age of Ultron, 2012 are the other major grossers.

Q. Since Fox Studios is unlucky.. Can Prem Ratan earn more than 200 cr? – Durga Prasad

A. The past of Fox Studios doesn’t really matter. People are not going to not watch PRDP because Fox is presenting it. Eros was going through a worse phase, but now have Tanu Weds Manu Returns and Bajrangi Bhaijaan.

Q. Which are the top 5 grossing Bollywood films in overseas in 2015? Babaji

A. Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Tanu Weds Manu Returns, Dil Dhadakne Do, Piku.

Q. Is Hrithik doing Aashiqui 3? Mishal

A. No.

Q. Trailer & Both songs of Singh Is Bling looking promising.Can it collect 20+ on Opening Day? Rabbe

A. Unlikely. It’s looking at opening day of around 15 crore.

Q. Is Hrithik Roshan confirmed in YRF’s ‘THUG’? How many days are remaining of Mohenjo Daro shoot? Bivan

A. No, Hrithik hasn’t signed any film after Mohenjo Daro. Shoot of the Ashutosh Gowariker directed film might be wrapped up year end of early next next.

Q. Could u explain what exactly footfalls are? I have an extremely vague and ambiguous understanding of them, but they are vital to a films success and i would like to know what they are exactly. Messi.

A. Footfalls means number of tickets sold, simple as that.

Q. Srk next upcoming projects – Maahi

A. You can check his full list of upcoming movies

Q. Who is bigger Saif Ali Khan or Ajay Devgn or Shahid Kapoor?  Ragib

A. Ajay Devgn, by far.

Q. Why Emraan Hashmi films are continuously flopping? King

A. Because he’s been doing bad films and everyone is kissing.

Refresh the page every 10 minutes for answers!