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A record 450 comments have been posted on this article. QnA begins in 10 minutes.

Q. When The FAN Trailer Is coming? How Many Songs In The Movie FAN?

A. The FAN trailer is expected in about 15-20 days from now. YRF doesn’t have a date for the trailer yet. As for the songs, there are reports that there are 3 songs in the film. Two are likely to be promotional tracks. The report is unconfirmed, as YRF is secretive about the project. Vishal – Shekhar are composing the music.

Q. What is the worldwide collection of Airlift?

A. It’s approximately Rs 204 crore worldwide, Akshay Kumar’s highest worldwide grosser to date.

Q. Footfalls of Airlift till second week?

A. About 1 – 1.05 crore footfalls (tickets sold) till the end of second week.

Q. What is the production budget of Mohenjo daro? And when is the shooting supposed to finish?

A. Production budget including Hrithik’s fee could cross Rs 120 crore. Too early to talk about the budget, as the film is currently on the floors. Hrithik’s injury has delayed the shoot by a few weeks.

Q. Why is trade already considering Jagga Jasoos as Flop? Reshooting is for betterment of a movie so why its taken in a negative way? Anushman

A. Jagga Jasoos has been in the making for a long time now and there have been reports that the makers themselves are not happy with the way the film has shaped up. While they have also denied reports of scenes being reshot, the pre-release reports are not very positive. It happened with films like Bombay Velvet too and the audience, especially at metro cities, is well aware of this. However, Jagga Jasoos should still take a reasonably good opening if the trailer impresses.

Q. How much screens will FAN get? It’s a solo release? – Ehtesham

A. Shah Rukh Khan commands a strong fan-following in every territory in India. So even though it’s a niche film (unlikely to hold mass appeal), it should still release on 3500 plus screens in India.

Q. What’s your opinion of masala film after the underperformance of Dilwale, has masala genre died because films like Jai Ho, Singh is Bling, Action Jackson were flops at box office too? 

A. A genre doesn’t die when one or two films fail at the box office, the ‘south style masala films’ were overdone when a few films like Ghajini, Dabangg, Rowdy Rathore worked at the box office. Unfortunately, a lot of films that released weren’t entertaining enough for the audience to come out in big numbers. Having said that, a well made entertaining film will still work, like we have seen with films like Kick, Chennai Express. Even Bajrangi Bhaijaan can be put in the same category as ‘masala’ is nothing but a combination of action, comedy, romance. BB had a social message and a good story to tell too. As for Dilwale, it wasn’t rejected by the audience. 150 crore is a big number and had it released solo, it would have easily crossed the 200 crore mark. The audience had two choices last Christmas, a film that promised a difference experience, a magnum opus that provided better value-for-money, they opted for it instead of a routine Rohit Shetty entertainer. Even Om Shanti Om wouldn’t have done as well as it did, if it was competing against a Bajirao Mastani instead of Saawariya.

Q. Bajirao Mastani is a box office Hit but is there any chance for it in TV though it is a niche film?

A. Definitely. Baahubali fetched excellent TRP’s on television and Bajirao Mastani’s tv premiere will also be keenly-awaited. It’ll be a huge, the satellite rights have fetched an excellent price too.

Q. What about Raees and Sultan clash, both are big films and definitely every one would love to watch both films. So will the clash be averted?

A. So far, there hasn’t been any news from both sides regarding the clash. There is a long way for the shoot of Sultan to be wrapped up. But we’ve now been hearing in the last few days from trade sources, that both YRF and Excel/Red Chillies want to work out a solution and possibly avert the clash.

Q. Box office is in loss in January due to flop films except Airlift?

A. Airlift was the biggest success and by far the biggest grosser. A couple of films recovered costs, all other movies failed. We have a detailed report on January 2016

Q. What is your take on Shahid Kapoor upcoming movies and his career after the release? Please give details. @fans from Nepal

A. He has two films Udta Punjab and Rangoon – both are unlikely to hold universal appeal and both will rely on word-of-mouth. Shahid’s career has always looked promising, but his films haven’t worked at the box office. That has to change and change very quick if he has to compete with rising stars like Varun and Ranveer. Only when his films work will more commercial and bigger directors sign him for their films. Talent alone is not enough in the industry, unfortunately. It’s about choosing and doing the right films.

Q. What could be the opening day figure of Housefull 3?

A. Should be 20 crore plus on a non-holiday. Certain to be Akshay’s biggest non-holiday opening.

Q. After Airlift’s phenomenal success, can Housefull 3 do 200 crore? Housefull 2 managed 110 with extremely negative reviews and average word-of-mouth? – Gajendra

A. Housefull 2 had positive word-of-mouth and the film was liked both by the multiplex and single-screen audience. Such films never get positive reviews, it’s only the audience reviews that matter at the end of the day. Unlike Airlift, Housefull 3 has wider appeal and hence has the potential to do 200 crore. But for that the film has to be entertaining.

Q. Fitoor or Sanam Re, which film has more buzz and which one will open better? – Priya

A. The music of Sanam Re has done well and T-Series is going all out to promote it. But Fitoor should still manage a better opening because of Katrina Kaif’s presence, she’s still a big star. Sanam Re has no star value.

Q. Is SRK the biggest crowd puller in overseas and who is No.1 in overseas among 3 Khan’s? Which will be bigger hit between Fan & Raees?

A. SRK’s overseas record is staggering. Which was his last film that did not perform well overseas? We do not know. Every film works, most work big. With Dilwale, he’s yet again proved that he’s the biggest crowd puller in the traditional market, as not only did a successful film like Bajirao Mastani release, but Star Wars also released during the same period. Dilwale has also set records in several non-traditional countries, but the collections are not as big as PK in China, which is why it doesn’t hit headlines.

Q. When the National film awards 2016. Will be given? According to you who should win Best actor National award in Bollywood?

A. National Awards 2016 will be announced on April 16, will be given / presented on May 3rd. Best Actor is picked from all languages and not just from Bollywood – we are not too sure about the top performances other film industries.

Q. How many Bollywood films have crossed the 100 crore mark worldwide and how many have crossed the 200 crore mark worldwide (both figures in gross)?

A. We will do an article on this. Too many to list here.

Q. Any movie Hrithik signed after Mohenjo Daro? Any updates about Thug or Dhoom 4 or Kabir Khan’s movie? – Sam

A. He will be doing a film with Sanjay Gupta (Kaabil) followed by a film with Kabir Khan.

Q. If Shivaay works among masses and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil work among classes, then which movie will earn more? – Chanakya

A. There is no question of such movies working at the box office, if they fail at multiplexes. The contribution of multiplexes is more than 80-85% for most films and even universal blockbusters the ratio is 65-70 at multiplexes vs 30-35 at single-screens.

Q. Can Rustom outgross Airlift if the content is strong?can it do 150crs even with clash? What kind of opening can it take? Your views.

A. Too early to talk about Rustom. Let the trailer release.

Q. Is Salman’s current stardom that started post wanted bigger than anything witnessed before across generation? (Compared to biggest superstars of all time like Dilip Sahab, Mr. Bachan, Rajesh Khanna)

A. We haven’t really experienced the superstardom of Bachchan or Khanna. The footfalls of Bachchan movies used to be much higher than Salman Khan films of today. But that could be due to various reasons – more entertainment options, piracy, ticket prices etc etc. But no other actors has so many back-to-back blockbusters / all time blockbusters like Salman.

Q. Do you think that single screens will accept content driven films like FAN?

A. Doubtful, but lets wait and see. It would depend on how entertaining the film is. It’s also difficult to predict what ‘clicks’ with the audience. A good film like Baby doesn’t do as well as it should, but Airlift takes off and does very well. Box office is very unpredictable, anything can happen.

Q. I love Abhay Deol acting, so i want to know what are Abhay Deol upcoming films? – Jassi

A. Abhay Deol has signed Dulha Mil Gaya director’s Mudassar Aziz, co-produced by Aanand L Rai (Tanu Weds Manu Returns). Diana Penty of Cocktail fame has been cast opposite him.

Q. Why the Akshay Kumar is still not able cross 150 Crore mark after getting fantastic starts.. Movies like Baby and Airlift and with Positive word of mouth?

A. That’s because of the limited appeal of the film. Airlift was a thriller, it’s not what we’d call a ‘wholesome entertainer’. Because of this, the film performance well at 35-40 odd cities in the country. A better example would be Chak De India and Om Shanti Om, the former is a much better film, but the later more entertainer and massy – which is why it was a much bigger grosser. Taalash is another example, even if its a classic must watch film, it won’t gross half as much as PK / Dhoom 3.

25 questions were answered today, we will answer more questions tomorrow. Like always, thank you for your support.