Dangal Trailer Review: Trade and Audience Response

The theatrical trailer of Aamir Khan’s Dangal was released 2 weeks ago and the response so far has been terrific. Before we get down to analysing the trailer, let’s take a moment to applaud the man who carries the burden of immense expectations.

“If a film has Aamir Khan, it has to be a good film” is something that we get to hear often. The ‘trust’ of the audience is difficult to earn, but living upto expectations and delivering quality films over and over again has been Aamir’s USP. He mixes it up well too, smart when it comes to film choices; One big-budget commercial film, followed by a ‘content-driven’ film that wins over both critics and the audience.

Positives of Dangal Trailer:

• “Aamir Khan’s physical transformation”: The effort that has gone into playing the younger and older characters is immense. By gaining 30 kilos in 6 months and then losing all that weight a few months later, Aamir had put his life at risk. On-screen though, the results are outstanding. We see him carrying a oversized belly in one scene and a few moments later, he is in better shape than he was in Ghajini. Almost everyone we asked, took notice of the transformation and praised it. When an actor dedicates two years of his life for one role, the audience doesn’t mind paying the high ticket prices that his films command.
• “As real as it can get”: What really stands out in the trailer is how real the film looks. Not many in the trade or audience pointed it out when we asked them, but the look and feel of Dangal is as real as it can get. People at smaller centres will also relate to the film a lot better than most films that are released today. Dangal is a pan-India film.
• “Perfect casting”: While Aamir’s presence can overshadow everything else, the casting seems to be perfect. Whether it is the dialogue delivery, accent or expressions, every actor seems to have delivered. Aamir’s attention to detail is visible here too, he has worked closely with the director and dedicated nearly 6 months to getting the right actors for the characters.
• “Indian feel”: Films that are shot in India, narrate real-life stories and have that rural feel to it are working in today’s times.
• “Women Empowerment” is a much-discussed topic, Dangal is about two women wrestlers doing the unexpected and winning against all odds.

Negatives:

• “A lot like Sultan”: One of the negatives that a lot of people pointed out is the similarity of Dangal with the other big release this year Salman Khan’s Sultan. Both were films based on wrestling. A few among the audience even went to the extent of saying it looks like a remake of Sultan!
• “Doesn’t look entertaining”: The entertainment seeking audience might not be in a hurry to watch the film, so we expect the opening to be lower than some of the other event films.

The numbers:

We asked 28 people in the trade (including theatre owners, distributors, trade veterans etc) for their feedback on the trailer. The response was positive - 23 of them said the trailer was ‘good’, 5 said it was ‘average’, none said it was ‘poor’. None of these people were in any which way associated with UTV Disney, Aamir Khan, Nitesh Tiwari or anyone related to the film. Opinions were from known and unbiased sources.

How did you like the #Dangal Trailer? https://t.co/QARMfu1A6l

— Indicine.com (@indicine) October 20, 2016

The audience response falls in the ‘positive’ category too. In our poll on Twitter, 45% people voted for ‘outstanding’, 23% voted for ‘good’, 22% voted for ‘average’ and 10% voted for ‘poor’. We have tied up with three exhibitors to get genuine opinion on the trailer. At one theatre from the Mysore circuit, we got 62 responses, 48 people said they’ll watch the film, 5 said they’ll wait for feedback / reviews, 9 said they’ll skip it. At another theatre in Mumbai circuit we asked 96 people, 74 said they’ll watch the film, 10 said they’ll wait for the feedback / reviews and 12 said they’ll skip it. The response was about the same from the third theatre from Delhi.

Overall, the percentage of audience that said they would watch, only after watching the trailer, is very high.

Here’s what some of them said:

• “Will never miss an Aamir Khan film, anything he releases will be watched”
• “I trust Aamir more than the reviews I hear”
• “Looks like Chak De India and Lagaan”
• “Aamir walking into the arena to compete (shows towards the end of the trailer) is mind blowing”
• “Bohot acchi lagi trailer (really liked the trailer)”
• “Looks like Sultan”
• “Not looking entertaining”

Our Rating: We got with 8 on 10 for the trailer of Dangal.

Movie	Trade Response	Audience Response	Our Rating
Wazir	Average	Average	6
Airlift	Winner	Outstanding	8
Kya Kool Hai Hum 3	Average	Poor	3
Mastizaade	Average	Poor	2
Saala Khadoos	Average	Good	7
Ghayal Once Again	Average	Average	4
Sanam Teri Kasam	Average	Average	4
Fitoor	Poor	Average	4
Neerja	Average	Good	8
Love Shhuda	Poor	Poor	4
Tere Bin Laden 2	Poor	Average	5
Jai Gangaajal	Average	Average	5
Teraa Suroor 2	Average	Poor	1
Kapoor & Sons	Winner	Good	7
Rocky Handsome	Average	Average	5
Ki And Ka	Winner	Good	7
Fan	Winner	Good	8
Baaghi	Winner	Good	6
1920 London	Average	Average	3
Azhar	Average	Average	4
Sarabjit	Average	Good	6
Housefull 3	Average	Average	5
TE3N	Negative	Average	7
Udta Punjab	Average	Average	6
Sultan	Unanimous Winner	Oustanding	8
Great Grand Masti	Winner	Average	6
Dishoom	Average	Average	5
Mohenjo Daro	Average	Average	7
Rustom	Winner	Good	8
Happy Bhaag Jayegi	Average	Average	6
A Flying Jatt	Winner	Average	7
Akira	Average	Average	5
Baar Baar Dekho	Average	Good	7
Shivaay	Winner	Oustanding	8
Raaz Reboot	Poor	Poor	3
Pink	Average	Good	7
MS Dhoni	Winner	Good	8
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil	Poor	Average	5
Force 2	Winner	Average	6
Befikre	Poor	Average	6
Rock On 2	Poor	Poor	4
Tum Bin 2	Poor	Poor	3
Kahaani 2	Good	Good	7
Dangal	Winner	Outstanding	8
Kaabil	Good	Good	7
Raees	Winner	Good	8