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121 Responses to “Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania, the rest of the box office”
BO update: ‘Humpty SKD’ and ‘Lai Bhaari’ open to good response!
By Taran Adarsh, July 11, 2014 – 15:10 IST
After last week’s slow performers, BOBBY JASOOS and LEKAR HUM DEEWANA DIL, the entertainment-seeking audience have lapped up the new releases, HUMPTY SHARMA KI DULHANIA and the much-awaited Marathi film LAI BHAARI.
HUMPTY SHARMA KI DULHANIA has opened very well in North, but the opening was affected in Mumbai and other places due to heavy rainfall. Also, its start was hit in Maharashtra due to the stiff competition posed by LAI BHAARI, which has embarked on a solid start. Both, HUMPTY SHARMA KI DULHANIA and LAI BHAARI are expected to dominate this weekend.
Meanwhile, EK VILLAIN has crossed Rs 100 cr nett business in the domestic market, but the above-named new releases will make a dent in its business in the coming days.
taran adarsh@taran_adarsh
It’s a #LaiBhaari wave across Maharashtra. The shows are packed to capacity and the start is HUMONGOUS at every centre. SUPERB!
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania Has Good Opening
Friday 11 July 2014 11.30 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania had a good opening with collections in the 45-50% range at multiplexes. The film has seen one of the better openings of the year till date. There are areas affected by Ramadan and in some areas like Mumbai ther was heavy rain which hit the film but overall the opening is good.
North India was best especially Delhi city and East Punjab and both have opened at th rate where they can hit 1 crore nett for the day which would be an very good for a film like Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania. Multiplexes of Rajasthan also opened well especially in Jaipur.
CP Berar and Nizam/Andra were not too strong as the latter has a huge muslim population and the former is dominated by single screens where the film has opened to average to below average collections.
One interesting aspect of film releases today.
Humpty sharma stars hunk Siddharth Shukla who is a tv star and he has a good following there. And even Ashutosh Rana who does amrish puri’s role was a tv star. In Lalbhaari, Sharad Kelkar who plays villain and receiving praise from critics for that role is a tv star of popular soaps like Saath Phere.
It’s definitely not something you haven’t seen before. Extremely predictable and relatable, but taken to another level by the spontaneity of Varun Dhawan (he’s a revelation) and Alia Bhatt’s confidence and rogue girl charm. They are a delight when they’re together, be it their fun moments or when they’re shedding tears. A crisp screenplay, some hilarious moments and edible, well-placed Bollywood masala ensures the film is worth its audience’s time and money. And good to see Ashutosh Rana on screen after some time. Unlike his initial films, he is suitably subdued and lets mostly his eyes do the talking.
Finally an entertainer from Dharma Productions that neither tries too hard nor follows a laidback approach to romcoms. This is our very own desi, done-to-death-yet charming and breezy that is definitely not a bad idea for the weekend.
yes Apex does this in every single comment.. and then if some comments are edited or deleted he complains about getting unfair treatment. It is impossible for him to put up anything without an obscene reference. And then if people have the slightest ‘fight’ with him he goes completely overboard.
Just saw this movie. Surprisingly liked it. I thought I would hate it with the endless KJO/DDLJ references that they showed in the trailer, but the references/influences were nice in the actual film. Songs are pretty good although the Saturday Saturday song should’ve been in the movie, not at the end credits (although this makes no difference at all). The story was nothing new but all the sequences in the first half were enjoyable while the second half was decent. As with every bollywood romcom, it could have been edited better at the end of the second half. This was more like a Mere Brother Ki Dulhan than a YJHD- no “philosophies” about how the “youth” live their life or crap like that found in YJHD. The two star kids were actually good, I was surprised. Alia has turned out to be a decent actress, I already like her better than Kareena (given that they play the same time of character), who would’ve known from watching SOTY. Varun Dhawan is also good- he can dance well, pulled off the comedy scenes and the emotional scenes weren’t bad either. t like him better than Siddharth Malhotra. 3.5/5
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh · 5h
#MainTeraHero opening day was ₹ 6.60 cr nett, while #HumptySharmaKiDulhania is ₹ 9.02 cr nett. Varun Dhawan’s biggest opener!
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh · 5h
#HumptySharmaKiDulhania Fri ₹ 9.02 cr nett. India biz. Despite heavy rains. Despite #LaiBhaari affecting biz in Maharashtra. VERY GOOD!
What heavy rains he is talking about? These are ordinary monsoon showers and people are going to work carrying umbrellas. And is Lalbhaari a competition for a bollywood movie in terms of screenspace and audience?
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania Grosses Well On Day One
Saturday 12 July 2014 12.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania had a good first day collecting around 9 crore nett on day one. The film was very good in Delhi city and East Punjab with Delhi city comfortably going over 1 crore nett mark and East Punjab also crossing the 1 crore nett mark.
Rajasthan and Mysore also did well while Mumbai circuit also had decent collections despite torrential rain in Mumbai city which would have been in strongest area in Mumbai circuit. The other circuits like CP Berar, CI, Nizam / Andhra had average collections. FLOP.
The film will score well in North due to the content while the rest of the country should also manage good collections at least for the weekend. The film could show growth on Saturday as its strongest circuits like Delhi and Punjab tend to grow on Saturday. The collections were the seventh highest collections for day one this year.
I saw HSKD today. I’m undemanding when it comes to rom-coms and quite willing to suspend disbelief, but even so, this film was far too absurd and incoherent.
However, both the leads were immensely charismatic and imbued their characters with a nonchalant charm. Alia is clearly star material and Varun is a refreshing change from the utter insipid of Arjun and the abrasive cockiness of Ranveer. It’s good that we are finally getting some promising new heroes!
Another film I recently saw is Belle, which is based on racial tension in 17th century Britain. This was a lovely film, full of beauty and dignity. Despite the serious subject matter, it managed not to be tediously earnest or grotesquely violent and the director even wove in a sumptuous period romance without diluting the importance of the central plot. Best of all, the film’s eponymous heroine is played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw who is both an accomplished actress and a striking beauty; I look forward to seeing more of her onscreen.
Ami: Thanks for these capsule reviews. I like Alia a lot and Varun does have a flair for comedy which was evident in Main Tera Hero so I will see this sooner than later. And thanks for the heads-up on Belle as well.
Have you seen any other films this year BTW? The one film I really liked was Aankhon Dekhi
@ Amy-thanks for these lovely succinct reviews. As I’ve said before u should write more…(sure u would’ve seen other films as well lol)
@ utkal uncle–jus read an ace comment in the singham2 thread on ayan/Yjhd …
@ forgot the name sorry –the guy /gal who gets excited every time there’s a great day/weekend and who jumped at 150 cr both for holiday & now Ek villain–I had to calm him/her down that it’ll settle around 110 or so.
oh yes it was ‘krish’ (whom I gave the krish arm band lol)…cheers
May catch humpty soon….–humpty should do well, show growth & may cross 30 over the weekend..
As of now this one from 1 villain..is good (other than galliyan)…
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania To Post Solid Growth On Saturday
Saturday 12 July 2014 22.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania is looking set to post solid growth on Saturday assuring it will comfortably go over the 30 crore nett mark. The collections have gone up further in North India even though they were very good on day one itself.
The film is looking to gross in the 11.50 crore nett region on Saturday adding to the 9 crore nett approx on Friday which will take the two day figure to over 20 crore nett.
The film has found appreciation in the North while other circuits are doing reasonable business and as the costs of the film are not too high so it should emerge a winner.
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania May Emerge SUPER HIT
Sunday 13 July 2014 13.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania showed solid growth of 25% plus on Saturday as it collected around 11.25-11.50 crore nett taking its two day total to around 20.25 crore nett. The growth was extraordinary in the North as both Delhi/UP and East Punjab were 35-40% higher than on Friday.
Some of the circuits which did not do well on Friday were also up like CP Berar and CI. Rajasthan showed growth in the 20-25% region which is excellent for that circuit. The problem for the film is Mumbai circuit, more so the Mumbai/Thane area which is probably been hit by the heavy rains. Gujarat and Maharashtra never tend to do do that well for these type of films but Mumbai city should be much better and its the weather that is probably keeping it down.
The film has costs under 35 crore and with this sort of growth on Saturday it looks set for a good run especially in North so could emerge a Super Hit film.
I think he is complaining about rains which are more necessary than making films superhits. Mumbai is facing water cuts along with Pune and the condition is worse in central maharashtra. And mumai people are celebrating these belated heavy rains which has brought down temperatures besides making us watch cloudy skies and greenery.
While the north is reeling under heat and humidity waiting for the rains.
We need rains, not movies as of now.
Dont cry BOI.
Wow that is wonderful news, thanks for sharing Satyam — even though cricket is my favorite sport, I feel thrilled every time India does well in another sport!
yes this was quite unexpected.. I didn’t even know India was anywhere in this game.. which shows once more that there is no excuse for not doing better in soccer.
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh · 4h
#HSKD surpasses ALL expectations and has a FANTABULOUS Sunday: Fri 9.02 cr, Sat 11.25 cr, Sun 13.46 cr. Total: ₹ 33.74 cr nett. India biz.
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania Has Strong First Weekend
Monday 14 July 2014 12.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania had a good first weekend as it grossed 33.50 crore nett approx in its first weekend. North India was excellent as Delhi/UP grossed nearly 8 crore nett and East Punjab was a huge 4 crore nett. The Sunday figures will be in the 13.50 crore nett region after grossing 20 crore nett plus in the first two days.
The daily collections in East Punjab on Sunday were the third best of the year with only the Sunday collections of Jai Ho and Holiday – A Soldier Is Never Off Duty being better. The North Indian flavour in the film has ensured the film is a huge hit in Delhi/UP and East Punjab
Rajasthan recorded very good numbers also but elsewhere business was good to decent with South India performing not so well and Mumbai being hit by torrential rain. Gujarat managed to show huge growth on Sunday but overall collections are just decent in Gujarat. The film is a HIT and remains to be seen if it can emerge a SUPER HIT.
Rajasthan recorded very good collections. Here Siddharth Shukla, who plays district collector in Balikavadhu, a Colors iconic serial dealing with social issues, has great fansbase, as the serial is based in Rajasthan culture. This DC is a far cry from grinning angad in HSKD. Very subdued but strict and scrupulous man.
Well good results anyway we look at it and the numbers are commendable esp since its coming during Ramzan period which was nearly dead month few years back. Secondly Varun recently had a similar release in MTH.
Considering the content has been strong universally in nearly all of the latest releases of new age stars and the numbers they are putting up, its time they kick start their campaign on the big release dates. Imagine if this was an Eid or Diwali release and it would immediately put pressure on the bigger stars to come with content or perish as wom will be greater for these movies and at the end of the day people go to watch a good movie and not just gimmicks.
I hope it does well, it was much better than 2 states and the likes. Also, all these films with newcomers have had absolute garbage trending- EK Villain went from a 50 crore weekend to 77 crore 1st week and will have a lifetime of around 100. Ram Leela had a 75 cr week and 113 final. 2 states did a little better. The only movie that I can remember with goodish trending is YJHD.
Although not trending well…the likes of 2 States, Ek Villain and now HSKD are far more worthy contenders for celebration parties than Holiday, Jai Ho and Humshakals!
I think the story over the past twelve months or so has really been this sort of film comfortably getting to a 100 or at least not doing so with any worse trending than that shown by major blockbusters. The other film I’d add here in a related sense is YJHD, a pure multiplex film which did 185 or so. It was a huge number, completely beyond expectations. So you take this film and then those other films you’ve mentioned and then again Barfi or BMB and really the other ‘major’ films with major stars don’t have a leg to stand on.
Dont’s agree with Jayshah.
Holiday had the best WOM followed by 2 states.
Others have just crashed after week 1.
So not sure how can they become more worthy contenders…except that they were sold for a lesser price. Ofocurse they are bigger hits that way…but not appreciated enuf.
Holiday had good WOM though still not exceptional. But leaving this aside it opened very low. So you can’t have a major star in a major release depending on trending. That is ‘expected’ after the big initial kicks in. If you don’t get the initial what’s the point of having the big star in the first place?! And while the trending was better than most films these days it was still only good enough to just about get the film to a 100. Hardly a very significant achievement all things considered. Now it is true that you can hardly ever make up for the loss of an initial just by way of trending. But that’s a different debate. You have major stars to get major initials. They don’t have to be extraordinary or anything but very significant. Forget ‘better’, in some cases these films with rank newcomers (or very recent debuts) actually beat the Holiday initial. Holiday has been liked more than most of those films. But again that’s a different point. For instance Edge of Tomorrow has trended pretty well but the initial was simply too low for Cruise and so the film is more or less ending up around 95m (I loved the film incidentally). That’s hardly an optimal result by any standard (and I’m not getting into budgets here.. just the number of people who showed up in each case.. budgets can make a film safer at a lower gross but that doesn’t mean any greater audience participation).
Satyam, among all the names mentioned with newcomers, It was EK villain that had the most astonishing opening. Else there is no extraordinary in opening of any of these movies…just like Holiday. Yes Akshay should have got the opening more…that way it disappointed..but then movie found All India appreciation from Day 2. OK..it did not become a super hit…but if a star get a hit but not super hit/blockbuster…does it mean it was not worthy?
if Arjun Kapoor or Siddharth Malhotra opens a film at the same level or better than Akshay Kumar you don’t find this odd? Specially when Holiday is a regular genre?
actually Talaash opened way bigger than Holiday! Despite the latter being the easier genre. And if I were an Akshay fan I wouldn’t exactly want to depend on trending given the way 99% of his films trend!
But the best trended films off late had Akshay – OMG (trending similar to TZP), RR and now Holiday. Opening has been a problem..but then it also has to do with bad choices prior to Holiday.
I am sure Talaash would not be considered in the same breath as Holiday by anyone. But the fact remains that Talaash did have a good WOM esp among ladies.
I was however disappointed by its opening as Aamir had opened similar movies better. He still remains the best bet to get Largest grossers as he is very very good in choosing right movies and more importantly doing very few movies between..thus building a novelty.
Shakti later told BBC reporter Tanya Datta that he was informed about the secret filming as he drove home that Sunday night, when his teenage daughter Shraddha called his mobile to tell him she’d seen him on TV.
Sitting on the very couch where Shakti explained himself to Datta in 2005, I’m wondering to what degree Shraddha has seen the “casting couch” in operation, and whether being daughter to the man who confirmed to the public that these rumours of “co-operation” were true would shield her or make her more vulnerable to it all.
But here’s a subject where there will be no going off-script: It was embarrassing – it was horrible – people don’t know him like we do – we got through it as a family – we’re closer than ever now – etc.
“I am okay with not being completely candid,” says Shraddha, when I try to bait her a bit by mentioning that in our American bro publication last month, actor Channing Tatum owned up to being pretty much a functional alcoholic. “Yes,” she says, “you won’t find that [in India]. I am a nice girl and you won’t find that level of candour for various reasons.”
I don’t get the feeling she’s embarrassed by her father very nearly getting caught on camera with his pants down, or that she’s been boxed in by her background. It’s like she’s somewhere between the daddy’s girl she’s expected to be and what she’s going to become next, whatever that is. A psych student at Boston University might have called it cognitive dissonance. Whether she grows into that Monica Bellucci vibe is up to her, but she’s standing on a precipice, not unlike the one outside these windows, and in her near future she’ll have to jump or sit back down on the couch. And then she’ll have to live with that.
never knew I could beat anyone here with more knowledge about the contemporary actors (I knew she was Shakti Kapoor’s daughter, niece of Padmini Kolhapuri). LOL
you could probably beat me more often than not with the contemporary scene. watch very few Hindi films (i.e. new releases) at this point. On Shraddha Kapoor find her likable.
@oldgold. I notice that you seem to misspell certain names. Careless of you to have turned Padmini Kolhapure into P Kolhapuri. Of course Aamir is amir to you on purpose– like an insult. But that’s a different story altogether.
SRK – Aditya Chopra to release their film during Diwali 2016
Posted in : Bollywood,News|July 14th, 2014.
A reliable source has confirmed that Aditya Chopra, head honcho of Yash Raj Films, is targeting the Diwali weekend in 2016 to release his fourth directorial venture also starring Shah Rukh Khan.
The source added that the untitled film will be yet another love story with SRK playing a ‘more mature character’ as compared to some of his previous romantic films. She reasoned that the actor would be 50+ when the film releases in theatres.
There is one other extremely special reason why the makers are targeting Diwali 2016. The release of the film would coincide with Shahrukh Khan’s 51st birthday (November 2nd), as Diwali falls on October 30th in 2016.
The film is yet to be officially announced by YRF, but news of Aditya Chopra directing Shahrukh Khan has already been creating waves in the industry. It would be their fourth film together after Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Mohabbatein and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.
I’m very interested to see how this film and the Salman-Rajashri film turn out. JTHJ was a failure (in my mind as a SRK fan) given the response it got and Rajashri stuff looks outdated. Interestingly both films release 21 years after their respective Blockbusters.
wow…these guys are now going to be in their 50’s…and now they decide to have their characters as ‘mature’. lol.
at one point even I was excited about SRK/YashRaj/Aditya Chopra starrer..but after the last two horrific movies directed by aditya…i’m done. SRK just can’t keep himself away from that ‘mold’.
I wonder if “mature” means declaring in the beginning if the movie that srk/salman is 45 years old and still single like it was in Chennai Express lol. And I hope “mature” doesn’t mean another KANK either.
Ek Villian dropped badly in the third weekend and the week is heading for business around 3.50 crore nett which will take it to around 97 crore nett after three weeks. The drop is around 85% from the previous weekend as a major film like Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania released.
The film will now not reach the 100 crore nett mark and finish at around the 98 crore nett mark. It will join films like Singham, Race 2, Grand Masti, Raajneeti and Talaash will which finished in that 90-100 crore nett range.
The film had an excellent opening but has not sustained too well. Delhi and Punjab sustained fairly well but the rest starting showing noticeable drops from the first Monday onwards. Still due to the huge initial and reasonable costs it is a Super Hit film and possibly the biggest hit of the first half of 2014.
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh · 3h
#EkVillain has attained BLOCKBUSTER status and crossed ₹ 100 cr mark in India. Ekta Kapoor and team to celebrate the grand success tonite.
“There are stories out in some sections of the media about Aditya Chopra’s next directorial film with Shah Rukh Khan in the lead, with misleading titles attributed to this as well. All of this is completely untrue and inappropriate.
“While Aditya Chopra will definitely direct a film soon, as of now he has not finalised what he is going to be making next and has not even started writing the script. Anything at this point in time would therefore be unfortunate and misleading conjecturing.
“As and when he does finalise plans for his next venture, we will certainly be happy to make an announcement. Till then we would sincerely request all concerned to please refrain from speculating on the cast, story and title.”
This news is beyond exciting. It’s earth shattering. After doing a film with Farah and then YRF and then Farhan, SRK has certainly pulled one out of the bag by landing Aditya. Now to top it all off he needs to sign a Karan Johar film and this will definitely be some surprising and shocking career choices. Total re-invention.
but remember he’s part of ‘Khans Inc’. He doesn’t need to have the biggest hits all the time or for many years even as long as one of his partners comes up with these. Similarly he doesn’t need prestige or reinvention. At least one of his partners has taken care of that as well. Now what happened to this same venture in the 90s? Why didn’t the other partners benefit from SRK’s success? Well the company hadn’t been formed then. The media went about it only in later years. Much as when there’s a 200 crore film that is exactly the right time to invent a 100 crore club.
Spoken like a true fan of an actor who is not in top 10 🙂
Looks like SRK plate will be full until 2020 with big project and as a leading actor in it. Not bad for somebody who was finished, was that 14 years ago???
Casting coup shall be either all the three khans together or 2 khans + Kumar or a Kapoor + a Kumar + a Khan. If there is any banners that may pull this off…it is YRF.
LOL
You mean Akshay, when you say Kumar, as really there really is not another Kumar in that “company”.
So in a roundabout way, either 3 khans is a casting coup, or the film must have Akshay. There are many Kapoors and Khans, but only one Kumar. That’s a great slogan for Akshay. He is one in a million.
This new found glory for Akshay is coming after a 100 crore grosser. Imagine the chaos caused if he actually gets to 150 crore in 2020.
I think UTV can pull it off too. Aamir will never do it.
I don’t think we’ll ever see a movie where 2 big stars are in it together, forget about 3. Maybe if one of the star today is on major decline in future, then he’ll do it.
I agree. I think more likely is a younger star with an older one and the only “coup” type combination is Ranbir with one of the other major stars.
There is very little appeal on it now anyway. If one star (going by media) costs 20 crore or more, you are blowing your budget wide open by signing 2. It’s not as practical as it was 15 years ago.
or if one just sticks to Aamir one usually gets a good film. I know this is a shock for Bollywood & Bollywood audiences but they’ve somehow compromised on this score.
I would say both SRK and Aamir have a good script sense, Aamir in addition to a better script sense also has the sense to submit himself to the character and this is what is SRK’s shortcoming IMO. Most of the recent SRK movies had a decent script and it didnt look like somebody’s hasty scribble on a notepad. There was decent structure to the movie , the issue is SRKs performance was the same as it was in any other movie. Chennai Express was a prime example of a decent to good movie totally spoilt by an indifferent and hammy performance by SRK. Even Ra-one for all the flak it received, one could see that there was some thought put in the movie. It failed spectacularly because again SRK as Ra-one was hardly a superhero. RNBDJ is a big favorite of mine but I never liked SRK’s performance as the modern and extrovert guy. That was ham. MNIK had a good performance by him but Karan’s handling was too heavy and too grim and hence the movie turned out be a bore. JTHJ was a very good performance by SRK as the army man but the whole Katrina-praying-for-SRK-by-staying-away-from-him wasnt sold properly. Inspite of some of his movies not doing as well as expected and some having script issues one can see that he doesnt just sign a movie without a decent script in place. Same goes with Aamir, he might have faltered with Talaash’s script but atleast there was some credibility in the effort. Where SRK truly lets himself down visavis Aamir is by not putting enough effort in his performances. He tries to be different as MNIK, Don2, Ra-1, JTHJ, CE are all diverse kind of movies but barring one or 2 movies, he just acts the same. It is infact Aamir who acted in a rank bad film – Dhoom 3. Its hard to understand what made Aamir sign that movie. Whats unfortunate is the amount of money it made.
I am actually looking forward to the next few movies of SRK. CE’s success must have made him more confident to try out things as CE was not really his comfort zone considering the kind of roles he prefers. I didnt like him in it but I dont mind him giving a shot to another Rohit Shetty movie. Also both Raees and Fan looks interesting to me and I am quite hopeful of HNY. Again all these 4 movies of SRK do not sound like the same genre but am not sure whether SRK will have the same mannerisms in it.
Net net I find anything SRK and Aamir does quite interesting whether they falter or not, and look forward to their movies. I dont analyse too much the way Satyam does on SRK but in my mind he is definitely an actor whose projects I look forward too.
You provide a fair summary of your perspective except that I’m not sure how it’s possible to call D3 a rank bad film in comparison with some of those others you’ve listed or to speak of SRK and Aamir in the same breadth in terms of their script ‘acumen’ given everything that’s happened for so long. But leaving this aside I guess I’d disagree quite a bit. SRK has at least after very early on his career never been more than ‘star’ which is to say he’s never been sincere enough to be more than this. To this extent I’d agree with you. And there’s nothing odd about this. This is how most stars are. However he has at different points also tried out films away from his comfort zone and it is here that the insincerity has been most evident. Again when I say ‘insincerity’ I don’t mean that he puts in less effort but I suspect he has just never had enough empathy for those parts. Nonetheless he’s worked best when directors have utilized this ‘inability’ to their advantage and/or given him parts that depended on this lack of empathy. For me the two obvious examples are Dil Se and Swades. Now one might mention CDI in this regard but the problem I have here is that SRK in some sense identifies quite a bit with the ‘Muslim’. Not because he is one in an obvious sense but rather for the reason that for very many years he has been one in a somewhat more vocal sense and one who also sees this part of his identity as far more definitional than one might have thought just going through all his statements and so forth in the 90s. It goes without saying that there isn’t a problem with this (except when he’s used this angle somewhat cynically to pretend that he’s some sort of ‘Muslim victim’ in India! that’s a different discussion) but in the context of CDI, and since I have been talking about empathy here, the identification is a bit too immediate. And again to get back to the larger point he has merely been ‘star’ in the way most stars are merely this. And it’s not about the kind of star you are or scale of your stardom or whatever. You either have that empathy or you don’t. You can either be sincere as an actor or you can’t. Of course if you are significantly more talented than he is this might be less important (though I’d say that even there it matters.. I’ve explored this in the context of Bachchan’s career a number of times).
But moving on I don’t believe SRK has had any significant script sense at all. He has only ever scored on the ‘obvious’ films, never really on the different stuff. And he’s had many opportunities to either do those kinds of film and/or select better scripts (or more successful! because this is the other important thing.. I’ve said this in the context of certain Abhishek films many times but one must separate the interesting script that could never work from one which can with slight fixes.. you could ‘fix’ Swades.. you couldn’t do the same with Dil Se without destroying its world altogether.. now it might be foolish for a star to attempt this sort of thing but that’s simply a commercial argument and says nothing about the film.. even if in India we find it impossible not to fall prey to this circular logic). Whether it’s the Don kind of deal or sic-fi or whatever the case simply cannot be made that he could not have done better than this. Again it’s one thing to do something with Ratnam and not question it one way or the other and quite another to give Anubhav Sinha that sort of respect or for that matter Farhan Akhtar. Since SRK is otherwise not the most humble guy simply submitting to everyone more likely than not he cannot see the ‘problems’ with these films. He is conceptually interested in certain subjects but doesn’t know where to go with them in terms of narratives.
Beyond this (and I think qalandar once made this point) it’s absolutely the case that even as stars follow the box office to greater or lesser degrees they also follow a certain inner sense even when they make the most cynical decisions. There are certain films that are obvious for any star. So no one today would refuse a Hirani. or no one would refuse to play the villain in a Dhoom film. But leaving aside this sort of thing the larger menu of options stars decide from always reflect their own aspirations and not simply what works at the box office. Because many things can be successful in any given age. I could really look at every significant star today who’s ever been in any position to choose and point out how certain choices are very ‘individual’ ones. Which is to say that those weren’t the only commercial choices available to the star or not the only prestige ones or not the only risky ones.. so on and so forth. Any star’s image allows for some range of options but it is then the star who pushes more in one direction than the other. But again I could pretty much make this case for every star around.
Now you might be ‘interested’ in SRK as a star and might find a lot of what he does more palatable than if someone else did it. Even when you might not find his ‘acting’ impressive. I can understand this. there’s nothing wrong with this. We all have this sense with various stars. Those we really like and those we are not partial to but nonetheless don’t mind. For instance though I cannot stand 99% of his films I like Akshay in certain ways whereas I can never warm upto Salman except perhaps on an extremely rare day. But where I guess we might agree on SRK is that more than any other star over the last 20 years or so he seems much more ‘stale’ in many ways even when he tries to do different stuff. There are exceptions of course but by and large I find he starts getting tendentious very soon. A chore to watch beyond a point. Whatever my other issues with him I still would rather watch him on screen over many others. At least in theory. But then in film after film I get this feeling. We might not be that far apart here. I just don’t believe he has anything to reveal as an actor anymore and hasn’t for a very long time. He works better in some roles, he is still quite pleasant on screen but you never get that moment when he really, truly interests you.
SRK problem is the circle/camp he is with and his trust/submission to the director. some of those movies made whatever it did purly because of SRK name.
He has a mindset that everybody has a title and job that comes with it and trust them to do their job. Aamir is great i this department where he doesn’t trust anybody and provides his feedback (not sure what happenned with D3).
I’m not saying SRK is dumb and don’t know how to chose script, i think he just trust people/friends he has. Yash/Adi/Johar has said many times that with SRK, we don’t even give him the script, we just call him up and tell the shooting starts on this day.
SRK in past 10 years has become more of a business man and making movies is more of a hobby business for him.
When political party operatives show up on Indian TV they offer these kinds of excuses! If you read your comment carefully you’d realize how ridiculous it sounds. SRK isn’t dumb but dumb enough to trust those who clearly aren’t delivering optimal results for him! Is that right?!
There’s an easier, saner explanation here. SRK simply doesn’t have that sort of script sense. Nothing odd about it. Most stars don’t. This doesn’t make them or him ‘dumb’. No one is saying Aamir is the most intelligent actor in Bollywood. But he has the greatest intelligence when it comes to choosing scripts. And the reason this is about a certain kind of intelligence is that anyone can choose the obvious genres or directors or films that have a high probability of becoming hits. But if one is trying to do something more meaningful within each genre and also trying to guarantee a minimal level of box office success it’s not easy to keep doing so on a consistent basis for years. This requires a certain kind of intelligence. But since SRK hasn’t even been aiming for this sort of film over the last 15 years or so, at least not 95% of the time, so that it’s then about choosing ‘among’ commercial genres his bar is much lower than Aamir’s. But he still cannot get it done with anything approaching Aamir’s success. Which is why he’s had nothing huge in terms of overall achievement (initial or gross or both) between OSO and CE. One with a director who usually delivers with him or in any case puts up a big enough circus. the second with a guy who gets 100 crores with everyone, with Singham 2 it might well be 150 but in any case this is probably an achievable number for him with most significant stars. But even forgetting this debate that’s 2 grossers in 6-7 years. What about all the other big stuff he did in between? And what about the fact that even at the ‘meaningful’ level he simply had no follow-up to CDI?
All this doesn’t make him dumb by any means. But he clearly has different aspirations and at the same time also doesn’t quite have the smarts required to choose the right commercial venture. Yes he has deep associations with Yashraj and Johar but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t get them to work on better scripts. And again there is a specific kind of intelligence one is talking about here. And if you’re simply depending on friends who let you down again and again well that counts as ‘dumb’ in his business. But that’s following on your logic, not mine.
The difference is the equivalent of a good cricket player (SRK) and a good cricket player AND captain (Aamir). I’d say the latter type of person knows his game well but also know the game of his team well and knows what to do to beat the opposition. It does not follow that the latter is always better than the former, as not all good or great players are necessarily good captains. And it is also true that not every good captain is a good or great player. But usually a captain that lasts the distance does not lose his own form and you have examples like Dhoni, Steve Waugh, Ponting, Taylor etc.
I think “knowing” that something will work or even having the thought to care for this is somewhat of a natural talent. That instinctive smell, the ability to read a situation and make a decision that more often than not is the correct one. Great captains don’t get everything right. They do however, on average get more things right than most others and almost certainly make better decisions when it matters most and get more out of their “team” then others would.
Aamir was like SRK in 90’s. Remember the Indra Kumar films or the Dharmesh Darshan films. He had his own directors so to speak. His first intelligent call was to get rid despite friendships. His second was to work on Lagaan. After this, luck usually follows kindly to performers, they usually get the rub of the green. If you are “known” to have a reputation for good scripts, invariably you will be the pickiest but also end up with the best choices. Aamir made hay of this quicktime with DCH, RDB, TZP etc…the thing that has changed and levelled the field is there is now scope for the big stars to “produce” their own films and buy or get the best scripts. Hardly anyone has stepped up yet to a level of consistency Aamir has shown over the last decade. A Salman is doing the same quality of film he was doing 10 years ago. So is Akshay. Hrithik has tried a few times but not quite there. But they all have a much more level playing field than 10 years ago when the best scripts would have gone to just actors with reputation. As producers they have not quite upped their game. I think Ranbir has a good script sense for someone pretty young in the industry. Hrithik has probably put the most effort from the big stars. I think with SRK he tries occasionally, it does not work and he returns to a formula which has worked before, but critically, it is not a formula for sustained success. Salman does not care and that attitude is perfectly fine as in a sense that is not what he is about.
A lot of the small to medium budget films that work script wise – why does a big actor not do them more often. It probably will boil down to money I suspect. But if they’d done 1 or 2 of these along the way, that reputation would surely have grown and they’d be better for it now.
Also SRK does 1-2 films a year. Between YRF, Farah, Karan – they will come with a film every year between them and invariably cast SRK. That won’t change. He’s stuck unless he is not dumb enough to say no sometimes.
great comment.. comprehensive and fair. Nothing to disagree with here. And your point about a lot more opportunities having come about since Lagaan so that others have some advantages in that a lot of this stuff is being made anyway is a very important one. As is the connected one that despite this no one is achieving his kind of success at picking these projects.
“If you read your comment carefully you’d realize how ridiculous it sounds.”
Somebody like you won’t get it because you look so much into things which are not there. you almost create this imiganiry world which is way out of touch. you’re in your own world where you like to come up with lengthy explanation to everything trying to justify your standing.
Somtimes in life you do things for friends/family without questioning it or even if you know it’s the wrong choice you still do it because it will make the friend/family happy.
I go to store with my kids and tsometimes they pick out things which makes no sense but i buy it for them anyway because it will make them happy.
I didn’t know every single SRK film was with Yashraj or Johar? Even accepting that ‘family’ argument. The problem is you define every film SRK does as part of the family/friends structure which is more than a little bizarre!
As for my making things that are not there it’s about analyzing the ‘evidence’. You don’t invent your facts, you use what’s out there but the ‘facts’ can often lead to a very different sort of interpretation (other than the standard media one). One might not like this, that’s a different matter. But I’d add here that there are those facts that everyone can agree on but that are uninteresting. So no one would argue that DDLJ was a very big success, that it was very influential and so on. No one would argue that SRK was the most iconic star of ‘new India’ etc. But his ‘facts’ (the films he does, the grosses they put up etc) also tell some other stories which one might not like as a fan. It is not ultimately about accepting what I or anyone else might be saying. Can one accept anything about one’s favorite star that is uncomfortable? I think the answer is self-evident! The very explanation you provide for why SRK does these films makes my point. You can’t say that he has Aamir’s script sense but you also don’t want to say he’s dumb (something I agree with incidentally) so the only escape route left is to say he’s placed his career in the hands of his friends. You know I might be naive but I don’t think you become Shahrukh Khan with that sort of work ethic!
“so the only escape route left is to say he’s placed his career in the hands of his friends”
If only Michael Jackson did this, not his friends, but stayed with his family. He’d still be in Jackson 5. Forget that pretty decent solo career he had!
I don’t think anybody ever in Bollywood has ever had the script sense Aamir possesses. On this front, no one is even close. He is probably the only guy in Bollywood who does not have a ‘sab chalta hai atittude’.
Making banks the big evil corporation just because they are not giving you a loan – cheesy and stupid. And the father’s response to that – just commit suicide, wtf??? You need a little bit of logic even in masala films. Don’t even get me started on the stunts, I will take Prabhu Deva stuff over it.
Now you see me was a vastly better film on a somewhat similar premise.
Also I feel Dhoom 3 was quite a bad film, which I shall not like to watch again but for second half. The film didnt work for me in the first half, but second half made it feel ok ok.
But ignoring all of that, I do feel that at a certain level the indian Audience connected with the concept that Bank is evil. The said is my assumption without any evidence to support the claim. In India to obtain a loan is quite difficult as in cerrtain people get it easily while certain fail even to obtain the simple and most secure loan. I am not expanding on the subject but I hope you get what I am getting into. So generally I have not seen people happy with the banks, and hence I have come across many who believe the idea of bank being evil ( without reference to the above film ). Hence I feel ofcourse again without any evidence or conversation regarding the same with anyone, that my hunch is many people like this Idea of bank being evil in a country where getting a loan is indeed difficult and conducts of the banks in India have not been satisfactory as per people’s version,
Here in US, I can walk in the bank and get a loan in minutes. when i did a closing on my house, i got a loan from ING online, did not even have to see anybody.
Having said that, i had to shut off D3 after the scene where aamir is riding a bike from building on what loked like a rope?
Actually the Dhoom 3 script might have looked decent on paper for a masala film. However they just couldn’t pull it off, with ridiculous stunts and moments too hard to digest. Directors associated with Yashraj, barring a Shimit Amin or Habin Faisal to an extent, are the last guys one would count on making a good film
He is also apparently doing a film called “Sultan” with Aditya Chopra-
“During a media interaction on Tuesday evening, talking about his upcoming films Salman Khan said, “Yes, I am doing Karan Johar’s film called ‘Shhuddhi’ which I would probably start in a while. After ‘Kick’, I am going to finish shooting for Sooraj Barjatya’s film. Then I have Kabir Khan’s film and Boney Kapoor’s ‘No Entry Mei Entry’ following that I also have Aditya Chopra’s ‘Sultan’ and a film with Mahesh Manjrekar.”
Yeah thats for next 3-4 years. More fascinating part is that every film of these films looks to be potential blockbuster (baring supporting role in Mahesh manjrekar’s movie) and huge money spinner!
Wednesday 16 July 2014 11.30 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Q. The young stars like like Siddharth Malhotra, Ranbir Kapoor, Varun Dhawan and Ranveer Singh have all made a impact but what is the pecking order today?
Ans. Ranbir Kapoor has been around for some time and is an established star so competing with top stars of the day. The others will need more work for their popularity to be judged. They only have 3-5 films each and this is too less to judge why is a bigger draw than the other.
Amit Prabhakar
Q. How well will Kick open in terms of opening day box offfice collections and can it be a new record for day one?
Ans. Its impossible to predict as you can’t say how much pre eid will affect it. If it was not pre eid then it could challenge the opening records if not break them but with it releasing in the last few days of Ramadan business will be hit and to what extent will only be known when it releases.
H. Ahmed
Q. You have said Holiday has the best word of mouth and most appreciated film but is that not Queen at the way it sustained?
Ans. Films like Queen are liked by a small minority in a handful of cities. Just because Queen has better word of mouth in five big cities does not mean its better all India. The most important thing for word of mouth is reach as that means more footfalls and more people liking. Due to huge variance in ticket rates the gap does not show in box office collections but eventually word of mouth is number of people liking.
G. Singh
Q. Is Holiday the biggest grosses overseas as well as India?
Ans. No in India its the biggest but in overseas it is behind Jai Ho and 2 states.
S. Malhotra
Is Pre-Eid really a draw back? I mean India’s muslim population is around 15%, so unless BOI is trying to say that a majority/bulk of Salman’s fans are muslim, I don’t buy this. It’s not like releasing a film on Diwali day where a large part of the population is doing pujas/festivals and hence collections get affected.
SATYAMSHOT 
July 11, 2014 at 6:55 AM
BO update: ‘Humpty SKD’ and ‘Lai Bhaari’ open to good response!
By Taran Adarsh, July 11, 2014 – 15:10 IST
After last week’s slow performers, BOBBY JASOOS and LEKAR HUM DEEWANA DIL, the entertainment-seeking audience have lapped up the new releases, HUMPTY SHARMA KI DULHANIA and the much-awaited Marathi film LAI BHAARI.
HUMPTY SHARMA KI DULHANIA has opened very well in North, but the opening was affected in Mumbai and other places due to heavy rainfall. Also, its start was hit in Maharashtra due to the stiff competition posed by LAI BHAARI, which has embarked on a solid start. Both, HUMPTY SHARMA KI DULHANIA and LAI BHAARI are expected to dominate this weekend.
Meanwhile, EK VILLAIN has crossed Rs 100 cr nett business in the domestic market, but the above-named new releases will make a dent in its business in the coming days.
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July 11, 2014 at 6:56 AM
taran adarsh@taran_adarsh
It’s a #LaiBhaari wave across Maharashtra. The shows are packed to capacity and the start is HUMONGOUS at every centre. SUPERB!
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July 11, 2014 at 6:57 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh · 7h
#BobbyJasoos Fri 1.79 cr, Sat 2.62 cr, Sun 3.27 cr, Mon 92 lacs, Tue 87 lacs, Wed 75 lacs, Thu 61 lacs. Total: ₹ 10.85 cr nett. India biz.
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July 11, 2014 at 6:57 AM
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania Has Good Opening
Friday 11 July 2014 11.30 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania had a good opening with collections in the 45-50% range at multiplexes. The film has seen one of the better openings of the year till date. There are areas affected by Ramadan and in some areas like Mumbai ther was heavy rain which hit the film but overall the opening is good.
North India was best especially Delhi city and East Punjab and both have opened at th rate where they can hit 1 crore nett for the day which would be an very good for a film like Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania. Multiplexes of Rajasthan also opened well especially in Jaipur.
CP Berar and Nizam/Andra were not too strong as the latter has a huge muslim population and the former is dominated by single screens where the film has opened to average to below average collections.
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July 11, 2014 at 7:26 AM
Here is another link, see if it works- http://media2.intoday.in/indiatoday/images/stories//2014July/anushka_650_071014012122.jpg
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July 11, 2014 at 8:25 AM
it does.. thanks..
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July 11, 2014 at 8:39 AM
One interesting aspect of film releases today.
Humpty sharma stars hunk Siddharth Shukla who is a tv star and he has a good following there. And even Ashutosh Rana who does amrish puri’s role was a tv star. In Lalbhaari, Sharad Kelkar who plays villain and receiving praise from critics for that role is a tv star of popular soaps like Saath Phere.
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July 11, 2014 at 12:03 PM
This is disturbing. I had read the article and it would not have pleased the higher ups.
http://www.newslaundry.com/2014/07/11/dna-does-it-again/
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July 11, 2014 at 3:09 PM
can’t say I’m surprised..
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July 11, 2014 at 6:32 PM
She has a cached copy of it.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.dnaindia.com%2Fanalysis%2Fstandpoint-a-new-low-in-indian-politics-2000913
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July 11, 2014 at 4:10 PM
My mini take on Humpty Sharma ki Dulhaniya:
It’s definitely not something you haven’t seen before. Extremely predictable and relatable, but taken to another level by the spontaneity of Varun Dhawan (he’s a revelation) and Alia Bhatt’s confidence and rogue girl charm. They are a delight when they’re together, be it their fun moments or when they’re shedding tears. A crisp screenplay, some hilarious moments and edible, well-placed Bollywood masala ensures the film is worth its audience’s time and money. And good to see Ashutosh Rana on screen after some time. Unlike his initial films, he is suitably subdued and lets mostly his eyes do the talking.
Finally an entertainer from Dharma Productions that neither tries too hard nor follows a laidback approach to romcoms. This is our very own desi, done-to-death-yet charming and breezy that is definitely not a bad idea for the weekend.
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July 11, 2014 at 5:57 PM
good to hear your thoughts.. thanks..
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July 11, 2014 at 7:48 PM
Hmm ….crisp review
Heard this jus now
After highway, 2 states, seems a hattrick by Alia
I’m enjoying her oral skills…
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July 11, 2014 at 9:55 PM
You just cannot restrain throwing in some innuendos, can you?
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July 12, 2014 at 7:05 AM
yes Apex does this in every single comment.. and then if some comments are edited or deleted he complains about getting unfair treatment. It is impossible for him to put up anything without an obscene reference. And then if people have the slightest ‘fight’ with him he goes completely overboard.
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July 12, 2014 at 12:57 AM
Just saw this movie. Surprisingly liked it. I thought I would hate it with the endless KJO/DDLJ references that they showed in the trailer, but the references/influences were nice in the actual film. Songs are pretty good although the Saturday Saturday song should’ve been in the movie, not at the end credits (although this makes no difference at all). The story was nothing new but all the sequences in the first half were enjoyable while the second half was decent. As with every bollywood romcom, it could have been edited better at the end of the second half. This was more like a Mere Brother Ki Dulhan than a YJHD- no “philosophies” about how the “youth” live their life or crap like that found in YJHD. The two star kids were actually good, I was surprised. Alia has turned out to be a decent actress, I already like her better than Kareena (given that they play the same time of character), who would’ve known from watching SOTY. Varun Dhawan is also good- he can dance well, pulled off the comedy scenes and the emotional scenes weren’t bad either. t like him better than Siddharth Malhotra. 3.5/5
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July 12, 2014 at 8:10 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh · 5h
#MainTeraHero opening day was ₹ 6.60 cr nett, while #HumptySharmaKiDulhania is ₹ 9.02 cr nett. Varun Dhawan’s biggest opener!
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh · 5h
#HumptySharmaKiDulhania Fri ₹ 9.02 cr nett. India biz. Despite heavy rains. Despite #LaiBhaari affecting biz in Maharashtra. VERY GOOD!
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July 12, 2014 at 8:16 AM
What heavy rains he is talking about? These are ordinary monsoon showers and people are going to work carrying umbrellas. And is Lalbhaari a competition for a bollywood movie in terms of screenspace and audience?
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July 12, 2014 at 8:18 AM
when they want to support a film they say anything. And vice versa. Meanwhile the E Punjab-centric BOI don’t even mention the Marathi film!
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July 12, 2014 at 10:26 PM
sanju – i assume u have no idea about Mumbai-rain! when it rains – it is raining elephants and camels if not cats and dogs!! 🙂
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July 12, 2014 at 8:18 AM
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania Grosses Well On Day One
Saturday 12 July 2014 12.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania had a good first day collecting around 9 crore nett on day one. The film was very good in Delhi city and East Punjab with Delhi city comfortably going over 1 crore nett mark and East Punjab also crossing the 1 crore nett mark.
Rajasthan and Mysore also did well while Mumbai circuit also had decent collections despite torrential rain in Mumbai city which would have been in strongest area in Mumbai circuit. The other circuits like CP Berar, CI, Nizam / Andhra had average collections. FLOP.
The film will score well in North due to the content while the rest of the country should also manage good collections at least for the weekend. The film could show growth on Saturday as its strongest circuits like Delhi and Punjab tend to grow on Saturday. The collections were the seventh highest collections for day one this year.
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July 12, 2014 at 9:18 AM
Just came across something really interesting- Gandhi’s first interview-
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July 12, 2014 at 12:06 PM
I saw HSKD today. I’m undemanding when it comes to rom-coms and quite willing to suspend disbelief, but even so, this film was far too absurd and incoherent.
However, both the leads were immensely charismatic and imbued their characters with a nonchalant charm. Alia is clearly star material and Varun is a refreshing change from the utter insipid of Arjun and the abrasive cockiness of Ranveer. It’s good that we are finally getting some promising new heroes!
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July 12, 2014 at 9:11 PM
Another film I recently saw is Belle, which is based on racial tension in 17th century Britain. This was a lovely film, full of beauty and dignity. Despite the serious subject matter, it managed not to be tediously earnest or grotesquely violent and the director even wove in a sumptuous period romance without diluting the importance of the central plot. Best of all, the film’s eponymous heroine is played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw who is both an accomplished actress and a striking beauty; I look forward to seeing more of her onscreen.
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July 12, 2014 at 9:11 PM
*18th century
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July 13, 2014 at 1:01 AM
I hope they screen the movie, “Belle”, for Modi & Co
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July 13, 2014 at 10:14 AM
Ami: Thanks for these capsule reviews. I like Alia a lot and Varun does have a flair for comedy which was evident in Main Tera Hero so I will see this sooner than later. And thanks for the heads-up on Belle as well.
Have you seen any other films this year BTW? The one film I really liked was Aankhon Dekhi
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July 13, 2014 at 1:25 AM
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July 13, 2014 at 10:05 AM
Didn’t like the trailer at all- seems like a Gladiator retread. And Edgerton is a decent actor but I am not sure he looks the part.
I enjoyed Noah a lot though. Not sure if one can make a more ambitious yet accessible film out of this subject
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July 13, 2014 at 2:45 AM
9 crore first day is a decent total for HSKD
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July 13, 2014 at 5:11 AM
@ Amy-thanks for these lovely succinct reviews. As I’ve said before u should write more…(sure u would’ve seen other films as well lol)
@ utkal uncle–jus read an ace comment in the singham2 thread on ayan/Yjhd …
@ forgot the name sorry –the guy /gal who gets excited every time there’s a great day/weekend and who jumped at 150 cr both for holiday & now Ek villain–I had to calm him/her down that it’ll settle around 110 or so.
oh yes it was ‘krish’ (whom I gave the krish arm band lol)…cheers
May catch humpty soon….–humpty should do well, show growth & may cross 30 over the weekend..
As of now this one from 1 villain..is good (other than galliyan)…
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July 13, 2014 at 7:22 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh · 2h
#LaiBhaari [Marathi] continues its GLORIOUS march. Fri 3.10 cr, Sat 3.60 cr. Total: ₹ 6.70 cr. Note: Maharashtra biz only. OUTSTANDING!
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July 13, 2014 at 7:22 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh · 5h
#HumptySharmaKiDulhania is ROCKING. Fri 9.02 cr, Sat 11.25 cr. Total: ₹ 20.27 cr nett. India biz. Expecting ₹ 33 cr [+/-] nett weekend. WOW!
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July 13, 2014 at 7:29 AM
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania To Post Solid Growth On Saturday
Saturday 12 July 2014 22.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania is looking set to post solid growth on Saturday assuring it will comfortably go over the 30 crore nett mark. The collections have gone up further in North India even though they were very good on day one itself.
The film is looking to gross in the 11.50 crore nett region on Saturday adding to the 9 crore nett approx on Friday which will take the two day figure to over 20 crore nett.
The film has found appreciation in the North while other circuits are doing reasonable business and as the costs of the film are not too high so it should emerge a winner.
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July 13, 2014 at 7:29 AM
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania May Emerge SUPER HIT
Sunday 13 July 2014 13.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania showed solid growth of 25% plus on Saturday as it collected around 11.25-11.50 crore nett taking its two day total to around 20.25 crore nett. The growth was extraordinary in the North as both Delhi/UP and East Punjab were 35-40% higher than on Friday.
Some of the circuits which did not do well on Friday were also up like CP Berar and CI. Rajasthan showed growth in the 20-25% region which is excellent for that circuit. The problem for the film is Mumbai circuit, more so the Mumbai/Thane area which is probably been hit by the heavy rains. Gujarat and Maharashtra never tend to do do that well for these type of films but Mumbai city should be much better and its the weather that is probably keeping it down.
The film has costs under 35 crore and with this sort of growth on Saturday it looks set for a good run especially in North so could emerge a Super Hit film.
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July 13, 2014 at 8:04 AM
I think he is complaining about rains which are more necessary than making films superhits. Mumbai is facing water cuts along with Pune and the condition is worse in central maharashtra. And mumai people are celebrating these belated heavy rains which has brought down temperatures besides making us watch cloudy skies and greenery.
While the north is reeling under heat and humidity waiting for the rains.
We need rains, not movies as of now.
Dont cry BOI.
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July 13, 2014 at 10:43 AM
Remarkable basketball win for India:
http://ekalavyas.com/2014/07/12/live-india-vs-china-5th-fiba-asia-cup-men/
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July 13, 2014 at 10:46 AM
Wow that is wonderful news, thanks for sharing Satyam — even though cricket is my favorite sport, I feel thrilled every time India does well in another sport!
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July 13, 2014 at 11:26 AM
yes this was quite unexpected.. I didn’t even know India was anywhere in this game.. which shows once more that there is no excuse for not doing better in soccer.
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July 13, 2014 at 1:39 PM
The story HERE.
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July 14, 2014 at 3:41 AM
http://www.koimoi.com/bollywood-news/will-we-see-alia-ranbir-in-ayan-mukerjis-next/
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July 14, 2014 at 6:47 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh · 2h
#LaiBhaari [Marathi] has a MIND-BOGGLING weekend. Fri 3.10 cr, Sat 3.60 cr, Sun 3.85 cr. Total: ₹ 10.55 cr. Note: Maharashtra biz only.
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July 14, 2014 at 6:47 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh · 4h
#HSKD surpasses ALL expectations and has a FANTABULOUS Sunday: Fri 9.02 cr, Sat 11.25 cr, Sun 13.46 cr. Total: ₹ 33.74 cr nett. India biz.
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July 14, 2014 at 6:48 AM
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania Has Strong First Weekend
Monday 14 July 2014 12.00 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania had a good first weekend as it grossed 33.50 crore nett approx in its first weekend. North India was excellent as Delhi/UP grossed nearly 8 crore nett and East Punjab was a huge 4 crore nett. The Sunday figures will be in the 13.50 crore nett region after grossing 20 crore nett plus in the first two days.
The daily collections in East Punjab on Sunday were the third best of the year with only the Sunday collections of Jai Ho and Holiday – A Soldier Is Never Off Duty being better. The North Indian flavour in the film has ensured the film is a huge hit in Delhi/UP and East Punjab
Rajasthan recorded very good numbers also but elsewhere business was good to decent with South India performing not so well and Mumbai being hit by torrential rain. Gujarat managed to show huge growth on Sunday but overall collections are just decent in Gujarat. The film is a HIT and remains to be seen if it can emerge a SUPER HIT.
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July 14, 2014 at 8:27 AM
Rajasthan recorded very good collections. Here Siddharth Shukla, who plays district collector in Balikavadhu, a Colors iconic serial dealing with social issues, has great fansbase, as the serial is based in Rajasthan culture. This DC is a far cry from grinning angad in HSKD. Very subdued but strict and scrupulous man.
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July 14, 2014 at 9:05 AM
Well good results anyway we look at it and the numbers are commendable esp since its coming during Ramzan period which was nearly dead month few years back. Secondly Varun recently had a similar release in MTH.
Considering the content has been strong universally in nearly all of the latest releases of new age stars and the numbers they are putting up, its time they kick start their campaign on the big release dates. Imagine if this was an Eid or Diwali release and it would immediately put pressure on the bigger stars to come with content or perish as wom will be greater for these movies and at the end of the day people go to watch a good movie and not just gimmicks.
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July 14, 2014 at 10:08 AM
Rangan is all praise for this one
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July 14, 2014 at 12:19 PM
I hope it does well, it was much better than 2 states and the likes. Also, all these films with newcomers have had absolute garbage trending- EK Villain went from a 50 crore weekend to 77 crore 1st week and will have a lifetime of around 100. Ram Leela had a 75 cr week and 113 final. 2 states did a little better. The only movie that I can remember with goodish trending is YJHD.
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July 14, 2014 at 12:49 PM
Although not trending well…the likes of 2 States, Ek Villain and now HSKD are far more worthy contenders for celebration parties than Holiday, Jai Ho and Humshakals!
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July 14, 2014 at 1:26 PM
agreed…
I think the story over the past twelve months or so has really been this sort of film comfortably getting to a 100 or at least not doing so with any worse trending than that shown by major blockbusters. The other film I’d add here in a related sense is YJHD, a pure multiplex film which did 185 or so. It was a huge number, completely beyond expectations. So you take this film and then those other films you’ve mentioned and then again Barfi or BMB and really the other ‘major’ films with major stars don’t have a leg to stand on.
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July 14, 2014 at 1:55 PM
Dont’s agree with Jayshah.
Holiday had the best WOM followed by 2 states.
Others have just crashed after week 1.
So not sure how can they become more worthy contenders…except that they were sold for a lesser price. Ofocurse they are bigger hits that way…but not appreciated enuf.
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July 14, 2014 at 2:00 PM
Holiday had good WOM though still not exceptional. But leaving this aside it opened very low. So you can’t have a major star in a major release depending on trending. That is ‘expected’ after the big initial kicks in. If you don’t get the initial what’s the point of having the big star in the first place?! And while the trending was better than most films these days it was still only good enough to just about get the film to a 100. Hardly a very significant achievement all things considered. Now it is true that you can hardly ever make up for the loss of an initial just by way of trending. But that’s a different debate. You have major stars to get major initials. They don’t have to be extraordinary or anything but very significant. Forget ‘better’, in some cases these films with rank newcomers (or very recent debuts) actually beat the Holiday initial. Holiday has been liked more than most of those films. But again that’s a different point. For instance Edge of Tomorrow has trended pretty well but the initial was simply too low for Cruise and so the film is more or less ending up around 95m (I loved the film incidentally). That’s hardly an optimal result by any standard (and I’m not getting into budgets here.. just the number of people who showed up in each case.. budgets can make a film safer at a lower gross but that doesn’t mean any greater audience participation).
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July 14, 2014 at 2:06 PM
Satyam, among all the names mentioned with newcomers, It was EK villain that had the most astonishing opening. Else there is no extraordinary in opening of any of these movies…just like Holiday. Yes Akshay should have got the opening more…that way it disappointed..but then movie found All India appreciation from Day 2. OK..it did not become a super hit…but if a star get a hit but not super hit/blockbuster…does it mean it was not worthy?
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July 14, 2014 at 2:16 PM
if Arjun Kapoor or Siddharth Malhotra opens a film at the same level or better than Akshay Kumar you don’t find this odd? Specially when Holiday is a regular genre?
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July 14, 2014 at 8:42 AM
Xhobdo:
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July 14, 2014 at 2:13 PM
did talaash open well?did talaash trend well?Akshay has beaten aamir khan in trending.
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July 14, 2014 at 2:15 PM
actually Talaash opened way bigger than Holiday! Despite the latter being the easier genre. And if I were an Akshay fan I wouldn’t exactly want to depend on trending given the way 99% of his films trend!
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July 14, 2014 at 2:21 PM
But the best trended films off late had Akshay – OMG (trending similar to TZP), RR and now Holiday. Opening has been a problem..but then it also has to do with bad choices prior to Holiday.
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July 14, 2014 at 2:18 PM
I am sure Talaash would not be considered in the same breath as Holiday by anyone. But the fact remains that Talaash did have a good WOM esp among ladies.
I was however disappointed by its opening as Aamir had opened similar movies better. He still remains the best bet to get Largest grossers as he is very very good in choosing right movies and more importantly doing very few movies between..thus building a novelty.
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July 14, 2014 at 2:14 PM
Shakti later told BBC reporter Tanya Datta that he was informed about the secret filming as he drove home that Sunday night, when his teenage daughter Shraddha called his mobile to tell him she’d seen him on TV.
Sitting on the very couch where Shakti explained himself to Datta in 2005, I’m wondering to what degree Shraddha has seen the “casting couch” in operation, and whether being daughter to the man who confirmed to the public that these rumours of “co-operation” were true would shield her or make her more vulnerable to it all.
But here’s a subject where there will be no going off-script: It was embarrassing – it was horrible – people don’t know him like we do – we got through it as a family – we’re closer than ever now – etc.
“I am okay with not being completely candid,” says Shraddha, when I try to bait her a bit by mentioning that in our American bro publication last month, actor Channing Tatum owned up to being pretty much a functional alcoholic. “Yes,” she says, “you won’t find that [in India]. I am a nice girl and you won’t find that level of candour for various reasons.”
I don’t get the feeling she’s embarrassed by her father very nearly getting caught on camera with his pants down, or that she’s been boxed in by her background. It’s like she’s somewhere between the daddy’s girl she’s expected to be and what she’s going to become next, whatever that is. A psych student at Boston University might have called it cognitive dissonance. Whether she grows into that Monica Bellucci vibe is up to her, but she’s standing on a precipice, not unlike the one outside these windows, and in her near future she’ll have to jump or sit back down on the couch. And then she’ll have to live with that.
http://www.gqindia.com/content/keeping-kapoors
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July 14, 2014 at 2:17 PM
never knew she was Shakti Kapoors’ daughter..
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July 15, 2014 at 10:36 AM
never knew I could beat anyone here with more knowledge about the contemporary actors (I knew she was Shakti Kapoor’s daughter, niece of Padmini Kolhapuri). LOL
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July 15, 2014 at 10:41 AM
you could probably beat me more often than not with the contemporary scene. watch very few Hindi films (i.e. new releases) at this point. On Shraddha Kapoor find her likable.
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July 16, 2014 at 2:22 PM
@oldgold. I notice that you seem to misspell certain names. Careless of you to have turned Padmini Kolhapure into P Kolhapuri. Of course Aamir is amir to you on purpose– like an insult. But that’s a different story altogether.
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July 14, 2014 at 2:15 PM
So now some people recognize the end total as important.Something which many have said before.
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July 14, 2014 at 2:17 PM
no some people don’t play games like some other people…!
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July 14, 2014 at 2:18 PM
did dhoom 3 trend well?It shouldnhave done 325cr atleast given the a 100cr weekend.Akshay is doing better thna aamir khan. 😀
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July 14, 2014 at 2:19 PM
you celebrated the 270cr total as great.Dhoom 3 gross will be beaten soon.
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July 14, 2014 at 3:43 PM
SRK – Aditya Chopra to release their film during Diwali 2016
Posted in : Bollywood,News|July 14th, 2014.
A reliable source has confirmed that Aditya Chopra, head honcho of Yash Raj Films, is targeting the Diwali weekend in 2016 to release his fourth directorial venture also starring Shah Rukh Khan.
The source added that the untitled film will be yet another love story with SRK playing a ‘more mature character’ as compared to some of his previous romantic films. She reasoned that the actor would be 50+ when the film releases in theatres.
There is one other extremely special reason why the makers are targeting Diwali 2016. The release of the film would coincide with Shahrukh Khan’s 51st birthday (November 2nd), as Diwali falls on October 30th in 2016.
The film is yet to be officially announced by YRF, but news of Aditya Chopra directing Shahrukh Khan has already been creating waves in the industry. It would be their fourth film together after Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Mohabbatein and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.
http://www.indicine.com/movies/bollywood/srk-aditya-chopra-to-release-their-film-during-diwali-2016/
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July 14, 2014 at 3:47 PM
I’m very interested to see how this film and the Salman-Rajashri film turn out. JTHJ was a failure (in my mind as a SRK fan) given the response it got and Rajashri stuff looks outdated. Interestingly both films release 21 years after their respective Blockbusters.
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July 14, 2014 at 3:56 PM
assuming this news to be true I’d be surprised if SRK were the only star in this.
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July 14, 2014 at 5:48 PM
wow…these guys are now going to be in their 50’s…and now they decide to have their characters as ‘mature’. lol.
at one point even I was excited about SRK/YashRaj/Aditya Chopra starrer..but after the last two horrific movies directed by aditya…i’m done. SRK just can’t keep himself away from that ‘mold’.
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July 14, 2014 at 6:04 PM
I wonder if “mature” means declaring in the beginning if the movie that srk/salman is 45 years old and still single like it was in Chennai Express lol. And I hope “mature” doesn’t mean another KANK either.
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July 15, 2014 at 2:27 AM
Ek Villian dropped badly in the third weekend and the week is heading for business around 3.50 crore nett which will take it to around 97 crore nett after three weeks. The drop is around 85% from the previous weekend as a major film like Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania released.
The film will now not reach the 100 crore nett mark and finish at around the 98 crore nett mark. It will join films like Singham, Race 2, Grand Masti, Raajneeti and Talaash will which finished in that 90-100 crore nett range.
The film had an excellent opening but has not sustained too well. Delhi and Punjab sustained fairly well but the rest starting showing noticeable drops from the first Monday onwards. Still due to the huge initial and reasonable costs it is a Super Hit film and possibly the biggest hit of the first half of 2014.
http://www.boxofficeindia.com/Details/art_detail/ekvilliantofallshortof100crorenett#.U8TJT0CwdIA
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July 15, 2014 at 6:47 AM
Taran thinks it’s Sholay:
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh · 3h
#EkVillain has attained BLOCKBUSTER status and crossed ₹ 100 cr mark in India. Ekta Kapoor and team to celebrate the grand success tonite.
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July 15, 2014 at 6:47 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh · 4h
#HSKD packs a SOLID punch on Mon. Fri 9.02 cr, Sat 11.25 cr, Sun 13.46 cr, Mon 5.78 cr. Total: ₹ 39.51 cr nett. India biz. EXCELLENT!
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July 15, 2014 at 6:47 AM
taran adarsh @taran_adarsh · 2h
#LaiBhaari has a FABULOUS Mon as well. Fri 3.10 cr, Sat 3.60 cr, Sun 3.85 cr, Mon 2.15 cr. Total: ₹ 12.70 cr. Maharashtra biz. SUPERB!
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July 15, 2014 at 3:56 AM
http://www.mid-day.com/articles/amitabh-bachchan-in-tourist-mode-at-rio-de-janeiro/15448163
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July 15, 2014 at 6:45 AM
Taran posted this:
ADITYA CHOPRA / YASH RAJ CLARIFIES
“There are stories out in some sections of the media about Aditya Chopra’s next directorial film with Shah Rukh Khan in the lead, with misleading titles attributed to this as well. All of this is completely untrue and inappropriate.
“While Aditya Chopra will definitely direct a film soon, as of now he has not finalised what he is going to be making next and has not even started writing the script. Anything at this point in time would therefore be unfortunate and misleading conjecturing.
“As and when he does finalise plans for his next venture, we will certainly be happy to make an announcement. Till then we would sincerely request all concerned to please refrain from speculating on the cast, story and title.”
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July 15, 2014 at 8:45 AM
I’m awaiting 2025, when YRF will celebrate SRK’s 60th birthday by launching Aaradhya Bachchan opposite him in a epic, romantic saga! 😉
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July 15, 2014 at 10:17 AM
This news is beyond exciting. It’s earth shattering. After doing a film with Farah and then YRF and then Farhan, SRK has certainly pulled one out of the bag by landing Aditya. Now to top it all off he needs to sign a Karan Johar film and this will definitely be some surprising and shocking career choices. Total re-invention.
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July 15, 2014 at 10:25 AM
but remember he’s part of ‘Khans Inc’. He doesn’t need to have the biggest hits all the time or for many years even as long as one of his partners comes up with these. Similarly he doesn’t need prestige or reinvention. At least one of his partners has taken care of that as well. Now what happened to this same venture in the 90s? Why didn’t the other partners benefit from SRK’s success? Well the company hadn’t been formed then. The media went about it only in later years. Much as when there’s a 200 crore film that is exactly the right time to invent a 100 crore club.
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July 15, 2014 at 10:35 AM
Who are Khans Inc. when you got King Kumar LTD. It’s better to do a thousand films and earn 1 crore from each then do 1 film and make 1000 crore
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July 15, 2014 at 10:41 AM
True!
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July 15, 2014 at 11:28 AM
Spoken like a true fan of an actor who is not in top 10 🙂
Looks like SRK plate will be full until 2020 with big project and as a leading actor in it. Not bad for somebody who was finished, was that 14 years ago???
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July 15, 2014 at 11:30 AM
You forgot Rohit Shettys next and Rahul Dholakias Raees.
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July 15, 2014 at 11:36 AM
I have already forgotten those films before they have even released
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July 15, 2014 at 1:02 PM
sure you have, but i’m sure you’ll be here talking about it when the first poster releases, when music is released and when the film is released…
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July 15, 2014 at 10:46 AM
Casting coup shall be either all the three khans together or 2 khans + Kumar or a Kapoor + a Kumar + a Khan. If there is any banners that may pull this off…it is YRF.
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July 15, 2014 at 11:17 AM
LOL
You mean Akshay, when you say Kumar, as really there really is not another Kumar in that “company”.
So in a roundabout way, either 3 khans is a casting coup, or the film must have Akshay. There are many Kapoors and Khans, but only one Kumar. That’s a great slogan for Akshay. He is one in a million.
This new found glory for Akshay is coming after a 100 crore grosser. Imagine the chaos caused if he actually gets to 150 crore in 2020.
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July 15, 2014 at 11:22 AM
I think UTV can pull it off too. Aamir will never do it.
I don’t think we’ll ever see a movie where 2 big stars are in it together, forget about 3. Maybe if one of the star today is on major decline in future, then he’ll do it.
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July 15, 2014 at 11:30 AM
I agree. I think more likely is a younger star with an older one and the only “coup” type combination is Ranbir with one of the other major stars.
There is very little appeal on it now anyway. If one star (going by media) costs 20 crore or more, you are blowing your budget wide open by signing 2. It’s not as practical as it was 15 years ago.
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July 15, 2014 at 11:34 AM
True, but in a way it can work because nowadays every actor is producer too so they won’t charge anything up front.
Plus I don’t think the makers of today can make multi star films like the 70s.
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July 15, 2014 at 11:26 AM
or if one just sticks to Aamir one usually gets a good film. I know this is a shock for Bollywood & Bollywood audiences but they’ve somehow compromised on this score.
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July 15, 2014 at 11:31 AM
Yes, D3 was a Mogel E Azam and Sholay of today…
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July 15, 2014 at 11:41 AM
just imagine if D3 actually had as good a script as the other two had – it would have been THE BAAP of everything 🙂
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July 15, 2014 at 11:49 AM
how can a fan of CE tell the difference?
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July 15, 2014 at 1:00 PM
it should have, but it wasn’t due to bad script. But I thought having aamir would mean good script, no?
not sure if a fan of CE can tell difference or not but a fan of an actor who is not even in top 10 should stay out of boxoffice discussion.
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July 15, 2014 at 2:52 PM
I would say both SRK and Aamir have a good script sense, Aamir in addition to a better script sense also has the sense to submit himself to the character and this is what is SRK’s shortcoming IMO. Most of the recent SRK movies had a decent script and it didnt look like somebody’s hasty scribble on a notepad. There was decent structure to the movie , the issue is SRKs performance was the same as it was in any other movie. Chennai Express was a prime example of a decent to good movie totally spoilt by an indifferent and hammy performance by SRK. Even Ra-one for all the flak it received, one could see that there was some thought put in the movie. It failed spectacularly because again SRK as Ra-one was hardly a superhero. RNBDJ is a big favorite of mine but I never liked SRK’s performance as the modern and extrovert guy. That was ham. MNIK had a good performance by him but Karan’s handling was too heavy and too grim and hence the movie turned out be a bore. JTHJ was a very good performance by SRK as the army man but the whole Katrina-praying-for-SRK-by-staying-away-from-him wasnt sold properly. Inspite of some of his movies not doing as well as expected and some having script issues one can see that he doesnt just sign a movie without a decent script in place. Same goes with Aamir, he might have faltered with Talaash’s script but atleast there was some credibility in the effort. Where SRK truly lets himself down visavis Aamir is by not putting enough effort in his performances. He tries to be different as MNIK, Don2, Ra-1, JTHJ, CE are all diverse kind of movies but barring one or 2 movies, he just acts the same. It is infact Aamir who acted in a rank bad film – Dhoom 3. Its hard to understand what made Aamir sign that movie. Whats unfortunate is the amount of money it made.
I am actually looking forward to the next few movies of SRK. CE’s success must have made him more confident to try out things as CE was not really his comfort zone considering the kind of roles he prefers. I didnt like him in it but I dont mind him giving a shot to another Rohit Shetty movie. Also both Raees and Fan looks interesting to me and I am quite hopeful of HNY. Again all these 4 movies of SRK do not sound like the same genre but am not sure whether SRK will have the same mannerisms in it.
Net net I find anything SRK and Aamir does quite interesting whether they falter or not, and look forward to their movies. I dont analyse too much the way Satyam does on SRK but in my mind he is definitely an actor whose projects I look forward too.
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July 15, 2014 at 3:57 PM
You provide a fair summary of your perspective except that I’m not sure how it’s possible to call D3 a rank bad film in comparison with some of those others you’ve listed or to speak of SRK and Aamir in the same breadth in terms of their script ‘acumen’ given everything that’s happened for so long. But leaving this aside I guess I’d disagree quite a bit. SRK has at least after very early on his career never been more than ‘star’ which is to say he’s never been sincere enough to be more than this. To this extent I’d agree with you. And there’s nothing odd about this. This is how most stars are. However he has at different points also tried out films away from his comfort zone and it is here that the insincerity has been most evident. Again when I say ‘insincerity’ I don’t mean that he puts in less effort but I suspect he has just never had enough empathy for those parts. Nonetheless he’s worked best when directors have utilized this ‘inability’ to their advantage and/or given him parts that depended on this lack of empathy. For me the two obvious examples are Dil Se and Swades. Now one might mention CDI in this regard but the problem I have here is that SRK in some sense identifies quite a bit with the ‘Muslim’. Not because he is one in an obvious sense but rather for the reason that for very many years he has been one in a somewhat more vocal sense and one who also sees this part of his identity as far more definitional than one might have thought just going through all his statements and so forth in the 90s. It goes without saying that there isn’t a problem with this (except when he’s used this angle somewhat cynically to pretend that he’s some sort of ‘Muslim victim’ in India! that’s a different discussion) but in the context of CDI, and since I have been talking about empathy here, the identification is a bit too immediate. And again to get back to the larger point he has merely been ‘star’ in the way most stars are merely this. And it’s not about the kind of star you are or scale of your stardom or whatever. You either have that empathy or you don’t. You can either be sincere as an actor or you can’t. Of course if you are significantly more talented than he is this might be less important (though I’d say that even there it matters.. I’ve explored this in the context of Bachchan’s career a number of times).
But moving on I don’t believe SRK has had any significant script sense at all. He has only ever scored on the ‘obvious’ films, never really on the different stuff. And he’s had many opportunities to either do those kinds of film and/or select better scripts (or more successful! because this is the other important thing.. I’ve said this in the context of certain Abhishek films many times but one must separate the interesting script that could never work from one which can with slight fixes.. you could ‘fix’ Swades.. you couldn’t do the same with Dil Se without destroying its world altogether.. now it might be foolish for a star to attempt this sort of thing but that’s simply a commercial argument and says nothing about the film.. even if in India we find it impossible not to fall prey to this circular logic). Whether it’s the Don kind of deal or sic-fi or whatever the case simply cannot be made that he could not have done better than this. Again it’s one thing to do something with Ratnam and not question it one way or the other and quite another to give Anubhav Sinha that sort of respect or for that matter Farhan Akhtar. Since SRK is otherwise not the most humble guy simply submitting to everyone more likely than not he cannot see the ‘problems’ with these films. He is conceptually interested in certain subjects but doesn’t know where to go with them in terms of narratives.
Beyond this (and I think qalandar once made this point) it’s absolutely the case that even as stars follow the box office to greater or lesser degrees they also follow a certain inner sense even when they make the most cynical decisions. There are certain films that are obvious for any star. So no one today would refuse a Hirani. or no one would refuse to play the villain in a Dhoom film. But leaving aside this sort of thing the larger menu of options stars decide from always reflect their own aspirations and not simply what works at the box office. Because many things can be successful in any given age. I could really look at every significant star today who’s ever been in any position to choose and point out how certain choices are very ‘individual’ ones. Which is to say that those weren’t the only commercial choices available to the star or not the only prestige ones or not the only risky ones.. so on and so forth. Any star’s image allows for some range of options but it is then the star who pushes more in one direction than the other. But again I could pretty much make this case for every star around.
Now you might be ‘interested’ in SRK as a star and might find a lot of what he does more palatable than if someone else did it. Even when you might not find his ‘acting’ impressive. I can understand this. there’s nothing wrong with this. We all have this sense with various stars. Those we really like and those we are not partial to but nonetheless don’t mind. For instance though I cannot stand 99% of his films I like Akshay in certain ways whereas I can never warm upto Salman except perhaps on an extremely rare day. But where I guess we might agree on SRK is that more than any other star over the last 20 years or so he seems much more ‘stale’ in many ways even when he tries to do different stuff. There are exceptions of course but by and large I find he starts getting tendentious very soon. A chore to watch beyond a point. Whatever my other issues with him I still would rather watch him on screen over many others. At least in theory. But then in film after film I get this feeling. We might not be that far apart here. I just don’t believe he has anything to reveal as an actor anymore and hasn’t for a very long time. He works better in some roles, he is still quite pleasant on screen but you never get that moment when he really, truly interests you.
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July 15, 2014 at 5:18 PM
Totally disagree.
SRK has no script sense at all.
SRK problem is the circle/camp he is with and his trust/submission to the director. some of those movies made whatever it did purly because of SRK name.
He has a mindset that everybody has a title and job that comes with it and trust them to do their job. Aamir is great i this department where he doesn’t trust anybody and provides his feedback (not sure what happenned with D3).
I’m not saying SRK is dumb and don’t know how to chose script, i think he just trust people/friends he has. Yash/Adi/Johar has said many times that with SRK, we don’t even give him the script, we just call him up and tell the shooting starts on this day.
SRK in past 10 years has become more of a business man and making movies is more of a hobby business for him.
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July 16, 2014 at 10:17 AM
When political party operatives show up on Indian TV they offer these kinds of excuses! If you read your comment carefully you’d realize how ridiculous it sounds. SRK isn’t dumb but dumb enough to trust those who clearly aren’t delivering optimal results for him! Is that right?!
There’s an easier, saner explanation here. SRK simply doesn’t have that sort of script sense. Nothing odd about it. Most stars don’t. This doesn’t make them or him ‘dumb’. No one is saying Aamir is the most intelligent actor in Bollywood. But he has the greatest intelligence when it comes to choosing scripts. And the reason this is about a certain kind of intelligence is that anyone can choose the obvious genres or directors or films that have a high probability of becoming hits. But if one is trying to do something more meaningful within each genre and also trying to guarantee a minimal level of box office success it’s not easy to keep doing so on a consistent basis for years. This requires a certain kind of intelligence. But since SRK hasn’t even been aiming for this sort of film over the last 15 years or so, at least not 95% of the time, so that it’s then about choosing ‘among’ commercial genres his bar is much lower than Aamir’s. But he still cannot get it done with anything approaching Aamir’s success. Which is why he’s had nothing huge in terms of overall achievement (initial or gross or both) between OSO and CE. One with a director who usually delivers with him or in any case puts up a big enough circus. the second with a guy who gets 100 crores with everyone, with Singham 2 it might well be 150 but in any case this is probably an achievable number for him with most significant stars. But even forgetting this debate that’s 2 grossers in 6-7 years. What about all the other big stuff he did in between? And what about the fact that even at the ‘meaningful’ level he simply had no follow-up to CDI?
All this doesn’t make him dumb by any means. But he clearly has different aspirations and at the same time also doesn’t quite have the smarts required to choose the right commercial venture. Yes he has deep associations with Yashraj and Johar but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t get them to work on better scripts. And again there is a specific kind of intelligence one is talking about here. And if you’re simply depending on friends who let you down again and again well that counts as ‘dumb’ in his business. But that’s following on your logic, not mine.
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July 16, 2014 at 10:44 AM
The difference is the equivalent of a good cricket player (SRK) and a good cricket player AND captain (Aamir). I’d say the latter type of person knows his game well but also know the game of his team well and knows what to do to beat the opposition. It does not follow that the latter is always better than the former, as not all good or great players are necessarily good captains. And it is also true that not every good captain is a good or great player. But usually a captain that lasts the distance does not lose his own form and you have examples like Dhoni, Steve Waugh, Ponting, Taylor etc.
I think “knowing” that something will work or even having the thought to care for this is somewhat of a natural talent. That instinctive smell, the ability to read a situation and make a decision that more often than not is the correct one. Great captains don’t get everything right. They do however, on average get more things right than most others and almost certainly make better decisions when it matters most and get more out of their “team” then others would.
Aamir was like SRK in 90’s. Remember the Indra Kumar films or the Dharmesh Darshan films. He had his own directors so to speak. His first intelligent call was to get rid despite friendships. His second was to work on Lagaan. After this, luck usually follows kindly to performers, they usually get the rub of the green. If you are “known” to have a reputation for good scripts, invariably you will be the pickiest but also end up with the best choices. Aamir made hay of this quicktime with DCH, RDB, TZP etc…the thing that has changed and levelled the field is there is now scope for the big stars to “produce” their own films and buy or get the best scripts. Hardly anyone has stepped up yet to a level of consistency Aamir has shown over the last decade. A Salman is doing the same quality of film he was doing 10 years ago. So is Akshay. Hrithik has tried a few times but not quite there. But they all have a much more level playing field than 10 years ago when the best scripts would have gone to just actors with reputation. As producers they have not quite upped their game. I think Ranbir has a good script sense for someone pretty young in the industry. Hrithik has probably put the most effort from the big stars. I think with SRK he tries occasionally, it does not work and he returns to a formula which has worked before, but critically, it is not a formula for sustained success. Salman does not care and that attitude is perfectly fine as in a sense that is not what he is about.
A lot of the small to medium budget films that work script wise – why does a big actor not do them more often. It probably will boil down to money I suspect. But if they’d done 1 or 2 of these along the way, that reputation would surely have grown and they’d be better for it now.
Also SRK does 1-2 films a year. Between YRF, Farah, Karan – they will come with a film every year between them and invariably cast SRK. That won’t change. He’s stuck unless he is not dumb enough to say no sometimes.
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July 16, 2014 at 11:30 AM
great comment.. comprehensive and fair. Nothing to disagree with here. And your point about a lot more opportunities having come about since Lagaan so that others have some advantages in that a lot of this stuff is being made anyway is a very important one. As is the connected one that despite this no one is achieving his kind of success at picking these projects.
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July 16, 2014 at 10:37 AM
“If you read your comment carefully you’d realize how ridiculous it sounds.”
Somebody like you won’t get it because you look so much into things which are not there. you almost create this imiganiry world which is way out of touch. you’re in your own world where you like to come up with lengthy explanation to everything trying to justify your standing.
Somtimes in life you do things for friends/family without questioning it or even if you know it’s the wrong choice you still do it because it will make the friend/family happy.
I go to store with my kids and tsometimes they pick out things which makes no sense but i buy it for them anyway because it will make them happy.
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July 16, 2014 at 11:28 AM
I didn’t know every single SRK film was with Yashraj or Johar? Even accepting that ‘family’ argument. The problem is you define every film SRK does as part of the family/friends structure which is more than a little bizarre!
As for my making things that are not there it’s about analyzing the ‘evidence’. You don’t invent your facts, you use what’s out there but the ‘facts’ can often lead to a very different sort of interpretation (other than the standard media one). One might not like this, that’s a different matter. But I’d add here that there are those facts that everyone can agree on but that are uninteresting. So no one would argue that DDLJ was a very big success, that it was very influential and so on. No one would argue that SRK was the most iconic star of ‘new India’ etc. But his ‘facts’ (the films he does, the grosses they put up etc) also tell some other stories which one might not like as a fan. It is not ultimately about accepting what I or anyone else might be saying. Can one accept anything about one’s favorite star that is uncomfortable? I think the answer is self-evident! The very explanation you provide for why SRK does these films makes my point. You can’t say that he has Aamir’s script sense but you also don’t want to say he’s dumb (something I agree with incidentally) so the only escape route left is to say he’s placed his career in the hands of his friends. You know I might be naive but I don’t think you become Shahrukh Khan with that sort of work ethic!
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July 16, 2014 at 12:51 PM
“so the only escape route left is to say he’s placed his career in the hands of his friends”
If only Michael Jackson did this, not his friends, but stayed with his family. He’d still be in Jackson 5. Forget that pretty decent solo career he had!
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July 15, 2014 at 4:37 PM
I don’t think anybody ever in Bollywood has ever had the script sense Aamir possesses. On this front, no one is even close. He is probably the only guy in Bollywood who does not have a ‘sab chalta hai atittude’.
Having said that, Dhoom 3 sucked.
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July 15, 2014 at 4:41 PM
Making banks the big evil corporation just because they are not giving you a loan – cheesy and stupid. And the father’s response to that – just commit suicide, wtf??? You need a little bit of logic even in masala films. Don’t even get me started on the stunts, I will take Prabhu Deva stuff over it.
Now you see me was a vastly better film on a somewhat similar premise.
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July 15, 2014 at 11:13 PM
agreed on all counts – had they got a tighter script – D3 would have got immense repeat value but aamir failed here in the script dept.
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July 16, 2014 at 1:30 PM
@Henry – Agree with all what you have said.
Also I feel Dhoom 3 was quite a bad film, which I shall not like to watch again but for second half. The film didnt work for me in the first half, but second half made it feel ok ok.
But ignoring all of that, I do feel that at a certain level the indian Audience connected with the concept that Bank is evil. The said is my assumption without any evidence to support the claim. In India to obtain a loan is quite difficult as in cerrtain people get it easily while certain fail even to obtain the simple and most secure loan. I am not expanding on the subject but I hope you get what I am getting into. So generally I have not seen people happy with the banks, and hence I have come across many who believe the idea of bank being evil ( without reference to the above film ). Hence I feel ofcourse again without any evidence or conversation regarding the same with anyone, that my hunch is many people like this Idea of bank being evil in a country where getting a loan is indeed difficult and conducts of the banks in India have not been satisfactory as per people’s version,
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July 16, 2014 at 1:44 PM
Good point Rooney.
Here in US, I can walk in the bank and get a loan in minutes. when i did a closing on my house, i got a loan from ING online, did not even have to see anybody.
Having said that, i had to shut off D3 after the scene where aamir is riding a bike from building on what loked like a rope?
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July 16, 2014 at 2:16 AM
Actually the Dhoom 3 script might have looked decent on paper for a masala film. However they just couldn’t pull it off, with ridiculous stunts and moments too hard to digest. Directors associated with Yashraj, barring a Shimit Amin or Habin Faisal to an extent, are the last guys one would count on making a good film
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July 16, 2014 at 3:48 AM
@KaranJohar: #SHHUDDHI will star SALMAN KHAN and will release Diwali 2016…..@shhuddhimovie
Lol, why not announce Shhuddhi 2 as well for 2020! Announcing movies this ahead is becoming joke.
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July 16, 2014 at 4:36 AM
He is also apparently doing a film called “Sultan” with Aditya Chopra-
“During a media interaction on Tuesday evening, talking about his upcoming films Salman Khan said, “Yes, I am doing Karan Johar’s film called ‘Shhuddhi’ which I would probably start in a while. After ‘Kick’, I am going to finish shooting for Sooraj Barjatya’s film. Then I have Kabir Khan’s film and Boney Kapoor’s ‘No Entry Mei Entry’ following that I also have Aditya Chopra’s ‘Sultan’ and a film with Mahesh Manjrekar.”
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/140716/entertainment-bollywood/article/salman-khan-play-lead-karan-johar’s-dream-project-shuddhi
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July 16, 2014 at 4:52 AM
7 films on his plate. Crazy!
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July 16, 2014 at 6:26 AM
Yeah thats for next 3-4 years. More fascinating part is that every film of these films looks to be potential blockbuster (baring supporting role in Mahesh manjrekar’s movie) and huge money spinner!
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July 16, 2014 at 2:14 PM
bole to…..bhai se panga nai lene ka kya! 🙂
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July 16, 2014 at 1:37 PM
Wednesday 16 July 2014 11.30 IST
Box Office India Trade Network
Q. The young stars like like Siddharth Malhotra, Ranbir Kapoor, Varun Dhawan and Ranveer Singh have all made a impact but what is the pecking order today?
Ans. Ranbir Kapoor has been around for some time and is an established star so competing with top stars of the day. The others will need more work for their popularity to be judged. They only have 3-5 films each and this is too less to judge why is a bigger draw than the other.
Amit Prabhakar
Q. How well will Kick open in terms of opening day box offfice collections and can it be a new record for day one?
Ans. Its impossible to predict as you can’t say how much pre eid will affect it. If it was not pre eid then it could challenge the opening records if not break them but with it releasing in the last few days of Ramadan business will be hit and to what extent will only be known when it releases.
H. Ahmed
Q. You have said Holiday has the best word of mouth and most appreciated film but is that not Queen at the way it sustained?
Ans. Films like Queen are liked by a small minority in a handful of cities. Just because Queen has better word of mouth in five big cities does not mean its better all India. The most important thing for word of mouth is reach as that means more footfalls and more people liking. Due to huge variance in ticket rates the gap does not show in box office collections but eventually word of mouth is number of people liking.
G. Singh
Q. Is Holiday the biggest grosses overseas as well as India?
Ans. No in India its the biggest but in overseas it is behind Jai Ho and 2 states.
S. Malhotra
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July 16, 2014 at 1:39 PM
Is Pre-Eid really a draw back? I mean India’s muslim population is around 15%, so unless BOI is trying to say that a majority/bulk of Salman’s fans are muslim, I don’t buy this. It’s not like releasing a film on Diwali day where a large part of the population is doing pujas/festivals and hence collections get affected.
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July 16, 2014 at 1:49 PM
I don’t think the’re implying majority of Salmans fans are muslims.
They’re just saying pre-eid is not ideal for big business no matter who the actor is.
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