Never Ending Movie Carnival
Never Ending Movie Carnival
Pathaan : Cineblues exclusive, will Shah Rukh Khan comeback beat KGF 2, War opening day collections, experts speak
Pathaan – all hopes of Bollywood box office revival, King Khan Shah Rukh Khan clout as a superstar and Yash Raj Films creditability to deliver good, quality and mass appealing content after a super disastrous 2022 with pathetic duds like Shamshera starring Ranbir Kapoor in lead and Samrat Prithviraj is starring Akshay Kumar.
Interesting situation – both SRK and YRF are eyeing each other to revive their fortunes.
Shah Rukh Khan whose career got its biggest boost with YRF films like Darr, DDLJ, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is dreaming for another magic push with YRF’s touted spy universe latest Pathaan after the successful Tiger series starring Salman Khan and War (the Hritik Roshan and Tiger Shroff starrer gave YRF and Bollywood its biggest opening -51.60 crore beating their own record of 50.75 crore set by the Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan starrer Thugs Of Hindostan). While Thugs Of Hindostan ended as a huge disappointment at the box office and as a film.
War salvaged considerable amount of pride for YRF as it found the love of the masses and ended around 317 crores lifetime.
War day one record got broken by Yash starrer KGF 2 which collected 53.90 crores.
A lot is at stake for King Khan Shah Rukh Khan – Pathaan – the all out spy action drama seemed to be made on the lines of Mission Impossible has to score big for the superstar hailed as king of romance.
So how much is Pathaan expected to earn from day one.
The movie directed by Siddharth Anand (last movie War) starring Shah Rukh Khan in lead with Deepika Padukone and John Abraham playing the villain has been in news for all the reasons.
The boycott trend, the Besharam song, the inability of Bollywood to come up with mass appealing subjects Pathaan has to conquer all.
Luckily after the Besharam song hullabaloo, the trailer got tremendous response and the buzz stared building.
Reportedly the film industry and lovers of Bollywod and SRK of course are having huge hopes on this touted big budget big ticket.
Claims are getting made left right and centre and with reports of some theatres planning for open Pathaan shows as early as 6 am, indicates the mammoth anticipation.
We spoke to renowned senior trade experts whose opinions are trusted and valuable. Experts like Komal Nahata and Vinod Mirani who are honest in their opinion are not those self proclaimed trade analyst who are actually the postman/spokesperson of the production houses or the celebrity involved in the project.
Komal Nahata says, “The response is terrific and going by the trend opening can be in the range of 35 – 40 croes”. Whether Pathaan breaks the record of KGF 2 or War needs to be seen.
On asked what is the reason behind this enthusiasm, Komal Nahata said, “ The controversy over Besharam, the boycott trend has worked in the favour of Shah Rukh Khan and Pathaan. Shah Rukh Khan gets targeted and what happened with son Aryan and SRK getting dragged into the boycott trend because of his religion has generated a sympathy wave for him. There are many those who are not his fans but want to watch the movie and send a message”.
“Plus the trailer was exciting enough to make the audience eager to watch the touted spy action bonanza; if the trailer would have been poor this kind of buzz would not have been possible. In the end it will always be the content” Komal Nahata added.
The opening trend, enthusiasm is good news for SRK, Pathaan and Bollywood in general and I hope the movie makes everyone happy” Komal Nahata concluded.
Vinod Mirani says “the capacity of Bollywood super stars to draw crowds to theatres has faded rapidly post pandemic”.
On the news of Pathaan opening buzz, Vinod Mirani says that the makers are expecting to cash on the besharam controversy” and instead on reacting on the opening day trends, Vinod Mirani is more interested on the actual day one figures and what the public is saying about the movie.
According to Vinod Mirani’s observation, in the case of Pathaan the family audience may observe a wait and watch approach fearing obstructions from the anti Pathaan lobby for the first few days.
It’s almost a decade and after Chennai Express (2013) Shah Rukh Khan has failed to deliver a genuine blockbuster. Shah Rukh Khan has given a series of duds starring himself in lead in the last nine to ten years – Zero, Jab Harry Met Sejal, Raees, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Fan, Dilwale, Happy New Year, - seven continues failures.
A miracle is desperately needed and the desperation is seen. Calling the Assam CM at 2: 00 am is an indication that the king of romance is worried/ concerned” remarked Vinod Mirani.
Though PM M. Narendra Modi has asked his party workers to restrain from making unnecessary comments and stick to their work.
A certain section is still active and is alleging the makers, the people behind Pathaan and the exhibitors for manipulation, ‘fake’ collections and distribution of free tickets by SEK fan clubs.
From piracy to boycott trends to lack f credibility in delivering favorable, mass appealing content, OTT threat, audience change of preference post pandemic, challenges for Bollywood – the Hindi film industry keeps on increasing.
A cheer, a win, a celebration is needed. Pathaan is expected to bring in the moolah amidst all the hoopla – good or bad but by its own merit.
Stay tuned for Cineblues Pathaan review coming soon on Jan 25, 2023.
A child born from life & fed by cinema. A filmi keeda from child & a film journalist for the last fifteen years. a father, seeker, foodie who loves crooning bollywood melodies twitter.com/cineblues More By vishal verma