With just a day to go before the longest-awaited movie of Bollywood, Sooryavanshi, hits the screens, speculations are on about whether Rohit Shetty’s film can touch the Rs. 300-crore mark. Of course, for any film to do such huge business, it is of paramount importance that it should have commensurate merits. But in today’s times, it is not just about merits in the content. It is also to be seen if the potential audience comes out of the safety of their homes and into the cinemas to contribute to that kind of business.
The COVID-19 pandemic has instilled a sense of terrible fear in the minds of the people because of the havoc the Coronavirus has wreaked on the lives of themselves and/or their near and dear ones. And so the question is: will the public, after more than a year-and-a-half of social distancing, venture out to the cinemas to experience big-screen entertainment?
The answer seems to be a big YES.
(i) For one, people are bored and fed up of being cooped up in their homes for the months of lockdowns induced by COVID-19. They now want to come out and enjoy themselves — and cinema still remains one of the cheapest forms of entertainment. The gigantic business which several South language films and Punjabi films, released after the first and second lockdowns have done, many with 50% capacity houses, should be an indication that if people in those regions are patronising films in such a big way, it shouldn’t be any different for Hindi films.
(ii) Secondly, Sooryavanshi seems to be that kind of a family masala film which makes for perfect Diwali viewing to drive away the Coronavirus blues — it stars such A-listers as Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Ajay Devgan and Ranveer Singh and is, therefore, star-studded, it is made by one of the most successful filmmakers, and besides being a family film (which Rohit Shetty films are), it is being intelligently advertised as that (‘This Diwali, bring back your family to the cinemas’).
(iii) Besides, the producers of the film, budgeted at Rs. 200 crore, have painstakingly educated the public about the fact that Sooryavanshi would be hitting the big screens, a fact that the producers of another Akshay Kumar starrer, Bell Bottom, overlooked a few months back, perhaps, in their excitement of being the first film to release (in August 2021) after the reopening of cinemas post the second lockdown.
(iv) Another reason why the public would be more willing to ‘risk it out’ in the cinemas is that a huge adult population has been vaccinated and hence feels more safe and secure in that sense. If one looks all around, it’s life as usual for a majority of the people who have now adjusted to the new normal and have accepted the fact that they would have to live with the Coronavirus with due precautions.
There are people in the trade, who feel that the producers of Sooryavanshi have not promoted the film too well and have had a small window of just about a fortnight for the marketing and promotion. They interpret this as the producers’ lack of confidence in the film. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Those who understand promotion would be more inclined to pat the backs of the film’s producers for not having unnecessarily splurged on its promotion. For, the hunger and thirst among the public for the multi-starrer is so immense that all that is probably needed to get the potential public to the cinemas is to remind them of the film (with such a star cast, the producers have done that without really doing anything), inform them of its release in the cinemas (their first trailer, promoted extensively on social media, showed the three heroes gleefully announcing that they would be back in the cinemas after a long ‘interval’), and promise them entertainment unlimited (which the film’s posters, banners, hoardings and other publicities are amply doing). So, it is actually the optimum publicity! Any additional promotion would actually be wasteful expenditure.
To the good fortune of the film, most of the state governments have, since the last few weeks, been permitting cinemas to operate at full capacities instead of the erstwhile 50%. This is a veritable shot in the arm for the film because one would expect a film of this genre, banner, star-cast and kind to open huge. With 50% capacity, one dreaded to think of what the new ‘huge’ would be. Luckily now, states and Union territories like Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab have permitted cinemas to function at full capacities. An oral assurance has come from the Madhya Pradesh government for cinemas to function at cent per cent capacity, and the trade is hopeful of a very early written directive to that effect. Maharashtra and the remaining states are, of course, expected to follow suit sooner than later.
Given this scenario, it can safely be concluded that an opening day’s net collection of Rs. 30 crore-plus, maybe even Rs. 35 crore, is a huge possibility. That could actually mean a first weekend of Rs. 100 crore! (Wow, did you experience goosebumps while reading this paragraph so far? If yes, you are a true Bollywood trade buff!) And with a first weekend of Rs. 100 crore or more, it is very likely that the film manages to net Rs. 250 or even Rs. 300 crore in its lifetime run. Yes, it may take a couple of more weeks than the time it would have taken in the pre-COVID days, for the film to realise its full potential, but who is complaining so long as one gets to see those box-office figures over again! Being the first truly big film releasing in cinemas after 19 months, the entire trade is waiting with bated breath for the course the film takes at the box-office. It would not be wrong to say that the entire Bollywood is praying for the success of Sooryavanshi. For, the box-office business of this film will answer questions like whether the public is ready to frequent cinemas in the new normal, what kind of business should one expect films to do in the new normal, etc. A sign of the collective concern for the film’s healthy run at the turnstiles is that no producer has scheduled the release of his film next week too, giving Sooryavanshi a clear playing field for two full weeks. Of course, there is Hollywood’s Eternals hitting the screens this week alongside Sooryavanshi, but Diwali week can easily accommodate two new film releases, as pre-COVID days have proved year after year.
So is it time to start celebrations in the film trade? You bet! This could be a truly Happy Diwali for every Bollywood trade person. Let’s just keep our fingers crossed.
