Isn’t it surprising that the dubbed Hindi version of Pushpa is doing so well?

– You would not ask this question if you had seen the film. It deserves to do hit business because it is a wonderful film. If what you mean is that Allu Arjun is not a known face among the Hindi film-going audience, there are two points: one, content is of primary importance, and secondly, Allu Arjun is already popular among a large chunk of the Hindi film-going audience because his starrers (Telugu and Hindi dubbed), beamed on satellite channels, have wide viewership.

What is more important in a film, from the box-office point of view — romance, hit music, comedy or drama?

– You cannot grade these ingredients of a commercial hit, based on their importance. Every ingredient is important, and which ingredient is more important than the other/s depends on the kind of script. You have forgotten to mention actors’ performances, background music, camerawork, emotions, etc.

Like the acceptability of stars of South Indian language films is growing in states other than the Southern states, will the acceptability of Hindi film stars also grow in the South circuits?

– Yes, it will. Satellite TV channels and digital platforms will go a long way in blurring the dividing lines between stars on the basis of the language in which their films are made.

What kind of an initial do you expect Dhurandhar 2 to take in March next year?

– Earth-shattering! In all likelihood, it will be the biggest opening the trade has ever seen! The best thing about DHURANDHAR 2 is that it will release after just three-and-a-half months of the first part’s release. In other words, the excitement will not abate when the second part releases because the first part will be in cinemas for several weeks more.

How is it that Avatar: Fire And Ash did well in the first week despite unencouraging reports?

– Whose reports were unencouraging? Only many among the media and the trade were speaking badly about the film. And that is because the first half was slow and a bit boring. But those who were sceptical about the film forgot to appreciate the fact that the second half was rivetting. And that’s the reason their judgement proved incorrect.

Why did Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri not take a good start on December 25?

– Obviously, because of the opposition of the hurricane called DHURANDHAR. Besides, this blockbuster of a film coupled with Hollywood’s AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH ensured that TMMTMTTM did not get the best showcasing in multiplexes and single-screen cinemas.

Is it true that a big-budget film is a lost case if it doesn’t open well?

– Almost always! In the rarest of rare cases does a big-budget film score after it picks up following a poor start. The jump in collections has to be huge for the film to then go on to do big business.

Will the bad times for Bollywood get over any time soon?

– Of course, they will get over. Producers, writers and directors must’ve geared up to make better content. When films with good content hit the screens, we will see hits and super-hits more regularly.

What exactly is wrong with Bollywood today?

– The films! DRISHYAM 2 worked at the box-office because it was a good film.

Why did this week’s Crazxy not even get a decent or average start when the producer-actor’s Tumbbad did so well in repeat-run last year?

– TUMBBAD is an old film. Its performance in the repeat-run box-office circuit last year has no bearing whatsoever on the performance of this week’s new release, CRAZXY, although the producer-actor of the two films are common.

Which is the next film which the trade is looking forward to?

– The Eid release, SIKANDAR, I suppose!

You had mentioned in your review of Chhaava that it would do extraordinary business in Maharashtra and also score in the rest of India. What gave you the confidence to say that 60-70% of the total all-India business could probably come from Maharashtra alone?

– The fact that it was the story of a Maratha hero gave me the confidence to say (in my video review) and write (in my text review) what I did.

Business has become so unpredictable. The teaser of Deva was liked by the public or so it seemed, but the film has not even opened to decent houses, leave alone excellent?

– Yes, that’s strange. The only reason one can think of for the lacklustre opening today (January 31) is that the momentum for the film could not be maintained by the producers after the initial hype following the teaser launch.

Aamir Khan was to have released his Sitaare Zameen Par last Christmas. But the film has now been shifted to Christmas 2025. That would mean a delay of exactly a year! Is such a long delay justified?

– Justified as in what? It is Aamir’s film and he doesn’t need to justify why he is delaying the film by a year. Perhaps, what you mean to ask is whether such a long delay is appropriate. To that, all one can say is that the producer knows best what is good for his film — and that includes deciding on the release date too.

What, according to you, are the main reasons for so many films not opening well enough?

– The reasons are several: filmmakers usually not working on their film’s music; producers and distributors often neglecting paper, street and electronic publicity and instead concentrating too much on social media publicity; high admission rates; the small window of only a few weeks between a film’s theatrical and OTT release. And, of course, poor content!

Why are the two Diwali releases — Thamma and Deewaniyat — not being released on 20th October instead of 21st?

 – Box-office collections on the day of Diwali (Laxmi Pooja) are generally adversely affected. Therefore, many producers avoid the Diwali day (20th October this year) and release their films a day later.  

Can’t something be done about the tug-of-war for shows and screens, that happens whenever two star-cast films are slated for release in the same week?

– This problem needs to be tackled at the industry level. Some broad formula of screen-sharing and show-sharing needs to be arrived at if the trade is to function in a healthy manner. Film producers and distributors seem to have forgotten two things: the philosophy of live and let live; and the philosophy of water finding its own level.        

What exactly has changed from the box-office point of view after COVID-19?

– After COVID-19, the business of hit films has grown while that of flop films has come down markedly.  

Now that Fast X has released this week, will it adversely affect the box-office collections of The Kerala Story?

– A running film, that too a super-hit, does not get adversely affected by a new release, however big. Since the third week of the blockbuster THE KERALA STORY commences today, collections are bound to come down, but to blame the decline on the new big Hollywood release, FAST X, would not be right.  

Is controversy the surest formula for a film’s success?

– Not at all! If you are referring to the stupendous success of THE KERALA STORY, perish the thought that it is breaking records only because it is a controversial film. There are countless examples of films failing at the box-office in spite of major controversies surrounding them before release. Controversies help the box-office of a film only if its content is entertaining.

Will Rajkumar Hirani’s Dunki hit the screens on Christmas this year? For, if it does, there will be a gap of just three-and-a-half months between Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan and Dunki.

– DUNKI is almost complete and will be comfortably ready for release in the Christmas week this year. JAWAN is slated to hit the screens on 7th September. A gap of three-and-a-half months between the release of the two SRK starrers is good enough, don’t you think so? 

Why don’t the producers of Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and Maidaan come on different dates instead of clashing on Eid?

– This is easier said than done. No producer would like to forgo the Eid week because it definitely translates into enhanced collections. Since both, BADE MIYAN CHOTE MIYAN and MAIDAAN, are hugely budgeted films, every such benefit (like a potentially bountiful week) is an additional factor to maximise revenues.

Last week, Yodha took a dull start. This week, it is Madgaon Express and Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, which have opened to weak houses. Do these dull initials tell a story?

– Yes, these are alarming initials. This means that unless the audience find something super-exciting in the trailers, they are not in a mood to rush to the cinemas. This has happened post-COVID because one section of the public is spending its money on films very judiciously. They will go to the cinemas only when they are convinced that it will be worth the ticket prices. Admission rates must be brought down for films starring heroes who aren’t hot. The sooner the industry realises this, the better it would be.

What did you think of the trailer of Crew? Will the film open well?

– The trailer has made a place for itself in people’s hearts. There is a certain amount of craze that has developed for the film after the trailer was released.

Why did this week’s Param Sundari record dull advance booking?

 – There was not much reason for the advance booking of PARAM SUNDARI to be impressive because neither was the film very hot before release nor are the main actors of the kind which would warrant the plans to open big. 

The producers of Gujarati Vash Level 2 released the Gujarati Vash sequel this week after dubbing it in Hindi even though the first part was not dubbed in Hindi? Is this an advisable move?

– Strictly speaking, it’s not an advisable move because the second part may not be completely comprehensible to the Hindi film-going audience as they haven’t watched the first part in Hindi. The producers may have taken the liberty of doing what they did because VASH (the first part) was remade in Hindi by Ajay Devgan as SHAITAAN. However, the ending of SHAITAAN was very different from that of VASH. By the way, the title of the Hindi dubbed version of VASH LEVEL 2 is VASH VIVASH LEVEL 2.

There’s suddenly a rush of new releases on 5th and 12th September. Why is it so?

– Sometimes, there are too many releases for no apparent reason. The film release schedules are often like the Bombay traffic — unpredictable!        

You tweeted earlier this week about social media influencers being paid by some producers to write glowing reviews of their films at the time of release. But the trade gets to know very fast which review is bought and which is impartial. Then what is the sense in paying influencers to write positive reviews?

– It is not just social media influencers but also critics and trade analysts who are involved in this racket of writing/posting/broadcasting reviews for money. This is telling upon the credibility of not just the community of journalists but also of producers, which is bad because the public already has a very negative image of the industry people, and this kind of practice doesn’t help in salvaging the image. What is even worse is that such paid tamasha stretches even beyond the reviews and manipulates the reporting of actual box-office collections. The two purposes such reviews and comments serve are: to massage the egos of the producers, directors and actors of those films; and to misguide the public which, in the first place, is not concerned with the box-office collections as much as it is concerned about the entertainment quotient in films. I tweeted because some such paid trade analysts, critics and social media influencers kept on running down those who had written/posted/broadcast genuine reviews of the recently released big-budget films while falsely announcing how those films had proven to be blockbusters at the box-office. I was targeted too. And one of the persons targeting me on Twitter was the content head of the production house which had produced the film so being glorified as a blockbuster rather than the box-office success which it actually was and which I had rightly predicted, it would be!! Can you believe this? Of course, the mischief-makers ran for cover (along with the producers, I’m sure) once GADAR 2 turned out to be the real blockbuster — without the support of those paid social media influencers, trade analysts and critics who sell their souls and their reviews. The unfortunate part for these liars was that GADAR 2 came in quick succession of the films which were being touted as blockbusters. Someone had to take a stand and expose such practices. I decided to do it. And I must add, the response of the Twitterati to my exposing tweets was phenomenal.

Why did R. Balki not postpone his Ghoomer instead of releasing it this week, in spite of the tough opposition of Gadar 2 which is still going great guns at the box-office?

– The all-India distributors of the film, PEN Marudhar Cine Entertainment, felt, there was no opportune date for releasing GHOOMER in the near future even if it were to be postponed. PEN Marudhar itself has DREAM GIRL 2 and THE VACCINE WAR for releasing in the forthcoming few weeks. But yes, I agree with you. A film like GHOOMER needed to be handled with kid gloves and needed to be released with a lot of planning, love and care. It deserved special attention.

What was the reason for the previous week being so bountiful for the box-office?

– It was an extraordinary week with a national holiday on 15th for Independence Day, and a festive holiday on 16th for Parsi New Year. Also, three big films — GADAR 2, OMG 2 and RAJINI THE JAILER — released last week and they were appreciated by the paying public, and hence the audience showered all their love on the three films!