When will Akshay Kumar bounce back?

– When he delivers a successful film. That apart, it is after a long time that the trailer of a forthcoming film of his has been liked. I’m talking about the trailer of RAKSHA BANDHAN. If you recall, none of the trailers of his recent films were liked, but the trailer of RAKSHA BANDHAN seems to have worked its magic on the public and the film trade alike.

I’m an exhibitor of Bihar, and I’m in a very sad state of affairs as no film is doing well at the box-office. I’m at my wits’ end, I don’t know what I should do. Can you please advise?

– Take solace in the fact that all exhibitors are sailing in the same boat as you, if I may say so! Jokes apart, the situation is so bad that exhibitors are bleeding. The situation can improve only when a hit film arrives in cinemas.

Have the prices for digital rights of films come down from the level during the lockdown days?

– Yes, they have reduced. OTT platforms aren’t making profits and, therefore, the prices have come down.

How would you describe the first half of 2022 for the box-office?

– It’s been fairly good. Although there have been many flops, some films like K.G.F. CHAPTER 2, RRR, THE KASHMIR FILES, BHOOL BHULAIYAA 2 and GANGUBAI KATHIAWADI have done well, most of them amazingly well. Besides, there’s still a week to go before the first half’s releases can be analysed. Wait for JUGJUGG JEEYO to hit the screens.

We keep saying that the audience today has become very smart and, therefore, mediocre films will not work any longer. I’ve been hearing this since donkey’s years. Can you tell me, when was the audience not smart?

– You are absolutely right. The paying public has always been smart. Anybody who has to spend his hard-earned money on something, is inherently clever enough to weigh the pros and cons before spending it. And that’s true not just for a film ticket priced at Rs. 100 or Rs. 200 but also for even a rupee spent on anything. Only thing, since people have access to more information now, thanks to social media, their smartness has increased. But that happens in any sphere. Besides, today, the audience has a lot of choices in the form of content on OTT platforms, making the competition for films more severe. Otherwise, poor content has never worked, and it never will!

Is it true that Raksha Bandhan will be premiered on an OTT platform?

– Not at all! Zee has acquired all the rights of the film for a phenomenal price and can’t dream of forgoing theatrical release. It will hit the screens on 11th August.

What’s going wrong with Yash Raj Films? Why are its films flopping?

– When films flop, there can’t be a standard reason for all the flops. In the case of JAYESHBHAI JORDAAR, the film should never have been made with a hero who is lying all the time. And when he’s not lying, he’s running and hiding. None of the qualities are those which we like to see our heroes possess. As for SAMRAT PRITHVIRAJ, the intention for making it comes across as encashing on the Hindutva climate in the country and wanting to appeal to that philosophy rather than making an entertainer. The intent is wrong. Besides, historicals are always risky propositions because many among today’s audiences don’t like them unless they are outstanding. SAMRAT PRITHVIRAJ was not outstanding by any stretch of imagination.

I have a budget of Rs. 12-13 crore to make a film. I can make it with ‘B’ list actors. I have utmost faith in the script. Should I go ahead and make the film?

– Think over and over again. Everyone feels, he has a fantastic script. Assuming, you actually have a good commercial script, you need at least Rs. 6-7 crore to promote the film. One has seen many small films with good content going unnoticed only because there was no money available to make the public aware about the content-driven film. After making a good film, what is the sense if people don’t come to the cinemas simply because of lack of awareness?

Which seems to be the next big film, commercially speaking?

– Karan Johar and Viacom18’s JUGJUGG JEEYO. From its trailers, it looks like Raj Mehta has made another fantastic entertainer after GOOD NEWWZ.

Why did Samrat Prithviraj not take a flying start today?

– The film’s trailers and songs failed to generate excitement for the film among the paying public. Perhaps, that’s why producer Aditya Chopra released a second trailer of the film before the film’s release today (3rd June). The silver lining, however, is that collections showed a rise in many cities as the day progressed.

Does tax-exemption granted to films help boost their box-office collections?

– Since a state government can only exempt a film from its share of the GST (which is 9%), tax exemption does not really help too much as the reduction in ticket prices is not large. Also, exhibitors resent tax-exemption nowadays because the state government asks them to first deposit the GST with the treasury, and then apply for refund from the state. That means, exhibitors have to deposit the 9% GST which they don’t collect from the public, with the state government treasury. Needless to add, the refund takes forever to come. Several exhibitors, therefore, prefer to not screen the film at tax-free rates. Instead, they reduce ticket prices but charge 18% GST so that they don’t have to wait for years — yes, years! — to get the refund from the state governments.

With South stars like Yash, Jr. NTR, Ram Charan and Allu Arjun’s films scoring in Hindi, I had thought that the Hindi dubbed version of Kamal Haasan’s Vikram Hit List would also open well today. But I was wrong. Why did it open so poorly?

– Not all South stars are popular with the Hindi film-going audiences who seem to prefer younger heroes. Kamal Haasan starrers did not do well in Hindi-speaking areas even when he was young, so how could you expect VIKRAM HIT LIST to take a good start today? While on the film, let me inform you that its shows had to be cancelled in several cinemas due to absence of audience.

Would you call Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 the saviour of Bollywood, now that it has clicked and given the Hindi film industry such respite?

– Calling the film a saviour would be a bit too much. And I’ll tell you why. It’s not as if Bollywood would have shut down had BHOOL BHULAIYAA 2 not done well. A section of the media may have had us believe that that would have happened, but as prudent trade people, we know, that was not going to happen. The film is a hit, no doubt, and kudos to the director, producers, writers, stars, actors and others who made the film possible.

How much bearing does a star’s personal life have on his/her professional life?

– In the good old days, personal lives of stars did not have much bearing on their careers or professional lives. That’s because the public used to get a peek into their personal lives through gossip magazines which were not sacrosanct. But today, with most stars being on social media, their personal lives are an open book. Hence, that does have a bearing on their professional lives too, to an extent, at least. Having said that, let me add that Indians are a very forgiving lot. Even if they let their opinion about a star (based on what he/she does in his/her personal life) cloud their judgement about him/her on the negative side, they would rush to watch his/her film if they hear good public reports about the film.

Will Neetu Singh Kapoor continue to act in films or is Jugjugg Jeeyo a one-off case?

– She will continue to accept acting offers that are worth her while.

When will this dry spell of Bollywood end? Or will it ever end?

– Of course, it will come to an end. Don’t lose heart! It’s definitely not the end of the world for the Hindi film industry. It may be passing through terrible times but what seems to be magnifying the problem is that simultaneously when original Hindi films aren’t performing well at the box-office, dubbed Hindi versions of South films are going great guns. And by the way, your prayers seem to have already been answered. The initial of BHOOL BHULAIYAA 2 in the national multiplex chains today is excellent.

Producers learn their lesson when films expected to earn profits turn out to be box-office duds. But for a producer like Aditya Chopra, the returns from non-theatrical sources are so huge that even their flop film like Jayeshbhai Jordaar turns out to be an earning proposal at the end of the day. Does it mean that he will never learn a lesson?

– Why just Aditya Chopra? Do you really think, producers ever learn their lesson? I don’t think so. Everyone is in such a tearing hurry to make films that they don’t seem to have the time to take a step back and analyse why their film flopped. The easiest escape route for a producer, who has delivered a flop, is to say that nobody can predict what will work at the box-office and what won’t, and move on to the next project. Have you ever heard of a producer trying hard to understand the reasons for his film’s failure? If you ask me, I would still condone a failure but what is more shocking is when a producer is convinced, after watching the film but before its release, that he has made a successful film, a hit or a blockbuster, and that film turns out to be a flop. That is cause for concern, especially in the case of recent Hindi films like JAYESHBHAI JORDAAR, RUNWAY 34, and HEROPANTI 2, all of which have flopped because they’ve been rejected by the paying public.

I am a struggling actor. I’m trying my best to get a break in films but it’s just not happening. Can you give me some tips?

– Getting a break is one of the most difficult things in the film industry because there are lakhs of people like you, who nurture dreams of becoming actors and who are struggling like you. But you should not restrict yourself to trying for a break in films only. Try to get work on television, in web series, maybe even theatre. In short, you ought to be acting on whatever platform possible. This will help you hone your skills and also reduce your frustration. Also, give yourself a realistic time frame for your struggle. If you get a break within that time, great; if not, try your hand at something else.

Why do you think, the trailer of Major, made in Hindi and Telugu, has been liked so much by the public? Is it because the current public sentiments are in favour of South films? After all, it stars a Telugu film star and what’s more, the story of the film (about army officer Sandeep Unnikrishnan) is well-known in view of the media coverage he got after he was martyred in the November 2008 terror attacks in Bombay.

– If the fondness for a trailer had anything to do with the public sentiments being in favour of South films, the trailer of RAW (dubbed version of Tamil BEAST) would also have been loved by the audience, but we know, that’s not true. The trailer is receiving the love of the paying public because it’s a good trailer, period. After that, it doesn’t even make a difference that the story of the film’s subject is in the public domain.

Will Jayeshbhai Jordaar take a flying start today, befitting the stardom of its hero, Ranveer Singh?

– Definitely not, because the trailers of the film, after the first trailer, have not been liked too much by the public. Generally, each trailer adds to the film’s likeability. That didn’t happen in the case of JAYESHBHAI JORDAAR. The initial euphoria for the film was not maintained by the latter promotion of the film.

Will Liger be the next big South blockbuster in the Hindi-speaking belt?

– You never know! Incidentally, like MAJOR, LIGER is also not dubbed in Hindi. It has been shot in Telugu and Hindi, just like MAJOR.

Will the debacle of Heropanti 2 put an end to the franchise?

– Probably so. The film has not found favour with the audience and, therefore, attempting a third part in the series would require nerves of steel.

What went wrong with Runway 34?

– The audience found the second half an exercise in futility. For the paying public, Ajay Devgan (Captain Vikrant Khanna) had already become a hero at interval point when he safely landed the aircraft in near-impossible conditions. Even if in saving the lives of the passengers and the aircraft, he broke some rules, it did not matter to the audience or make him any less a hero in their eyes. Hence the court case thereafter made little sense to the viewers. That’s how the public thinks. You may argue that the film is based on a real-life story. The counter-argument is: every real-life story may not be appreciated by the public, on the big screen. So one has to either tweak the real-life story, change the narration structure, or simply not make a film based on that story.

Why has no major Hindi film opened today?

– Because DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS (dubbed) has opened today. That’s such a formidable opposition that no Hindi film producer wanted to risk releasing his film alongside the Hollywood film.

It’s very rare for a film in its second week to fare better than a star cast film in its first week. And yet, that’s what happened with K.G.F. Chapter 2 (dubbed) in its second week, and Jersey in its first week. Why do you think, this happened?

– The shelf life of K.G.F. CHAPTER 2 (dubbed) was far more than just a week. Hence it continued to do roaring business in its second week. Simultaneously, the public reports of the new release, JERSEY, were fairly good but not great, and definitely not half as good as those of K.G.F. CHAPTER 2 (dubbed). Just one more point here: the shelf life of K.G.F. CHAPTER 2 (dubbed) is not yet over. In other words, even in its third week, it will prove to be an extremely strong opposition for this week’s releases.

What is the lesson to learn from the box-office failure of Jersey? That cricket films are not in fashion?

– The only lesson to learn is that one should not be in a hurry to release his film if there’s a tornado already sweeping the nation. The tornado in this case was K.G.F. CHAPTER 2 (dubbed). Its opposition proved monstrous for JERSEY.

Are Bollywood producers shaken with the recent stupendous success of South dubbed films and the simultaneous failure of original Hindi content?

– You bet! Not just Bollywood producers but also Hindi film stars, writers and directors are shaken out of their wits.

Will the domestic theatrical business of K.G.F. Chapter 2 be more than the lifetime domestic box-office collections of Dangal? What will you consider — the business of all the versions of K.G.F. Chapter 2 or only the Hindi dubbed version — while drawing a comparison with Dangal?

– We will compare the business of DANGAL with that of the Hindi dubbed version of K.G.F. CHAPTER 2 only, because a Hindi film’s business needs to be compared with another Hindi film’s business only. And yes, K.G.F. CHAPTER 2 will definitely surpass DANGAL. Once it does, the order in terms of domestic theatrical business would be: (1) BAHUBALI 2: THE CONCLUSION (dubbed), (2) K.G.F. CHAPTER 2 (dubbed), (3) DANGAL.

Will Bollywood filmmakers now restart making action films?

– Yes, they definitely will, now that the Hindi dubbed versions of three South Indian action films have succeeded at the turnstiles. PUSHPA: THE RISE PART 1 (Hindi dubbed) was a hit, RRR (Hindi dubbed) was a bigger hit, and K.G.F. CHAPTER 2 (Hindi dubbed) is the biggest of the three. Frankly, the Bollywood trade misjudged the scenario and propounded the theory that multiplex audiences do not like action fares. They have now realised that their conclusion was completely wrong because all the three abovementioned action fares have done roaring business in the multiplexes just like they’ve done in the single-screen cinemas.

Why does the trade attach so much importance to the opening day’s collections of a film?

– Simply because the business today is that of initial. There are so many films in the release pipeline that films rarely get a chance to grow after a weak start. Even if a film’s content is very strong but it does not open too well, there’s a limit to how much it can grow after a dull start because cinemas (single-screen as well as multiplex) have to allot shows to new films slated for release in the weeks that follow. In other words, the running films have to be sacrificed for the newer ones. If a film takes a flying start, it does not need to run for a long time in the cinemas to become profitable.