Films like Sarfira with Akshay Kumar, and Hindustani 2 (dubbed), which was a sequel to the successful Hindustani, took dismal starts last week. On the other hand, Bad Newz this week takes a good opening. Can you explain why?
– BAD NEWZ isn’t just a far better promoted film than SARFIRA and HINDUSTANI 2 (dubbed) but it also boasts of hit music which the two films of last week lacked. And we all know, the two most important factors responsible for a good initial are an impactful promotion (including, in particular, a good trailer) and hit music.
Your several interviews in recent times have mentioned that South and Hollywood films will save the day for the Hindi film industry this year. Then how is it that Hindustani 2, the Hindi dubbed version of South’s Indian II, bombed?
– I have been maintaining that South and Hollywood films will score more than Hindi films this year but that does not mean that South films will not flop this year. Likewise, that also does not imply that Bollywood films won’t work at all. What my comment means is that the Hindi dubbed versions of several South and Hollywood films will contribute to the Hindi film industry’s business this year while a number of Hindi films will fail to live up to the expectations.
If a film is premiered on an OTT platform and it clicks with the public, can’t it be released theatrically thereafter?
– Hardly any OTT platform has released a film in cinemas after its success on the platform. The logic is that nobody will spend money to watch a film in the cinemas if it is available for ‘free’ on OTT. SIRF EK BANDAA KAAFI HAI, starring Manoj Bajpayee, was an exception. It was released in cinemas after its premiere on Zee5 but that was a very limited release done with the intention of entering the film for awards which necessitated theatrical release.