BENGALURU: ‘Dr Strange – In The Multiverse of Madness’, a Hollywood film, took a phenomenal opening last Friday as it racked up Rs 28 crore on Day 1. After doing fairly well over the weekend, the collections of the movie are dropping during weekdays but it has already netted an impressive Rs 93 crore.
At a time when most Bollywood movies in 2022 have failed to cross even Rs 50 crore life-time, first Hindi dubbed version of South movies such as ‘RRR’ and ‘KGF – Chapter 2’ stormed Hindi circuits and now a Hollywood movie is also clocking up good numbers even in mass pockets.
The veteran trade pundit Taran Adarsh told The New Indian that the viewing habits of the Indian audience have changed a lot after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“During the lockdown, the Indian audience consumed a lot of regional and Hollywood content. They are now familiar with Hollywood movies, stars & characters and are embracing them. The success of ‘Dr Strange’, which isn’t as big a brand as Spiderman and Superman, is a testament to that. I think ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’, which will release later this year, will take an earth-shattering initial across India,” he said.
The two Eid releases – ‘Heropanti 2’ and ‘Runway 34’ – tanked miserably at the turnstiles and the life-time business of both movies will be under Rs 35 crore nett.
All eyes are now on next week’s release ‘Jayeshbhai Jordaar’ which stars Ranveer Singh. The buzz of the movie at the moment seems pretty low. However, Adarsh reckons it is unjust to compare ‘Jayeshbhai Jordaar’ to Ranveer’s films with Rohit Shetty and Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
“Amitabh Bachchan’s films with Manmohan Desai and Prakash Mehra used to take bumper initials but his movies with Hrishikesh Mukherjee, though excellent, had comparatively limited reach. Yes, the hype of ‘Jayeshbhai Jordaar’ is low but I am keeping my fingers crossed. The opening day is likely to be in the single digit but if the content clicks, the business will see a huge jump. The film is produced by Aditya Chopra and he’s a very smart producer,” Adarsh said.
“Ranveer’s next film with Rohit Shetty ‘Cirkus’ will fetch an electrifying start. Those comparing ‘Jayeshbhai Jordaar’ with Rohit Shetty and Bhansali films don’t know the basics of the film business,” he stated.
The trailer of Akshay Kumar’s ‘Prithviraj’ was released a couple of days ago and got mixed reviews in trade circles but Adarsh says he liked it. “I really liked the trailer of ‘Prithviraj’. It is looking grand and fantastic. It will take a massive opening on June 3,” he opined.
The trade is extremely sanguine about the prospects of Kartik Aaryan’s ‘Bhool Bhulaiya 2’ which will hit the screens on May 20. Girish Johar, producer and film business expert, feels the makers have done a wise thing to retain the title track of the original ‘Bhool Bhulaiya’ which was released in 2007.
“I am certain that ‘Bhool Bhulaiya 2’ will take a double-digit opening. The movie seems to be a nice blend of horror and comedy, both of which work very well with the masses. People still remember the song ‘Hare Krishna Hare Ram’ and the makers have done well to retain it. A superhit song always enhances the initial value of a film,” he said.
About ‘Jayeshbhai Jordaar’, Johar feels that though the buzz isn’t up to scratch, one can’t write off the movie before watching it. “It is not a typical Ranveer Singh movie. It promises to be a tad different. It’s a wait and watch situation right now,” he concludes.