Despite the stellar wattage of A-listers Aamir Khan and Akshay Kumar, the disappointing box office performances of Forrest Gump hits La Singh Chadha and Raksha Bandhan respectively have set off alarm bells in Bollywood.
Both films were shown on August 11th. The appointment was for Raksha Bandhan, a film about brother and sister relationships, as it coincided with the festival of Raksha Bandhan, which celebrates brotherhood. Led by Kumar, one of India’s most bankable stars, the film, which was made on a budget of nearly $9 million, raised about $6 million in a week of its release, according to industry estimates.
The numbers are more clear for ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’. Khan topped three of India’s all-time box office champions, including No. 1 “Dangal” ($311 million); 6th place “Secret Superstar” ($154 million) directed by “Laal Singh Chaddha” Advit Chandan; And No. 7 “BK” ($140 million). However, his latest release, “Thugs of Hindostan” of 2018, also performed poorly.
Made with a budget of nearly $22 million, “Laal Singh Chaddha” made around $11.3 million in a week. That includes number 12 in North America, having raised $1.8 million and debuting at number seven in the UK with a shadow of just under $500,000. Paramount released the film in both regions.
In addition, the July release “Shamshera”, titled Ranbir Kapoor, grossed around $18 million and grossed $8 million.
Analyst Karan Turani of Elara Capital attributes the lackluster performance of these films to audiences whose tastes have changed after two years of exposure to world-class content at home during the pandemic. “Only the star doesn’t help. A lot of audience behavior, and taste preferences, regarding what they want to watch on content, has changed over a period of time,” Turani said. diverseadding that the rate of footfalls is down at least 30% compared to pre-COVID days.
Turani pointed to the only three Bollywood films to be successful in 2022, saying the film “Kashmir Files” by Vivek Agnihotri, who had no notable names, and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Jangbai Kathiawadi” – which grossed $43 million and $26.5 million. Straight. – It worked because of its strong content. Meanwhile, the horror comedy “Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2”, starring Kartik Aryan and Tabu and grossing $33.5 million, had an audience as it is part of a franchise.
The analyst also said that the backlog of films due to the pandemic now appears “out of date in nature”. Additionally, Turani said that negative social media – Twitter users called for a boycott of “Laal Singh Chaddha” over Khan’s alleged criticism in 2015 of religious intolerance in India – also affected the box office movement.
This year also saw a boom with a handful of Hindi films being made in the languages of South India, rather than Hindi, the language of the Mumbai-based Bollywood sector.
The Telugu song “RRR” by SS Rajamouli starring Ram Charan and NTR Jr, and “KGF: Chapter 2” by Prashant Neel starring Yash, were a hit with their Hindi dubbed version. ‘KGF: Chapter 2’ was released in Kannada with dubbed versions in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam and grossed $160 million, while ‘RRR’ was also released in these languages and grossed $150 million. The Tamil-language film “Vikram” starring Kamal Hassan, Vijay Sethupathi and Fahd Fasil earned $63 million from its original and dubbed version.
However, these films were produced on big budgets by Indian standards, and Turani said such spending is neither typical nor sustainable. “RRR” was produced with a budget of approximately $73 million. “Vikram” cost $18 million and “KGF: Chapter 2” about $13 million.
“You can’t make these kinds of movies every month or once every two months. You can’t expect five or six of these movies to come out every year, it just wouldn’t be possible,” Turani said. The upcoming release of Bollywood’s big budget, “Brahmastra Part One: Shiva” starring Ranbir Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan and Alia Bhatt, is scheduled for September 9. Mouth.
Turani likens the current stage of Bollywood’s box office to a previous drop in 2017. After the release of Rajamouli’s “Baahubali 2: The Conclusion”, which was produced in Telugu and Tamil and grossed $278 million, Hindi Bollywood films also underperformed. These titles included “Tubelight” (with Salman Khan), “Thugs of Hindustan”, “Jab Harry Met Sejal” (Shah Rukh Khan), and “Jagga Jasoos” (Kapoor). This was followed by a resurgence in subsequent years.
“We are in transition and we will definitely come back strong in 2023. I am sure directors, creative producers and screenwriters are well aware of how to change the core elements of the content,” Turani said.
Meanwhile, Lal Singh Chadha’s show may not end. Aamir Khan is a big draw at the box office in China – the country contributed a large percentage of the box office for “Dangal” and “Secret Superstar” – and if the movie gets a release there, it could be the film’s fairy tale ending.
[ad_2]
