HIMESH RESHAMMIYA, CHRISTOPHER NOLAN, HARSHVARDHAN RANE ALL SET TO RULE THE BOX OFFICE
The coming week will prove to be an interesting one as a mix of new and old releases will spring a surprise at the ticket window. Regarding the new films, the biggest one will be Badass Ravi Kumar. It stars Himesh Reshammiya and there’s tremendous excitement to see this flick. The film was announced way back in 2022. The trailer of the film finally dropped on January 5 this year and it got a terrific response. The trailer is full of over-the-top dialogues and action scenes.
What has worked is that this time, Himesh is simply having fun, unlike before when he was trying to be a serious actor. With Badass Ravi Kumar, viewers can sense that it’s like a spoof film and that has impressed them. Moreover, the songs have caught on big time. A surprising aspect is that Himesh Reshammiya has not done a single on-ground promotional activity. He has not given any interviews. Yet, the film has managed to create noise which proves that sometimes a superb trailer and hit songs can do the trick.
The film is all set to open in the range of Rs. 5 crores with an outside chance of it hitting the Rs. 6 crore mark. This will be huge for this film as Himesh Reshammiya’s movies have never opened beyond Rs. 2 crores. The distributors opted for a smart strategy of pricing tickets at a maximum rate of Rs. 150. Hence, many moviegoers have been tempted to book their tickets.
The same price strategy has also been adopted by the makers of Loveyapa. It is the remake of the 2022 super-hit Tamil film Love Today and stars Junaid Khan and Khushi Kapoor. The film rests on an interesting premise and the trailer is entertaining. But it hasn’t clicked well with the audience. Junaid faced trolling during the promotions after his awkward dance videos went viral.
The advance of Loveyapa is very poor and one can hope that it should at least cross the Rs. 1 crore mark. The ticket sales are sluggish despite the cheaper prices. This is because the moviegoers are spoilt for choice this Friday due to Badass Ravi Kumar and re-releases, which look far more exciting. Ideally, Loveyapa should have been released 2 or 3 weeks later when the competition was not this intense.
Speaking of re-releases, Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar has sprung a surprise. Its advance booking began 20 days ago and the tickets have sold like hot cakes since then. It is all set to open in the range of Rs. 4-5 crores and hence, will give a tough competition to Badass Ravi Kumar.
Another major re-release of the week is Sanam Teri Kasam. The film didn’t do well in cinemas in 2016 but it achieved a cult following over the years. Not many expected it to get a huge advance but it has managed to do the unthinkable. The film has got a wide release and it remains to be seen if it can go beyond Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’s re-release first-day collections of Rs. 1.10 crore. If it does, it’ll become the second-highest re-release Hindi opener after Tumbbad (Rs. 1.50 crores). By doing so, it’ll also cross the first-day figures of Sanam Teri Kasam’s original release, which were Rs. 1.12 crore.
Padmaavat was re-released today while Bareilly Ki Barfi will re-release tomorrow. However, both these films will fail to get the desired number of footfalls.