Last week’s release ‘Dhadak’, starring newcomers Janhvi Kapoor and Ishaan Khatter, has managed to do a fine job at the box office. The film grew in the weekends and sustained nicely during the week days. The first week collections are expected to be in the Rs. 51-52 crore range which is quite good for a film starring newbies. The film has the potential to cross the Rs. 75 crore mark as of now.
But ‘Dhadak’ faces a competition of sorts this week from a Hollywood film, ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’. It is of the popular ‘Mission: Impossible’ franchise starring the much loved Tom Cruise in the lead role. The series is known for its taut script but more than that, its eye-popping action sequences which have become better and better and more ‘impossible’ with each passing film! While the ‘Mission: Impossible’ films do very well globally, in India, it has done good but not great business. ‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol’ (2011) collected Rs. 47 crore. But the next part, ‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’ (2015) earned Rs. 48 crore. Hence, the growth was negligible. But with ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ getting rave reviews from the West, it is expected to do slightly better in India. The opening can be in the Rs. 7.50-8 crore range and if all goes well, it can go above Rs. 10 crore as well. The English speaking audiences would definitely accept the flick but it’s the audience watching dubbed versions that should also embrace it. Only then it can do big business. However, ‘Mission: Impossible’ films have not done that well with those watching the dubbed versions, as the film is seen as too classy.
So will ‘Dhadak’ get impacted by ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’? It all depends on the success of the latter’s dubbed versions. The Hindi version is usually for single screen and mass-dominated markets. In these areas, ‘Dhadak’ is doing very well. So the success of ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ in these regions would mean ‘Dhadak’ getting affected. If that doesn’t happen, then both these flicks can co-exist well.
As for Hindi releases, this week, the major one is ‘Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3’. The first part of the series became a surprise success, which motivated the makers to come up with the sequel, ‘Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns’ (2013). This film commercially was a bigger success but seemed similar to part 1 and hence, doesn’t have much of a recall value. Also, it’s not a huge brand as such and never became a hit on television. Still, there were hopes that ‘Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3’ can work since it has an exciting addition to its star cast – Sanjay Dutt. Sadly, the trailer is lackluster. The promotions haven’t made any noise with Sanjay Dutt not promoting the film much. ‘Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster’ (2011) was high on sensuousness and it was a big reason why the film caught attention. Surprisingly, ‘Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns’ was high on thrills and didn’t have any sexual quotient. ‘Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3’ however marks the return of the sizzle in the franchise. Both Mahie Gill and Chitrangda Singh are expected to set the screen on fire. But again, the buzz is hardly there. The opening should be above the Rs. 1 crore mark and even if reports are good, it’ll have a tough time at the box office.
Lastly, ‘Nawabzaade’ also hits screens tomorrow. Starring the ‘dancer actors’ Raghav Juyal, Punit Pathak and Dharmesh Yelande, it is produced by Remo Dsouza. The trailer and the plot looks dated, reminding one of films like ‘Dhol’ (2007), ‘Nayee Padosan’ (2003) etc. The songs however have worked big time like “High Rated Gabru” and “Tere Naal Nachna”. Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor and Athiya Shetty feature in these tracks which helped in getting more traction. But many have mistaken these songs for singles and awareness has not spread well that it’s a part of ‘Nawabzaade’ since the film and songs seem poles apart. A similar episode happened when “Kala Chashma” was unveiled and it became a chartbuster. But when ‘Baar Baar Dekho’s (2016) trailer came out, the song didn’t seem in sync with the film’s theme and the film got very little benefit of the super hit promotional track. ‘Nawabzaade’ too will suffer a similar fate.
