One of the biggest surprises of 2018 in terms of opening has to be ‘Satyameva Jayate’. The trailer had worked among the masses but no one was prepared for the fact that it’ll take a mindboggling opening of Rs. 19.65 crore! In fact, even the Shah Rukh Khan starrer ‘Zero’ (2018) didn’t have such an opening as its first day collections were Rs. 18.78 crore! One can reason that ‘Satyameva Jayate’ released on Independence Day, unlike ‘Zero’ that came on a non-holiday Friday. However, ‘Satyameva Jayate’ clashed with Akshay Kumar-starrer ‘Gold’ and yet managed such a record start. The lead actor John Abraham got accolades for it but the other person to emerge as a star was its director Milap Zaveri. In his words, he was perceived to be finished after his sex comedy ‘Mastizaade’ (2016) bombed. The way he bounced back and showed that he knows the pulse of the audiences, hence was a premiere success story of 2018!
And now Milap Zaveri is back with another film for the ‘seeti-taali’(whistling-clapping) crowd, titled ‘Marjaavaan’. It releases tomorrow and stars Sidharth Malhotra, Riteish Deshmukh, Tara Sutaria and Rakul Preet Singh. The trailer as expected promises a hardcore masala film, replete with dialogues in ’70s style. Riteish is also a highlight and he plays a three-foot-long menacing villain. The trailer gives a bit of a déjà vu of Riteish-Sidharth’s earlier film, ‘Ek Villain’ (2014) but the team has assured that ‘Marjaavaan’ is quite different. Interestingly, the release date changed multiple times. It was to release on October 2 and clash with ‘War’ but it was then moved from November 22 to November 8 and finally settled on November 15.
‘Marjaavaan’ however has plenty of challenges. Sidharth Malhotra suits the part but it remains to be seen if he has done justice. Also, his track record hasn’t been impressive; he has given five flops in a row. Songs also haven’t become chartbusters. ‘Satyameva Jayate’ also had the hype due to the “Dilbar” song. ‘Marjaavaan’ has a couple of catchy songs but they haven’t really worked well. Due to all these factors, the opening won’t even be in double digits. A Rs. 6-7 crore first day is expected and it might go a bit higher if mass centres open well.
The other major release is ‘Motichoor Chaknachoor’, starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Athiya Shetty. It seems like a sweet romcom and the trailer has really surprised everyone. Athiya especially looks in fine form. The excitement for the film is hardly there and this will affect its opening and also its overall prospects. Last week, ‘Satellite Shankar’ too had no buzz but an opening of Rs. 50-60 lakhs was expected. However, it shockingly opened at Rs. 10 lakhs! It proved that viewers would not just go for a film if they aren’t interested. In this regard, the opening of ‘Motichoor Chaknachoor’ won’t be more than Rs. 25-30 lakhs.
