Prabhas became India’s biggest star with the success of ‘Baahubali’ (2015) and the blockbuster success of ‘Baahubali 2’ (2017). His next film, ‘Saaho’ (2019), opened big time due to his following. Despite not being upto the mark, ‘Saaho’ was a hit in Hindi as many went to just see him on the big screen. As a result, the expectations are there from his next movie, ‘Radhe Shyam’.
This is a fantasy love story and Pooja Hegde stars opposite Prabhas. The film is mounted on a huge scale, as evident from the trailers and songs. The chemistry between the lead actors seems great. However, the film has several challenges. The content hasn’t excited viewers. The songs haven’t worked at all. Moreover, Prabhas is seen in a romantic avatar. He’s not bashing baddies and his fans love him in an action avatar. As a result, the excitement is not as much as it was during ‘Saaho’.
‘Saaho’ opened at Rs. 25.25 crore on day one. ‘Radhe Shyam’ sadly would not be able to open at more than Rs. 10 crore in Hindi. At best, it seems like an opening in the range of Rs. 6-8 crore. If the word of mouth is positive, it can grow. It is absolutely essential for it to get thumbs up from audiences as the costs are skyhigh. In the Telugu version, it’ll have an advantage as the opening will be record-breaking. From day two or day three, the content will do the talking. In the case of Hindi, the makers won’t have the benefit of a huge day one. The only factor that can salvage the film is good word of mouth.
The other major release of the week is ‘The Kashmir Files’. It is directed by Vivek Agnihotri and stars Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty, Darshan Kumaar and Pallavi Joshi. It tells the story of the persecution of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990. The buzz is very low and audiences, in general, are not that keen to see the film. However, the trade and industry feel the film can spring a surprise, just like Vivek Agnihotri’s last film, ‘The Tashkent Files’ (2019). That film started at Rs. 36 lakhs and ended up collecting Rs. 16.97 crore, which stunned everyone. ‘The Kashmir Files’ opening would also be poor, under Rs. 1 crore. If the word of mouth is positive, it can pick up substantially.
