BOXOFFICEINDIA "YOU ASKED IT" (2004)

You Asked It-Your Questions Answered

 

 

 

Q.Can Hrithik topples Shahrukh Khan?

A. No, Lakshya was a very important film for Hrithik as he probably will not have a release for 2 years. After Lakshya even more people are saying that Hrithik can only deliver with Filmkraft. Until he gets rid of this tag it is unlikely he can get close to Shahrukh.

 

 

Q.WHICH FILM'S BOX OFFICE WAS A BIGGER SHOCK TO TRADE - LAKSHYA OR L.O.C. ? WILL LAKSHYA FARE BETTER AT THE BOX OFFICE THAN L.O.C.?

A. LOC. Most knew Lakshya would not do well but the media had boosted it and the opening was good. Lakshya will do slightly better it will give 1 crore Better share than LOC at the box office. Lakshya has been better at multiplexes while LOC is better at small centers if you compare the two.

 

  

Q.You say Junior B has no decent chances apart from Zameen but he is still getting films and is around.

A. Everybody gets films, even the likes of Dino Moreo, Fardeen Khan and Tushar are getting films but as with Abhishek most are small budget films or Multi starrers. After his flops he won't get a 12 crore+ film as solo hero because it won't work. But if his BO record improves then he may get big solo films.

 

 

Q.I doesn’t get it!!!! Hum Tum has much less total net gross and rupees than Lakshya. And how could Hum Tum be a Hit and Lakshya be a Flop?????????? And it’s not fair and i don't get it!!! Please comment.

A. Hum Tum probably has an all India cost of 7 crore and will return 12 crore while Lakshya has an all India cost of 16.5 crore and will return around 15 crore. So although Lakshya has done better it is much more expensive and will incur losses.

 

 

Q.Hi why are Big B films not doing well today?

A. Amitabh has a larger than life image and all his recent films have him totally against his image and his core fans are not accepting this. Neutral fans are accepting the films but his fans are not. Unless the film is good and entertaining you can't go against an image.

 

  

Q.Don't you think Shahrukh Khan has been unlikely that he has not been No1 this decade.

A. Definitely. He has given big successes this decade but has been kept down by some big hits like KNPH, Gadar and KMG. But 2004 should belong to him unless we get a surprise big hit.

 

      

Q.Is Hum Tum a hit or a superhit

A. Semi Hit at the moment but may get to Hit status.

 

   

Q.Do you think the media will make Lakshya a hit like Dil Chahta Hai even when actual business is just average or semi hit. Also why does the media do this?

A.At the moment the media is with Lakshya and wants to give it a hit tag. Infact the Mumbai press is desperate. But it may be harder than DCH because DCH was a medium budget affair and this factor is not with Lakshya. Instead of giving verdicts its best to see what story the collections tell. Basically the media thinks that certain films are good and if they support these films then other films of this type will be made but it does not work this way because the industry always knows how well a certain film has done irrespective of what the media says or even what the trade says.

 

 

Q.You seems to talk ill of DCH when everybody loves the film and definitely a big hit?

A.It’s all a myth created by the media. Dil Chahta Hai is only rated in the media and internet world. If you go and ask the common person on the street it’s unlikely he/she remembers DCH some may not even heard of it. The internet world forms less than 5% of the Hindi film going public. That’s why you see good viewer’s verdict on the net but the films still end up being duds. It’s just one of those things that’s hard to explain. The easiest way to explain is that people who are likely to have access to the net love DCH but people who don't have access probably don't even remember it. Now it’s up to you to decide whether more people in India have access to the net or more people don't. We go with the latter by a distance probably only 1 in 10 has access to the net if that.

 

    

Q.How well has MHN done in the B and C centers

A.Main Hoon Na has done better in the A grade centers and reasonable good in the B and C centers but compared to other Shahrukh starrers recently business is much better in small centres.

 

   

Q.Despite so many flops why does Abhishekh Bachan keep on getting more films?

A.Due to his rate per film though his films have flopped, most other heroes are not giving hits despite having a following. So for some makers Abhishek Bachchan at around 40-50 lakhs is more feasible than a Bobby Deol at 1 crore or Akshay and Ajay at 2 crore or even a Sunny and Salman at 3 crore. At the end of the day economics matter and if Abhishek was to raise his price without a hit than the offers will also start to dry up.

 

  

Q.who is the biggest star in Overseas and what film will do well there and how much did K3G do

A.Shahrukh Khan. Films with good emotions will do well in overseas. But it should also star likable star which can attract overseas NRI audience. K3G did around 42 crores in overseas.

 

 

Q.AMITABH BACHCHAN DIDN'T PLAYED AN ANGRY MAN IN HIS BIGGEST HITS i.e. SHOLAY ,MUQADDAR KA SIKANDAR THAN WHY WAS HE LABELLED AS ANGRY YOUNG MAN ?

A.It was because of Zanjeer and Deewar which were his first 2 big hits.

 

 

Q.CAN YOU PLEASE TELL IN HOW MANY FLOP FILMS HAS ABHISHEK BACHCHAN STARRED IN ?

A.Up to run he has 11 flops and 1 averages in Refugee.

 

 

Q.ABHISHEK BACHCHAN HAS COME UP WITH A GOOD PERFORMANCE IN YUVA .EVEN IF THE FILM DOESN'T WORK WILL IT HELP HIM IN ANYWAY ?

A. No he needs a box office success. Its only the critics liking his performance if the masses thought it was a good performance then the film would be doing better business even though the film is not that good. A good performance by a male hero always boosts collections.

 

 

Q.IN THE 1970'S MANY FILMS USED TO BE SUPER HITS BUT NOW THERE ARE HARDLY ANY HITS WHY ?

A.The films in the 70's were priced and budgeted taking into account how big the audience was but today you have films being too expensive when the audience is not there for the type of films being made.Even a film like Main Hoon Na which is doing good business will struggle to achieve super hit status just because of its high price.

 

 

Q.Who will be No1 hero this year?

A.The hero who can deliver that elusive big all India hit.

 

 

Q.Which forthcoming films have a chance of beating Main Hoon Na's opening week collections

A. Lakshya, Deewar, Mujhse Shaadi Karoge and Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo. Lakshya will have to do well in the interiors while the other three will have to record good collections in the multiplexes if this happens then the record will be broken as all these films are coming on much higher prints than MHN around 450-500 prints.

 

 

Q.Hi could you tell me in order the top 10 heroes of all time and of today according to box office.

A.All time is 1.Amitabh 2.Dharmendra 3.Dilip Kumar 4.Dev Anand 5.Rajesh Khanna 6.Rajendra Kumar 7.Jeetendra 8.Ashok Kumar 9.Shahrukh Khan 10.Shammi Kapoor As of today it is 1.Shahrukh Khan 2.Hrithik Roshan 3.Sunny Deol 4.Salman Khan 5.Amitabh Bachchan 6.Sanjay Dutt 7.Aamir Khan 8.Akshay Kumar 9.Ajay Devgan 10.Bobby Deol

 

 

Q.i jst wanted to know why is lakshya not there in hot among distributors list mujhse shaadi karoge is there. Dhavid Dhawan has given flop in last few years. And akshay's khakee was not a hit. it's average. while farhan akhtar's dil chahta hai was atleast a hit. Hrithik roshan is at the top with koi mil gaya. and preity zinta too.. And priyanka chopra did not have any hit after andaaz and hero. Her last film Kismat was a disaster all over. Then how come mujhse shaadi karogi is hot in the distributor circles. Lakshya has india's top stars. Please tell me the reason why laksya is not there and mujhse shaadi karoge is there.

A. Its probably because MSK has more potential for the masses than Lakshya from the distributors point of view. David Dhawan is going through a bad phase but is a proven commercial director with many hits while Farhan Akhtar has just a DCH to his name which ran in only a few cities and it was hardly average.

 

  

Q.CAN HRITHIK ROSHAN DELIVER A HIT WITHOUT HIS FATHER?

A.Definately but the film must be good

 

 

Q.I was wondering why Lakshya is not in BoxOfficeIndia Five to Watch? Is it not hot in the distribution circles I thought the movie was hot, since it's a Farhan Akhtar movie?

A.Lakshya is not red hot in distribution circles. Farhan Akhtar is a big name more in the media and internet world. In the trade its different because his last film Dil Chahta Hai did decent only in 4-5 cities.

 

 

Q.Do u think Main Hoon Na will be able to cross  40Cr  in terms of collections?

A.There is a chance it will depend on the next two weeks.

 

 

Q.What are the advance reports for Lakshya

A.Not Good.

 

   

Q.Thanks for the updates on MHN BO figures! Can MHN be called a blockbuster like K3G yet?!Or do we have to wait for more box office collections?

A.More time is needed to decide its fate around 4-5 weeks.

 

   

Q.Is it correct to say films like Coolie and Shahenshah had better openings than the likes of K3G and KMG if you take inflation into account.

A.No. Films today are getting bigger openings simply because the industry has grown a lot since then. Also films then were released on 200 prints at most while today its 400 for big films. K3G has had the biggest opening ever no question about it.

 

   

Q.What are the chances of Lakshya to be a bigger hit than Koi...Mil Gaya?

A.It will be hard as Akhtar does not seem to the pulse of the all India audience as Rakesh Roshan.

 

 

Q.You should give Munna Bhai MBBS tracker as well. It will be interesting as this film is doing better than KHNH, Khakee, LOC etc in its later weeks. It may even cross KMG collections for the 15^th week onwards??

A.It was hard to tell that at release that MBBS would do this type of business.It started to out gross KMG from around the 11th week.

 

 

Q.With a business of approx 38Cr across India don't you think Kal Ho Na Ho should be classified as an  A1 hit?

A.For A1 business it would of have to cross 40 crore like KMG.

 

 
Q. Hi do you think Veer Zaara can do 60-70 crore business in India?

A.It all depends how long it can keep its prints in circulation. A HAHK had 200 prints in its silver jubilee week; a Gadar had 300 prints on its 100th day. The biggest test will be on Dec 24^TH when ATHWS releases as that film is booked at many of the theatres where Veer Zaara is playing at the moment. If these taken out prints are wanted in small centres then it will have chances to get a large gross but if they come back then it will struggle to get over the 45 crore mark.

 

 

Q. Hi,who would you credit the success of Dhoom to, and who out of the heroes has best chances to become a star.

A. The credit goes to Yashraj's excellent publicity campaign and the super hit song Dhoom Machale. It’s surprising the action film did not fare well in the interiors, probably due to lack of face value. Action fares are normally lapped up in the interiors. Out of the stars, John Abraham seems to be the best bet; his next Elaan also looks a winner.

 

 

Q.Hi why do you always say critics are wrong?

A. Simple because in India critics do not know what they are doing. They tend to copy the western critics but you can't use the same system here. Here is how the critic system works in India. A critic will go and pay 100 rupees to watch Veer Zaara and then give it a bad review but then will not even go and waste his money on a film like Naach but give it a good review. By giving it a good review he/she expects the reader to go and watch it but our public is too clever for that. Critics have pre conceived notions before watching a film depending on makers or actors and no matter what, they do not change and go by these notions. Who are these people reviewing for? The simple fact is that 99% of Hindi films are not made for critics and you can't review these films as western film critic would but our critics do exactly that and that’s why they don't matter. Nobody really cares for critics be it the makers, stars or the public. The public wants a good entertaining film and the makers and stars box office returns. The easiest thing in the world to be is a critic; some people don't know the ABC of COMMERCIAL Hindi cinema but review these films. Also most critics and want to be critics are the most hypocritical people. They will say this maker did that to make more money but in their own lives they also do what will give them better income. It’s very easy to talk because it’s not your money on the line. Critics believe that films should be an art form and financial returns not important but financial returns are the most important nobody likes to lose money.

 

 

Q.After Veer Zaara SRK has to be the biggest star ever, he has given 5 30+ crore grosser in the last 3 years.

A. There are many ways at looking at this. If we go by nett grosses there is no question he is the biggest ever. Then you have the inflation theory. The problem is that the inflation theory is very hard to use in India as cinema ticket price and Indian core inflation are so different. Ticket prices did not move with inflation Between 1960-1970 ticket prices stayed roughly the same, also between 1979-1990 there was hardly no change but then you have 1993-1997 when there was a near 100% increase. The big star in 2015 will probably have films that open to 100 crore in first week and his fans will be saying biggest ever.

 

 

Q.How hot is Rok sako to Roklo in the market

A.The film is not hot at all as it does not have Sunny Deol in his action avtaar.

 

 

Q.I think Yashraj next may do over 50 crore business, what do you think?

A. If it does good business in the metros it will do 30 crore+, if it does great in the metros then it will do around 40 crore but to get to 50 or over it will depend on how good it is in the interiors.

 

 

Q. Akshay has been doing well at the box office but why is it that he is not amongst the big boys.

A. Probably because many of his films are multistarrers and he does not have a big solo grosser.

 

 

Q. Sources claim that Tere Naam has reached 30 lakhs per unit in the music sales, is this information true?  By far, was Tere Naam the biggest musical film of 2003?

A. We have it at 25 lakhs and it was the biggest seller of 2003.

 

 

Q.I think your website is biased, hear me out. You folks seem to promote SRK only. SRK does not have the box-office clout, that you seem to so dearly believe. Point to note: The value of the Rupee has gone up, Since the time when Mr. Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, etc. were in their prime. If you take the budget at which their movies were made and the Return on Investment that those received and used mathematics, and not your garbage reasoning, to convert the Return on Investment to what the value of the Rupee stands at today. That will give you the true picture of who the real Box-office King is. SRK spends 25 crore on MAIN HOON NA, the Return on Investment hasn't reached 50 crore, yet.

A. We are not saying he is the biggest star of all time but he is the "biggest of all time based on NET BOX OFFICE COLLECTIONS”. The size of the superstar is not based on hits(ROI) but big grosser, if it was based on hits than Jeetendra would be way ahead of the rest as his films were sold cheap and became successes but there grosses were not even 30% of Amitabh films. He had more successes than Amitabh even in 1978. Even today a case can be made for Akshay Kumar against SRK if we go by successes but there is a massive difference in how much Akshay films are grossing and how much SRK films are grossing.

 

 

Q.Is there any chance that ATHWS can beat Yash Chopra's film?

A. Only if Anil Sharma gets it right like last time. He needs simple story telling, heart wrenching emotions, fiery dialogue and powerful action. If it all comes together well again for Anil Sharma then the film will break all the records but it’s a big if.

 

 

Q. Would you say SRK made Yashraj and Dharma productions or is it the other way around.

A. Many may say that Yashraj was established before SRK but that is wrong. Yash Chopra was a major director but his banner was not a major force because all it had was small success like Kabhi Kabhie and Chandni behind it but DDLJ and Darr changed all that.

 

  

Q.Why isn’t Laila Majnu (1976) in the top music sales of the 1970s, when the songs ruled the music charts for 21 weeks.  Also, was the film a Hit or a Super-Hit?

A. It was probably not in the Top 20.The film was a hit.

  

 

Q. Your site is very informative, thank you for the great service! I was just curious and thought you might know the answer. What have been the greatest flops of all time at the Indian Box Office? We all know about the big hits, but it would be nice to know about the big duds.

A.There have been many films like Mera Naam Joker, Razia Sultan, Deedar E Yaar, Jaadugar, Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja and Mrityudaata which have Been labeled the biggest flops by the trade. These films have been labeled the biggest flops because they all had high expectations. But we would say a film like Pyar Ishq aur Mohabbat is a bigger flop because its lost 90% of its investment while none of the above lost that much.

 

 

Q. The overseas collections of Lakshya have been splendid. In India too the film has made quite a lot of money. The production cost has been covered Way back, now what is stopping analysts and "websites" from declaring the film a semi-hit, if not a hit?

A. We have the Overseas as poor, infact it is less than Hum Tum which has 1/3rd of Lakshya cost. In India no distributor will make money as the earning and Recovery territories are with the producers. The figures suggest that UTV have fallen short of around 10% of recovering costs.

 

 

Q. hi, i wanna know the budget of garv. will it be a hit?

A.18-20 crore, it’s a below average fare.

 

 

Q. Do you agree that only SRK and Sex sells today?

A. No. SRK sells but films like Murder, Jism etc only work if they budgeted for less than 5-7 crore. These films will not work with a 10 crore budget because they do Not have a large audience.

 

 

Q. Your figures are all wrong and you are biased towards Salman Khan

A. It’s not our fault that Salman Khan film are did pretty well this year, We have been accused of being biased to Sunny Deol, Ajay Devgan and now Salman Khan

And tomorrow it will be someone else.

 

 

Q. Your verdicts are too harsh, films like MHN and KHNH should be called super hits.

A. We think they are not harsh but fairly lenient because an actual super hit is a film that gets 200% recovery not 150%.Thats why films like Andaaz, Baghban, Munnabhai MBBS have hit status from us while the trade has them as Semi Hits. Also as we will be getting figures for older films we have stick to the rules and if we have MHN Or KHNH as super hits then every third film in the 60's would be a Blockbuster.

 

  

Q. Hi when are you going to update the SRK biggest superstar page?

A. The article is ready but we are waiting for the release of Yashraj's next and Swades to confirm what we have written is correct. If God forbid these films flop then the article will not be put up as obviously we would be wrong.

 

   

Q. If you think crap like Garv should get good reviews like Yuva  or Lakshya you are totally clueless about cinema. Cinema is not about money ONLY! Get some taste, will you?

A. Its upto the reviewers how he/she reviews the problem with Garv reviews was that box office was brought into them while for the others they talked just about the films.Nobody in their reviews said Lakshya or Dev are going to crash but this was the case with Garv. If sombody uses their own money to make so called good cinema that would be fine but in India that’s not the case so money becomes very important.

 

 

Q.You seem to mention every time that media has supported Lakshya a lot and that it is an average film. Every where Taran Adarsh and Komal Natha have trashed the film and Taran has even declared it a flop in the very first week whereas he has put in a semi hit for Garv within days of its release and it flopped badly. so I don’t support your thought that media is backing Lakshya infact it is not though it should have based on the theme of the film and not for the director or actor or whatever.

A.Komal Nahta and Taran Adarsh is the trade. The media we mean is English language publications and write ups. The facts today are that if the trade was not forceful the general media would have taken Lakshya to hit status. They were ready to do it but in the second week the trade came out and put it down. Lakshya has had exactly the same return as DCH but with DCH the trade was not forceful as it was jubilant with Gadar but with Lakshya the trade has shouted louder so the media has had to listen.

 

 

Q. How can Lakshya be a flop when Flop Garv is called a Hit?

A. Lakshya is a Flop film and Garv will probably end in this bracket or maybe one bracket higher. Box office is about being consistent, if hum Tum is called hit then Lakshya should be called semi hit at least, if Yuva is called average then both Lakshya and Garv should be called hits and if garv is called flop than Lakshya should be flop as well.

 

 
 Q.You said Abhishek asking price is low 40-50 lakhs so he gets film offers inspite of giving flops is Kareena Kapoor also asking low price and that’s why keeping getting film offers or does she get film for she is consistent in giving flops

A. Kareena seems to be different story, she gets the 0.75-1.0 crore she asks for. It must be because there are no big young heroines. Aishwarya and Preity are both 30.

 

 

Q.Who was a bigger star Sridevi or Madhuri dixit?

A. Difficult question. Sridevi had more heroine orientated hits. Madhuri had bigger magnitude hits.

 

  

Q.You has Aamir Khan at No6 but his last films did well.

A. In the trade it’s the case of out of sight then out of mind. Aamir had Lagaan which did well but not as well it was made out by the media, DCH was an average fare which lost money in many circuits.

 

 

Q. What are the top grosser of 2004 in india?

A. Veer Zaara and Main Hoon Na are top grosser both in India, overseas and worldwide.