After the previous week’s clutter of films, this last Friday saw two releases. There’s the big budget Baadshaho that combines the period setting of the Emergency with a heist skew. On the other hand, we’ve got Shubh Mangal Savdhan (SMS) — remade from the Tamil Kalyana Samayal Saadham — a romcom centred around erectile dysfunction. With such disparate premises catering to equally polar audiences, neither film has eaten into each other’s earnings.
As per trade sources, the moderately budgeted (at ₹25+ crore ) film, SMS continues with the trend to bring small-town India to the big screen, albeit with a contemporary twist. The film which released in approximately 1,400 screens across the country has primarily lassoed in an urban audience. Its impact has been felt largely in Delhi NCR and Mumbai with a focus on bigger metros and high-end multiplexes. “SMSseems like it will do better than Bareilly Ki Barfi which did ₹30 crore net [in its lifetime],” says Shailesh Kapoor founder of Ormax Media, a company specialising in trade insights. He adds that Hindi Medium, with its non-star cast and light-hearted premise, made ₹63.06 crore net at the box office and has become a benchmark for smaller films. SMS which has collected approximately ₹19.29 crore net as of September 5 is predicted to overtake Bareilly Ki Barfi and hopefully cross ₹40 crore. Should that happen, SMS would be a hit.
On the other hand, the big-budget Baadshaho, released across 2,800 screens, has made ₹47.35 crore net till Tuesday. For the most part, the action entertainer has attracted audiences from mass centres, as trade analysts term it. “It’s not the A-grade urban audience but regions like Bihar, Rajasthan, central India, (UP, MP) and the interiors of Maharashtra,” says Girish Johar, a trade and business analyst. However, Kapoor has ruled out crossing the ₹100-crore mark. At best, Baadshaho is expected to end around ₹75 to ₹80 crores. In the event, the film reaches the projected figures, it will only break even to recover its costs, approximated to be ₹80+ crore.
* All figures courtesy Box Office India