Satyameva Jayate is the biggest hit of John Abraham’s career.
Having released on the national holiday of Independence Day, John Abraham starrer Satyameva Jayate earned big at the ticket counters. The vigilante drama has collected Rs 75.09 crore within nine days of its release. The makers of the film are overwhelmed by the response of the audience. Director Milap Zaveri is grateful to people for coming out in great numbers to watch the film in the theatres. He talked to indianexpress.com at length and spelt out the reasons for the success of his masala entertainer. He also explained why sharing box office figures with cinephiles is justifiable.
“We were always clear about our target audience and knew that the audience for Satyameva Jayate was the masses of India. Despite Gold being there, we were confident we will make records because we knew we have made a film for the common man of India and the subject of the film was corruption which is much relevant today. We didn’t target the multiplex or the family audience. We were singular in our approach. The film was only for the masses and people have come out in historic numbers to support the film and make it a super hit,” said Zaveri.
Throwing light on what actually worked in favour of Satyameva Jayate, the filmmaker stated, “It was the action and emotion of the story which clicked with the moviegoers. People have anger against corruption and the film touched that nerve in a strong and powerful way. Everyone cannot be a vigilante and take law in their own hand, but every time John fought on-screen, people were like he was fighting for them and women in the theatre reacted like he is saving them and is fighting for their dignity. That feeling that someone is fighting against corruption for them resonated with the audience. Then, of course, the dialoguebaazi, performance of Manoj (Bajpayee) sir, Dilbar song and marketing by T-Series made people come out in such huge numbers day after day.”
A still from John Abraham starrer Satyameva Jayate
Box office figures being a metric of a film’s success is often questioned. Some from within the industry believe it is unfair for people to have interest in the profit or loss of their business. But Zaveri has a distinct approach. “When movie critics give a two star or a five star to a movie, it goes viral among the audience. So if critics can influence the outcome of a film with their opinion and the stars they give then I think the film industry also deserves to have the box office numbers to influence the audience to come and watch the film,” he opined.
“I respect every critic and accept their bad reviews with grace but for me, the biggest critic is the audience who pays money and goes to the theatre to watch a movie. So only they can decide whether a film deserves to be successful or not,” added Zaveri.
Milap Zaveri, who has earlier worked on films like Grand Masti and Mastizaade, also talked about his film’s lead actor John Abraham. He said, “John is like Sunny Deol of the 90s. He is capable of a lot of things. He has done a Dostana and a Welcome Back too. Whatever films he is doing are all different from each other. I think he is a sincere and professional actor. He has taken that quantum leap with Parmanu and Satyameva Jayate. Of all the films he has done, Satyameva Jayate is his biggest hit. This will give him a chance to choose roles which he wants to do.”
In our conversation, we also asked the filmmaker if the boom in the digital platform will affect the business of cinema in India. To this, he replied, “If you see, this is the year when we have seen a boom in web shows and this is also the biggest year in the history of Indian cinema. We had a superhit every month from January till now. The digital medium hasn’t created even a ripple in cinema and it will never do that. The experience of watching a film in a theatre with 200 another people, eating popcorn can never be recreated while sitting at home and watching something on your laptop or mobile screen.”