Mirzapur The Movie has rocked the box office and opened more than expectations. After collecting Rs. 24.47 crores on day 1, it went on to collect Rs. 31.30 crores and Rs. 35.18 crores on Saturday and Sunday respectively. Hence, it had a weekend of Rs. 90.95 crores. We spoke to trade experts about its box office performance and a lot more.
Trade veteran Taran Adarsh said, “I don’t think even the producers imagined that the weekend would be close to Rs. 100 crores. People in the industry did expect the film to open well as it’s an action masala fare. It was also believed that it would excel in mass pockets. However, it has performed exceptionally across the board. From the advance booking itself, it was evident that it was going to take a flying start. From that point onwards, right until the end of the weekend, the film continued to surprise.”
He added, “It is an eye-opener as it doesn’t have a conventional A-lister or top star. Secondly, for a film based on a web series to do such massive numbers at the box office is a rarity. We have often heard people say after watching certain films, ‘This film should have been released directly on OTT’ or ‘This looks like an OTT film’. But now, these OTT characters have come to the big screen and done such roaring business!”
Trade analyst Atul Mohan commented, “This is the khasiyat of box office. You never know what would work and what won’t. At times, we feel that a certain film will be a sure-shot hit, and it fails. Then some films release with minimal or zero expectations, and they surprise. Mirzapur has proved that you don’t need any stars. If you have a brand value and position it well, it can click big time.”
He continued, “When we discuss the best shows on OTT, Mirzapur always gets mentioned. The makers knew that brand toh hai, ek chance le sakte hain. The characters are popular, especially in the Northern belt. Also, when your brand is a star, you don’t need a famous actor.”
Distributor and exhibitor Raj Bansal confessed, “I was expecting an opening of Rs. 20-22 crores and a weekend of Rs. 75 crores. At the most, I thought it’ll do Rs. 80 crores if the film enjoyed positive reports. However, it has surpassed all expectations and did more than Rs. 90 crores in 3 days. It has even crossed Awarapan 2’s opening weekend numbers.”
Girish Johar, producer and film business analyst, remarked, “The good part is that the theatrical business is up and the film is drawing these kinds of numbers without any so-called A-listers. It is purely because of the resonance the audience has with the web series. The marketing was also done accordingly, and they delivered in terms of content as well, as evident from the reports. Hence, the industry is very pleasantly surprised. I take this as a learning, and it makes it clear that stars are not the only deciding factor at the box office. The story, presentation and content matter just as much.”
A case study
All experts agreed that Mirzapur is now a case study. Taran Adarsh explained, “Audience ki soch bahut alag hai. Hum kuch aur sochte hain aur audience kuch aur. The most surprising part is that in its 25 years’ journey, Excel Entertainment has produced some of the biggest films with Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan, etc. But those films did not get the kind of numbers that this film got. Hence, this film is a case study for everybody in the industry.”
He continued, “You don’t need stars or big names to attract footfalls or have house-full boards. And most importantly, people are back in theatres in a big way. That’s a huge plus. There was a belief that ‘Tickets are so expensive. Theatre mein kaun jaayega?’. But look at the business over the weekend of Mirzapur The Movie as well as Hanuman Ansh. Moreover, both films belong to diverse profiles. Yet, both did roaring business.”
They also said that it’ll give rise to a new trend. Atul Mohan predicted, “Makers of many more OTT shows will also try to make films.” Taran Adarsh agreed, “I am sure a lot of people must be thinking along those lines (laughs). All I can say is that not every film can be a Mirzapur and not every devotional film can be Hanuman Ansh. What’s important is that there’s a new revenue model now. Earlier, it was believed that one should make conventional films. But this shows that the audience is ready to try something different.”
Raj Bansal sighed, “This is very common in our industry. Once something works, toh line lag jaati hai. This will be no exception. At least 10 films will be made based on web series, whether or not they are successful. This would be considered the easy route to take.”
Girish Johar cautioned, “I don’t want people to do bhedchaal kind of stuff. Makers should keep in mind what the audiences actually want rather than making a film on some show that probably has done well.”
The post Trade experts AMAZED by Mirzapur The Movie’s box office performance: “It’s a case study”; predict a new trend: “At least 10 films will be made based on web series” appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.
from Bollywood Hungama https://ift.tt/GBlQR1X
