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This Friday will see the release of Akshay Kumar's 100th film, JOKER, which also stars Sonakshi Sinha and a host of other actors, and is directed by JAAN-E-MANN director Shirish Kunder.
JOKER brings the sci-fi genre back into Bollywood. There have been sci-fi films like KOI MIL GAYA and RA ONE so far in Bollywood, and it has shown mixed results so far as far as both box office collections and audience appreciation goes. A film like KOI MIL GAYA worked with the audience, while a film like RA ONE on the other hand didn't work with the audience.
Frankly speaking, the buzz for JOKER has been missing. Of course, a lot of it had to do with the craze of EK THA TIGER, a film that had craze for the whole month of August and is still continuing. I had strongly felt that JOKER should have released in September instead of August, as the hype for JOKER would be severely affected if released in the same month as EK THA TIGER, and that is what happened. It has taken away the buzz for JOKER.
However, it is not just the EK THA TIGER craze alone. It also has to do JOKER's promos and the songs. The theatrical trailer of JOKER almost gave a feeling of TEES MAAR KHAN, which is not a good thing. There were a few reasons why the trailer could remind one of TEES MAAR KHAN, such as Akshay having a gang and all of them running around, villagers, and of course the name Shrirish Kunder who was also associated with TEES MAAR KHAN. Also, the songs of JOKER haven't quite catched on too well.
As for the quality of the film, it remains to be seen what happens. On the positive side, Shrish Kunder's last directorial venture JAAN-E-MANN, despite being a box office flop due to it releasing alongside DON, did actually receive some appreciation, and people felt the emotional scenes were handled quite well. Some were also talking about how it showed (in a really good way) the emotional side of Salman Khan. When I heard the underrated "Jugnu" song from JOKER, it made me feel that perhaps Shrish Kunder does have some emotional elements that may work for the film. Another positive is Sonakshi Sinha. She has demonstrated that she knows what works with the audience, as her last two films (DABANNG and ROWDY RATHORE) were both Blockbusters. She signed JOKER, so perhaps there is something to look forward to in the film quality-wise.
On the negative side, of course, is the whole Tees Maar Khan resemblance, which (as mentioned above) is not a good thing for the film content-wise. Another huge negative, is that it seems as it Akshay Kumar has no faith in JOKER. He has barely even promoted the film. There are numerous reports saying that he has not liked how the film has shaped up, and that could indeed mean that perhaps the film is not good.
But, I feel, the film's word of mouth will be more negative than positive.
Opening wise, although there isn't much buzz about the film, I think that Akshay-Sonakshi pairing after the super-success of ROWDY RATHORE could lure some crowd to the cinema halls. Also, Chitrangda Singh's "Kaafirana" song could also pull in some audience. After the opening weekend, JOKER may not have much power to sustain, but what has to be remembered is that reportedly, the film has been sold at low price, which means that the film should end up being safe, money-wise.
My predictions for the box office collections of JOKER:
Opening Day: 7.50 crores net
Opening Weekend: 22 crore net
Lifetime: 45 crore net
Overall Box Office Verdict: Average
So, how will this film affect those involved with the project?
For Akshay Kumar, it will not prove to be beneficial. After deliveing two super-successful films earlier this year in the form of HOUSEFULL 2 and ROWDY RATHORE, Akshay was on a career-high, but JOKER will prove to be a setback. He does have KHILADI 786 later this year, but it will arrive a week after TALAASH, and since Aamir Khan films always receive tremendous appreciation, it's possible that the TALAASH wave could affect KHILADI 786 as well.
For Sonakshi Sinha, JOKER will prove to be a setback for her too. She has a 100% success record so far with the Blockbusters DABANNG and ROWDY RATHORE, but JOKER has zero chances of repeating the success of those films. However, she doesn't have much to worry about, because later this year, she has SON OF SARDAR and DABANNG 2, both of which are likely to be mass favourites.
As for Shirish Kunder, the director of the film, it will only get worse. After the box office failure of JAAN-E-MANN, the criticism he recieved for TEES MAAR KHAN, the brawl with Shah Rukh Khan, he is now going to have to face more criticism when JOKER doesn't do too well at the box office.
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