My Box Office Predictions for Student of the Year

And also because, October 14 was my birthday :)

Here it is!

KUCH KUCH HOTA HAIN: One of the All Time Blockbusters of Indian cinema, and a film still remembered by many today.

KABHI KHUSHI KABHI GHAM: One of the true Worldwide Blockbusters of Indian cinema!

KABHI ALVIDA NA KEHNA: Even till date, ranks as one of the biggest Blockbusters ever overseas!

MY NAME IS KHAN: Like KANK, a huge Blockbuster that ranks as one of the Biggest Blockbusters ever Overseas, and this film won many awards!

Many directorial accomplishments, by one man: Karan Johar.

Many are (unfairly) quick to write off Karan Johar. "He's gay", "SRK was the leading man in his films, that's why they succeeded", etc. But to have such big accomplishments that he did with his four previous directorial ventures, goes to prove that Karan Johar is a magical director, and a definite great!

So, what happens when Karan Johar decides to move away from his usual big stars? When he moves away from Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Hritikh Roshan, Salman Khan, Kajol, Rani Mukherjee, etc and other big names that he has worked with. Now we have Student of the Year, a film featuring all newcomers.

When Student of the Year's Theatrical Trailer was released in early August, there was surprisingly a lot of negative feedback to the trailer. Again, I felt different, as I didn't think it was so bad. But slowly, after the songs got released, it became a different story! The songs "Vele", "Radha", "Ishq Wala Love", and "Disco Deewane" all became popular. As a matter of fact, it is one of those popular albums where everyone has their own favorite song out of the four popular songs! Some will vote Vele, some will vote Radha, some Ishq Wala Love, some Disco Deewane, and some would vote for all as their favorite song!

Now, coming to the film's quality! Karan Johar made the hugely popular KUCH KUCH HOTA HAIN in 1998, and similarily to SOTY, that was also a college type of flick. Ever since I've heard about SOTY being a college flick, I have been sure in my mind that Karan Johar will make another well-made flick. Afterall, one can see in the trailers that SOTY has all the KJo ingredients: Colorful songs, college setting, emotions, romance, etc. As for the acting of the three dubutantes: i think that out of the two boys, Varun's acting will be more praised. Siddarth does seem a bit awkward at times, but I think he may have the charm to get him liked by the audiences. Aliya is cute, and I think she will be liked as well. Sana (the girl from KKHH) is also in the film, and she has turned out to be quite a hottie! Let's what she has in store in the film!

Now, to the box office performance of SOTY! I feel that SOTY will perform good and be successful, mainly at the multiplexes since it is a multiplex film. The film will be liked by the urban youth. But one problem is that 5 days after SOTY releases, there will be three films releasing on the Wednesday: RUSH (Emraan Hashmi), CHAKRUVUH (director of RAJNEETI), and AJAB GAZAB LOVE (trailer got a good response). This will, unfortunately, put a dent in the collections of SOTY. As for the opening of SOTY, I feel that the opening will be good, but not exceptional because the main leads are all newcomers. Opening will be best at mutliplex-dominated centers, and in the North (the Vele song will help bring in viewers in North).

My Box Office Predictions for SOTY:

Opening Day: 6.50 crores net

Opening Weekend: 24 crores net

Lifetime Collections: 50 crores net

Overall Box Office Verdict: Hit

The film has been made on a budget of approximately 35 crores, and I think that with the theatrical business in India and Overseas, as well as music rights, satellite rights, and all that, those that are involved with the film (including the distributors) should be in the profit zone, and make this film reach Hit status.

Watching the three students and Karan Johar on Anupama Chopra's show "The Front Row", I saw the special bond that all of them share. Karan Johar writing to Aliya that "she will always be the Shanaya of his life", (Shanaya is the character Aliya plays in SOTY), and how it seemed like they were going to get emotional, it made me feel even more that this really is a special film for those involved. Let's hope that the film works, so that the newcomers get a good start to their careers. And let's also hope it works for Karan Johar, so that he can continue his 100% success ratio at the box office!

This time I agree with you😛

I think so! If you compare the movie to Ishaqzaade the hype is 1000 times more. The music is definitely a lot more popular. The story is targetted at the youth and will have universal appeal for most of the younger folk as compared to Ishaqzaade which had a darker story. The look and feel is candyfloss. Typical Dharma stuff. Ishaqzaade had mixed to really bad WoM but still managed to make around 50Crs. That was primarily because Department flopped and it had a clear 3 week run till Rowdy Rathore. Simiarly SOTY doesnt have too much competition till SOS and JTHJ releases. Unless ofcourse Chakravyuh, Rush, Ajab Gajab Love, Luv Shuv, 1920 OR IIP manage to throw a dampner. Especially the first 3 which release a week after SOTY.