Talaash - DISCUSSION THREAD - Page 7

Finally, after a delay of almost six months, Talaash is ready to hit the screens. Ok, so the fact remains (and there are no brownie points in stating so) that this indeed is one of the most awaited films of the year. Another fact also remains that excitement for the film had actually started peaking in the first half of the year when it was supposed to release in June. The buzz was just right, the hype was gaining momentum and just when it seemed that the film was following 'Aamir Khan's arc of marketing', there was a not-so-pleasant surprise in store when the film was pushed to November.

With enough positive stories already floating around the film, it was time for one and all to indulge in some spicier affairs now. Is the film similar to Kahaani? Is that the reason why it has been pushed? Is there an issue between Aamir Khan and director Reema Kagti? Is there an issue between Aamir Khan and the film's producers? Is Reema taking too much time to give the film its final shape? Is the film's music not up to the mark? Are there some other unknown issues plaguing the film due to which Aamir has lost interest in the film?

However there was just one answer to each of these questions. A complete silence! It must be admitted though that even this silence has only led to reasonable buzz around the film. More and more that Aamir and his team decided to refrain from retaliation, more was media interested in knowing what really was the case. In a way, a reverse marketing and promotional strategy was followed where absence of 'created' hype only resulted in coming to fore of 'inferred' hype. All of this has meant that the film, despite what some out there have to say, has actually picked up decent steam.

The key word here is 'decent' though because unlike a 3 Idiots or a Ghajini, the film is definitely not looking at breaking any First Day or First Weekend records. Instead, it is aiming at audience word of mouth to do the trick and for that to be possible, there is enough buzz to bring a substantial number of people in theatres on its release.

As things stand today, the film should see a good opening of around 60%-70% (it is releasing on a wide number of screens and hence one can't expect House Full boards all over) and premium multiplexes would be registering even higher, what with advance booking being quite positive there. At single screens though, the footfalls are expected to be lower in comparison.

Still, none of that should bother this reasonably budgeted film which has an entire week all for itself to find an escalation in footfalls. However for that one thing which would hold forte is 'content'. Reason being this isn't one of those films where just the presence of three stars (Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Rani Mukerji) is good enough to earn crores; it has to do well on its merits and for that all eyes would be on Reema Kagti to deliver goods.