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Nothing more needs to be said about the legendary Amitabh Bachchan than what everyone already knows. The living legend is one of those superstars who has perfectly blended together the formula of box office success with highly appreciated acting skills. Along with the godfather of all Blockbusters (SHOLAY), he has all sorts of major box office successes such as DEEWAR, AMAR AKBAR ANTHONY, MUQADDAR KA SIKANDAR, ZANJEER, MOHABATTEIN, KABHI KHUSHI KABHI GHAM...the list goes on and on! The superstar's acting skills are highly appreciated by almost everyone, and in recent times it was PAA and BLACK in which he received most appreciation.
He has played all sorts of roles, and one of those roles was that of a ghost in the charming film BHOOTHNATH released in 2008. The sequel, BHOOTHNATH RETURNS, releases this Friday.
It has been seen time and time that the sequel of a film is usually not as liked as much as the first part. Take for example the DABANGG series: DABANGG in 2010 had an excellent WOM, whereas DABANGG 2's WOM in comparison was decent/good, but definitely not as strong as the WOM of the first part.
Or take the RACE series: many people feel that RACE 1 was a better film than RACE 2.
Similar thing can be applied with DHOOM series: there are many who feel that DHOOM 2 was a better film than DHOOM 3.
I see a similar situation happening here with BHOOTHNATH RETURNS! BHOOTHNATH in 2008 (much like other films back in the day) had heart, soul, and charm, and the power of the film was a bit visible in the theatrical trailer of that film itself. In comparison, BHOOTHNATH RETURNS looks more of a pure comedy film with some sort of emphasis on election as well. BHOOTHNATH had powerful drama, emotion, sweetness, and it had comedy, whereas BHOOTHNATH RETURNS looks to have some comedy...but that's about it!
I think that in comparison to BHOOTHNATH, BHOOTHNATH RETURNS will feel like a shallow film!
An interesting thing to note is that the film does bring together superstars of 3 generations: Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, and Ranbir Kapoor. But the thing is that both SRK and RK have small roles in the film so it will not really help much to improve the overall quality/box office performance of the film. SRK's role seems to be shorter here than it was in the first part.
Honey Singh is singing in the film, collaborating with Amitabh Bachchan for the first time.
BHOOTHNATH RETURNS will miss the presence of Juhi Chawla, who played the mother of Aman Siddique (the child) in the original. He is also missing from the film, and it doesn't make much sense given the fact that they both had big roles in the first part.
The opening day (Friday) will see poor collections as the youth will not go to see this film. Also, Amitabh Bachchan has had a pretty bad phase after PAA (2009), with that being his last Hit film and this will tell badly on the film's opening day collections. His last solo release BUDDA HOGA TERA BAAP did around 1.90 crores on it's opening day, which is extremely poor. The presence of superstars Shah Rukh Khan and Ranbir Kapoor may pull some audience to the theatres but it will only be a handful of people really as the general public knows that they have short roles. Honey Singh and his song may pull a few people to the theatres as well.
The film could grow well over the weekend if it has a decent WOM as it is a family film, and there are holidays on some of the days next week. But overall, I don't think the film will do well. The elections in India will put a dent in collections as well.
The budget is around 30 crores from what I've read.
My Box Office Predictions for BHOOTHNATH RETURNS:
Opening Day: 2 crores net
Opening Weekend: 8 crores net
Lifetime Collections: 15+ crores net
Overall Box Office Verdict: Flop
By the way, for those that haven't seen BHOOTHNATH (2008) yet, I recommend you to see it! It's a sweet film and the last 20-30 minutes have some powerful dramatic scenes with Amitabh Bachchan, the man who plays his son in the film, and Shah Rukh Khan. Juhi Chawla and Aman Siddique (the child) are also there. And, it's one of the only times you'll get to see Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla all 3 in the same film!
Anupamaa
Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon
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