My Box Office Predictions for Happy Ending

For an actor that was once one of the top stars, only one 100 crore film (RACE 2) doesn't cut it, especially when the highest grosser ever right now (DHOOM 3) has lifetime collections of 285 crores. Clearly, Saif Ali Khan has been waaay behind the Khans at the box office!

HAPPY ENDING, like I said, is an important film for Saif Ali Khan for these mentioned reasons.

There's another man who HAPPY ENDING holds importance for. That man is Govinda. He's been looking to make a comeback this year, but his film last week (KILL DILL) has not done well at the box office.

Saif Ali Khan and Govinda need a box office success right now. Will HAPPY ENDING turn out to be a happy ending for them at the box office as the year comes close to an end?

HAPPY ENDING is evidently geared towards the multiplex audience. Audience in the bigger cities of India. Right from the title of the film, to the Hollywood-style vibe the film carries, to Saif Ali Khan's return to an urban role...it has all the ingredients of a multiplex film.

Sure, the film has Saif Ali Khan, Govinda, Ileana D'Cruz, Kalki Koechlin, Ranvir Shorey, and cameos by Preity Zinta and Saif's own wife Kareena Kapoor. Such a star cast may excite many people. But the bitter truth is that the buzz of the film feels thanda! Blame it on the two lead actors of the film coming off of films that did not do too well at the box office (HUMSHAKALS and KILL DILL), or whatever reason, but something is amiss here amongst the public!

Here are reasons why I feel Happy Ending will not work at the box office:

-Low buzz. As I mentioned, the buzz of the film feels low, and there doesn't seem to be too much curiosity to watch this film, which relates to second reason...

-Too many feels releasing at once. HAPPY NEW YEAR, KILL DILL, UNGLI, ACTION JACKSON, PK...all of these films have released/will be releasing in a very short time span from one another. How many films can the paying public watch?

-Very poor performance in mass centres. There is no doubt that HAPPY ENDING, an out-and-out urban multiplex film, will be rejected badly by the masses, probably from Day 1 itself.

-This is a point that BOI mentioned actually. BOI said that films like HAPPY ENDING are hard for the audience to relate to as its based on the film industry and these types of film hardly do well. I do agree with BOI on this, because unless a film based on the film industry is designed as a grand entertainer with a huge superstar and tons of mass appeal (such as OM SHANTI OM), other films based on the film industry tend to not do well (LUCK BY CHANCE is an example that comes to my mind as this film failed at the box office). BOI also said that a film like this is for those 75 odd premium multiplexes and that a film can't go far with films that don't connect with the main audience. BOI said KILL DILL is the better bet for Govinda (BOI said this before KILL DILL released) and so it's likely that HAPPY ENDING will have lower box office collections than KILL DILL.

Opening-wise, Saif Ali Khan's star power and fan base in the big cities of India will bring some audience to the theatres in the multiplexes of bigger cities. Govinda, and his pairing with Saif Ali Khan, will also bring in some audience. However, the lack of buzz, and a very opening in mass centres will mean that the film will have an average opening day collection.

In terms of WOM (Word of Mouth), the film will find decent appreciation amongst the urban youth, but not much else can be expected. The masses will outright reject the film. Also, the "Paaji Tussi Such A Pussycat" song seems like it will very hard to sit through during the film as the song promo was very boring. "Nacho Saare G Phad Ke" is annoying, but Govinda in the song may work with the public.

The film will have competition next week from the Dharma-Emraan-Dutt-Randeep-Kangana starrer UNGLI, a film that is also geared towards the multiplex audience.

Last year in the same month of November, Saif Ali Khan's BULLET RAJA released. That film also had similar obstacles as HAPPY ENDING: low buzz, sandwiched between other films, and competition from a film of a similar target audience (R RAJKUMAR) releasing a week later. BULLET RAJA failed at the box office and it looks the same will be happening with HAPPY ENDING. The box office collections of BULLET RAJA and HAPPY ENDING will be similar I feel.

My Box Office Predictions for HAPPY ENDING:

Opening Day: 6 crores

Opening Weekend: 20+ crores

Lifetime Collections: 35 crores

Overall Box Office Verdict: Flop

Kill Dil flopped, Ungli and Action Jackson should go the Kill Dil way aswell , so Fingers crossed

😆 She is so unnoticeable that it seems her career will be winding down fast!

😆

Ileana in Fan could just be a rumour I guess, but who knows! She probably wouldn't have much of a role anyway as the film seems to be centered solely on SRK and his idol in the film.

Doubt it. Look at all the other YRF proteges like Parineeti and Anushka. The story would have been different though if Fan was a RCE production. 😉

Anushka jumped up in most lists when she was shooting for JTHJ 😛