Originally posted by: lumos_31
Gunday was a success? Woah. I didn't know that. I disagree that 2 states was a hit coz of Arjun Kapoor. The film's success was a collective effort. Of story, and performances. The film's promotion too plays an important role in its success. U can't say that because the male lead delivered a hit earlier, ppl went to see only him and the film got a grand opening. I'm sure many, like me have appreciated Alia's acting in Highway and went to watch the film as her fans. Popularity doesn't absolutely depend on BO collections, the way u trying to state here.
For me, if the film has a great story but bad acting I will not watch it, or will not like it if I happen to watch it. Many will share the same view. And then, even if it gets a grand opening, the numbers don't sustain if reviews are bad. And I doubt whether Arjun wouldve been able to make that film successful on his own without Alia. If he would, then Half Girlfriend wouldve been an equally great hit as two states. Also, wouldn't have got such bad reviews.
And @bold that's exactly what I'm talking about. If critics appreciate u, it means ur on the right track. And who said nobody appreciated Randeep Hooda? He was appreciated equally in the reviews by critics.
I never said that 2 States was a Hit "only" because of Arjun. Ofcourse, it was a collective effort. I even gave Chetan Bhagat the credit. What I was saying in my first post was that, how other factors had more contribution in the successful movies of Alia.
Yes, Gunday was a success, 14 Crores opening, 73 crores of lifetime collections, verdict : Semi-Hit(which is a success according to trade).
Yes, SOTY too is a Semi-Hit, but it was released two years before 2 States. Highway was released just 2 months before 2 States, just like Gunday, so we can guess whose face was more known among the audience.
Popularity may not completely depend on box office collections, but it is measured on that basis most of the time(especially in Bollywood, which is a star-driven industry). And opening is the purest form of judging the star power of an actor, since there is no good or bad WOM on the first day. 12 Crores of opening weren't completely brought by Arjun, but he brought more than Alia.
No need to bring Half Girlfriend. First, Half Girlfriend was a bad novel, worse than 2 States. Secondly, Alia is definitely more popular than Arjun today, but I was talking about 2014.
Still the movie got an opening of around 9 Crores, which is not bad at all. BKD opening was 14 Crores, which also had Varun.
Critical appreciation doesn't means an actor is on a right track. Salman movies don't get critical acclaim, but they still become Blockbusters. Box office is what matters the most for a mainstream actor.
When Highway was hardly watched by anyone from the masses(the target audience of 2 States), then I'm not sure how anyone appreciated Alia's performance.
I was talking about the industry people, not critics.
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