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It seems like every so often, I bring up the two-sided story of an actor. The two sided-story of how an actor had ups and then downs in his/her career, success and failures. Just last week, I talked about Rani Mukherjee's career and her ups and downs in my box office prediction post for MARDAANI.
This week, it's Emraan Hashmi's turn, as I write my box office predictions for RAJA NATWARLAL.
Emraan Hashmi has a strong fan base amongst the masses. There is no denying that. His serial kisser image, his solid acting skills, the combination of sex/thriller/horror in his films, the popular songs in his films...these are some of the reasons why the masses like Emraan Hashmi. MURDER, MURDER 2, RAAZ 2, RAAZ 3, JANNAT, JANNAT 2, OUATIM, THE DIRTY PICTURE, etc are examples of his successful films at the box office.
As a matter of fact, it won't be wrong to say that just a few years ago (specifically in 2011 and 2012), he was one of the biggest profit-making actors for Bollywood, right up there with a star like Salman Khan, if we take into account ROI (Return-On-Investment). Emraan Hashmi's films weren't super grossers that did 100 crores lifetime business, but his films were made on a lower budget and in return his films would make huge profits. That's why, when you look at years like 2011 and 2012, you will see Salman's films like READY, BODYGUARD, EK THA TIGER, and DABANGG 2 as big Blockbusters of the years, but Emraan Hashmi's films like THE DIRTY PICTURE, MURDER 2, and RAAZ 3 were just a step below in terms of box office success!
Things went downhill though. RUSH, EK THI DAAYAN, and GHANCHAKKAR all failed at the box office.
RUSH was a delayed film, with made it hard for it to succeed anyways. His other box office failures (SHANGHAI, EK THI DAAYAN, GHANCHAKKAR) were experimental films. With RAJA NATWARLAL, Emraan Hashmi seems to be going back to his original roots. He's going back to his image that his fans like to see him in!
RAJA NATWARLAL is directed by Kunal Deshmukh, who directed earlier Emraan hits like JANNAT and JANNAT 2. From seeing the theatrical trailer of RAJA NATWARLAL, it seems quite evident that this film is looking quite similar on the lines of the JANNAT series. Notice how Emraan has so many franchises in films? MURDER series, RAAZ series, JANNAT series...from seeing the theatrical trailer of RAJA NATWARLAL, it seems as if they could have just named this film JANNAT 3, because not only does the film feel like a JANNAT film, but the director is also the same of JANNAT and JANNAT 2!
On the positive side, the film seems like an Emraan Hashmi entertainer that his fans would like. The songs of the film have also been fairly appreciated.
On the negative side though, there would be a section of the audience who would now be bored of seeing Emraan Hashmi doing his same stuff again. One section of the audience may still find it entertaining, but another section of the audience will now find it boring by feeling that it's just Emraan yet again bedding the girl and then getting chased by gunmen š. A section of the audience will be bored now!
Emraan Hashmi has been promoting the film (it feels like he's been on Zoom TV Channel every day š). I feel the opening of the film will be okay as there are people who will want to see the film, but I also think there is some lack of buzz for the film because of Emraan's last 3 films failing at the box office. Opening will be better at single screens of mass-dominated areas.
The film doesn't have to worry much about competition, because the two notable films coming soon (MARY KOM and FINDING FANNY) are both multiplex-oriented films. RAJA NATWARLAL can still enjoy a good run at single screens even after those films have released, as RAJA NATWARLAL is aimed the mass/single screen audience. Of course, the film will only enjoy a good run if the Word of Mouth is positive. I think the film will have Mixed WOM as I mentioned earlier, where a section of the audience will like the film for being an Emraan Hashmi-style entertainer, while another section will now find that style of film boring.
My Box Office Predictions for RAJA NATWARLAL:
Opening Day: 6 crores
Opening Weekend: 20+ crores
Lifetime Collections: 40+ crores
Overall Box Office Verdict: Average
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