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KHOOBSOORAT (1980), starring Ashok Kumar, Rekha, and Rakesh Roshan, did fairly well at the time it's release. The film mainly appealed to the audience of the big cities of India, and the film ended up with Semi-Hit status. More importantly though, the film won the Filmfare Best Movie Award, while Rekha won her first Filmfare Best Actress Award for this film.
Let's face it, re-making a film is similar to playing with aag (fire). An example of this would be the film RAM GOPAL VARMA KI AAG, where director Ram Gopal Varma literally felt the burning rage of the audience for even daring to remake a film as iconic as SHOLAY.
More recently, Sajid Khan was torn apart by many for having the himmat to re-make HIMMATWALA!
Of course, it's not that all remakes bomb at the box office. AGNEEPATH (2012) and DON (2006) are examples of remakes that have worked at the box office.
This Friday, the remake of KHOOBSOORAT, releases in theatres. The question is, will the film be apart of the list of remakes that have been successful at the box office? Or will it be apart of the list of remakes that have been torn to shreds by the public? (much like RGV KI AAG and HIMMATWALA).
Luckily, KHOOBSOORAT has a lot going in its favor. The theatrical trailer was well-liked. The songs have been well-liked. Even though BEWAKFOOYIAN failed at the box office, Sonam Kapoor is still quite fresh from the success of RAANJHANAA and BHAAG MILKHA BHAAG (although her role was not so important in the latter film). Also, Fawad Khan is a huge star in Pakistan. Muslim audience in India would likely be aware of who he is and his good looks have already won him female fans.
KHOOBSOORAT should have a decent opening day collection. There is another release too this week (YRF's DAWAAT-E-ISHQ) and going by some reports, it seems as if DAWAAT-E-ISHQ will get more screens than KHOOBSOORAT, which is definitely possible given YRF's power as the top Bollywood film production company. Nontheless, KHOOBSOORAT can still have a decent opening day collection and when the positive WOM spreads, the collections will increase more during night shows.
I feel that KHOOBSOORAT will be the RANJHANAA of 2014, in terms of box office success and being well-appreciated. I am comparing the two films because both films had Sonam Kapoor, hit songs, and another factor (Tamil film star Dhanush of Kolaveri Di song fame being in RANJHANAA and Pakistani star Fawad Khan being in KHOOBSOORAT). KHOOBSOORAT will be well-appreciated by the audience (more likely to be appreciated in the big cities of India much like the original was) and will enjoy a good run at the box office. RANJHANAA collected 60 crores last year as its lifetime total, and KHOOBSOORAT in comparison will be somewhat less, partly due to clash with DAWAAT E ISHQ but mostly because two huge films will be releasing on October 2. KHOOBSOORAT will have 13 days to do as much business as it can before BANG BANG and HAIDER release in theatres.
My Box Office Predictions for KHOOBSOORAT:
Opening Day: 5 crores
Opening Weekend: 20+ crores
Lifetime Collections: 45+ crores
Overall Box Office Verdict: Hit
Here's some random trivia!
-This film will have Ratna Pathak Shah playing the role that her mother (Dina Pathak) did in the original KHOOBSOORAT, the role of a strict matriarch.
-Fawad Khan's name in the film (Vikram Rathore) was also the name of one of Akshay Kumar's characters in the film ROWDY RATHORE.
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