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Director Abhishek Sharma (director of TERE BIN LADEN) is back to direction after 4 years. This time, he has a bigger task on his hands with bigger stars and the remake factor, as THE SHAUKEENS is a remake of the 1982 film SHAUKEEN (which starred Ashok Kumar, Utpal Dutt, Mithun Chakraborty, and others).
THE SHAUKEENS (starring actors such as Anupam Kher, Annu Kapoor, and Akshay Kumar in a special appearance role) appears to be a comedy, but it's a comedy that not too many people would be interested. The idea of 3 old men (Anupam Kher, Annu Kapoor, Piyush Mishra) looking to have enjoyment and being attracted to a younger woman is something that not many would find appealing, mainly because the main characters are all old and the three actors playing these roles of elder men have no ability in 2014 to pull the audience to the theatre.
Akshay Kumar is hardly going to be making any worthwhile contribution to the film. His "Alchoholic" song (although the song may be a hit with listeners) in this film looks so similar to his "Johnny Johnny" song from ENTERTAINMENT that many people would wonder which song is from which movie: ENTERTAINMENT or SHAUKEENS? Even otherwise, his songs look like speed-breakers that will slow the pace of the film down. He may add in some entertainment for the audience with his comedy scenes and may pull a few people to the theatre with his star power, but the public would be aware that he is not the main actor in the film and that instead it's the elderly trio which could prevent audience from coming to see the film.
Having said all that, there will be a section of the audience that will find the film entertaining. But even then, the window is short for the film to have a good run as KILL DILL releases in theatres next week. Also, the budget of this film (THE SHAUKEENS) from what I have read is in the range of 35-40 crores which could be difficult to recover for the film, although other sources of revenue (satellite rights, music rights, etc) may help the film to recover costs.
The film will take a poor opening at the box office, show a bit of growth in collections over the weekend, and then have low-but-steady collections on weekdays due to decent WOM. But overall, not much to expect from this film at the box office!
My Box Office Predictions for THE SHAUKEENS:
Opening Day: 3 crores
Opening Weekend: 12 crores
Lifetime Collections: 25 crores
Overall Box Office Verdict: Below Average
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