My Box Office Predictions for Brothers

But that was last year. This is now. What we have this year is another huge film, in the form of BROTHERS, the remake of the Hollywood film WARRIOR.

Akshay Kumar. Sidharth Malhotra. Karan Johar. Karan Malhotra. Jacqueline. Jackie Shroff. Dharma Productions. The names/banner says it all!

Here's an in-depth look at what makes this film special!

- The first time pairing of Akshay Kumar and Sidharth Malhotra. Akshay Kumar is one of the biggest stars in the industry, and Sidharth Malhotra is a future superstar with him not delivering even one flop film yet. Sidharth's last film, EK VILLAIN, was a 100 crore-earning Super Hit film.

-Director Karan Malhotra, who's last film as a director (and first film) AGNEEPATH (2012) took a record-breaking opening at the box office and went on to join the 100 crore club (which was still a big achievement at the time) and the film was a Super Hit.

-Producer Karan Johar. He is one of the biggest directors in India, without a doubt, but even has a producer, he has taken Dharma Productions to huge heights, with the production house having many successful films such as KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI, KABHI KHUSHI KABHI GHAM (both of which were directed by him) and other successful films as well such as YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI, 2 STATES, HUMPTY SHARMA KI DULHANIA, etc.

-Jacqueline Fernandez, who earlier became popular with the audience with MURDER 2 and then recently has gained even more fans with her being in the Blockbuster film KICK and being in one of the most popular songs of the year so far, Chittiyaan Kalaiyaan.

-Jackie Shroff, a big star (especially in the '80s) and has appeared in some of the recent major box office successes, such as DHOOM 3 and HAPPY NEW YEAR.

-The introduction of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) to Bollywood. There have been films before that have shown boxing (APNE, starring the Deols, is one of them) but this is the first time a film will have Mixed Martial Arts UFC-style (UFC style is what it appears to be).

The promos of the film show that the film definitely has power. The theatrical trailer showed intensity, emotion, and drama. The Brothers Anthem promo again showed intensity, as well as athletic spirit. The Sapna Jahaa promo and especially the Gaaye Jaa promo both showed emotion. The Gaaye Jaa promo was powerful and gave a similar vibe as AGNEEPATH in terms of emotions. The brotherly bonding, and Jackie Shroff as the father, was similar to DHOOM 3, which is one of the biggest Blockbusters at the box office in recent times. The Gaaye Jaa song promo gave me some goosebumps, especially around the part where they show the entrances being made to the fighting ring!

The film is going to be high on emotions, and Sidharth himself has said that Akshay Kumar broke down while dubbing for the film. Basically, the film will have something for everyone: action sequences/drama for men, emotions for the ladies/family audience. The fight sequences, drama, and emotions will appeal to the single screen audience, while it will mostly be the emotions that will appeal to the multiplex audience.

The Mary song is not quite the chartbuster that the makers probably hoped it would be and could not repeat the success of Chikni Chameli, but it will still appeal to some of the audience, especially the single screen audience as they will enjoy the song and enjoy Kareena in the song. The song was given a similar template, with Katrina dancing around a serious Hritikh in that song, and Kareena dancing around a serious Sidharth in this song, which is more evidence that the makers were hoping to repeat the chartbusting success of Chikni Chameli. The other songs are there to fit into the narrative on an emotional level, and the songs will likely do a solid job of doing that just like it did in AGNEEPATH (think of Abhi Mujh Mein Kahin playing when Hritikh re-unites with his sister). The Brothers Anthem song sequence will be adrenaline-pumping and will be enjoyed by the audience as well.

AGNEEPATH was filled with performances that received huge appreciation from people, and it looks to be the same this time again with BROTHERS. Akshay Kumar seems to be displaying strong intensity in the film, and Sidharth seems to be displaying emotions strongly. But it's not that each actor will excel in only one acting department each. Both Akshay and Sidharth will give performances that will receive huge praise from people! Also, special mention must be made to the effort and training that both men have put in for this film!

Jackie Shroff and Shefali Shah will give emotionally powerful performances that will draw the audience to tears.

Jacqueline doesn't seem to have much to do in the film, unfortunately.

At the box office, the film is all set to take a huge opening, although the lack of a chartbusting song the non-holiday factor will mean that the opening will not be as high as it could potentially have been. Akshay's last few films have not been drawing strong initials, which could also be a cause for concern (GABBAR IS BACK's opening was helped by releasing on a holiday). Sidharth Malhotra's last film EK VILLAIN took a huge 16 crore net opening, but that film had very huge pre-release hype and chartbusting songs, two elements that BROTHERS lacks. However, having said all that, the combination of Akshay Kumar, Sidharth Malhotra, Karan Johar/Dharma, Karan Malhotra, Jacqueline, grand production values (this will especially influence the multiplex audience to come as they may want to see their high ticket price justified on screen with high production values), and to some extent the Mary song (more so at mass centres) will bring the film a strong opening day collection.

On day two, the film will run riot at the box office, as it will be Independence Day. The collections of the film may cross the 30 crore net mark on this day, as SINGHAM RETURNS did on this holiday last year (although the difference is that the film did it on it's first day of release whereas BROTHERS would have to do it on the second day of release which makes it a bit more difficult, although the positive reports that BROTHERS receives from the audience could help the film cross the 30 crore net mark on this day).

The WOM (Word of Mouth) for the film will be strong, both amongst the multiplex audience and the single screen audience. However, the family audience/ladies may not give too many repeat viewings for this film due to the violence, and the lack of repeat viewings by the families/ladies will be a major reason as to why BROTHERS won't go anywhere near a huge lifetime figure in India such as 200 crores net. Also, it will be interesting to see how the Indian audience takes to MMA as it will be a new experience for them to see in a film, but given the fact that it is an action sport, the film should will likely appeal to most of the audience. Also, films based on fighting sports (such as MARY KOM and APNE) have received some appreciation from the Indian audience in the past. BROTHERS will mainly appeal to the masses and the youth due to the MMA factor.

It's hard to say which film will be better liked by the audience between BROTHERS and AGNEEPATH. My instinct tells me that AGNEEPATH will be liked better by the audience, but BROTHERS has the advantage of shorter run-time than AGNEEPATH (AGNEEPATH run time was approximately 2 hours and 54 minutes, whereas BROTHERS run time is approximately 2 hours and 35 minutes).

BROTHERS has a one-week free run at the box office as ALL IS WELL releases next week, but given the fact that the male lead in that film (Abhishek Bachchan) is a flop when in a solo film and that the female lead in that film (Asin) has been almost non-existent for the past 3 years, that film won't make much of a dent at all to the collections of BROTHERS. There are other insignificant films releasing too next week and they won't matter. The first real competition in the way of BROTHERS will be from PHANTOM which releases 2 weeks after BROTHERS releases.

According to Indicine, BROTHERS has to cross the 100 crore mark to break-even. The film will be the biggest grosser of both Akshay and Sid's career in India (and possibly overseas) for the many positive things about the film that I've wrote about in this post, including the grand production values which make the film seem even bigger. But, again as I've mentioned, due to the violence there will be lack of repeat viewings by the families/ladies which will be a major reason as to why BROTHERS won't go anywhere near a huge lifetime figure in India such as 200 crores net. I'm predicting that the lifetime collections and box office verdict of the film will be similar to last year's Independence Day release SINGHAM RETURNS. Also, I feel that BROTHERS will have the same box office verdict as AGNEEPATH (Super Hit).

My Box Office Predictions for BROTHERS:

Opening Day: 17 crores net

Opening Weekend: 70+ crores net

Lifetime Collections: 140+ crores net

Overall Box Office Verdict: Super Hit