Shaandaar will get the benefit of the holiday for Dusshera but the bigger picture will be how much is the benefit and what happens on Friday which is a normal day. Friday becomes very important as though there is a holiday on day one, the film is very unlikely to do that 20 crore nett or thereabouts opening so that a 30-40% fall the next day does not matter much.
The film has a fresh cast of Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt and the music may not be super hit but its done fairly well but on the other side its a Phantom film which is a negative as with multiplexes having expansion outside the metros, the audience there today is very aware who makes what especially as they are paying big money to watch films today so tend to go for clean entertainers. The promos may try to show it is that but the audience is too aware today and knows what is made by Phantom films.
The public which ventures into multiplexes in Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Surat, Kanpur, Bhopal, etc will be aware that the Phantom banner makes bad films like Bombay Velvet and Lootera. Actually bad is not the correct word, it should be films that audiences in these core cities of India don't care for. For some these may even be good films as good and bad is basically just an opinion. A reputed banner with the family audiences like YRF and Rajshri may not add much in the time of star driven business but importantly they don't take away either like a Phantom which has image of banner which is not family friendly. The family audience is of utmost importance here as its a costly film and its a tough task to cover costs without support of family audience.
There was Queen from the banner which did well but again it was not a grosser and could not score outside metros which Shaandaar will have to as its a much bigger film with more than treble the cost of Queen. The success of Queen was limited, not in terms of money it made but in terms it just found appreciation with a small segment of the theatre going audience and was rejected on television. Although the perception within the industry and media is huge word of mouth and huge hit, the audience in most parts of the country don't see it that way.
The main issue with the film is going to be that a decent opening may come due to the holiday but the film may not have the content which can pull in enough footfalls going by the track record of Phantom Films needed to cover high costs. A raise in ticket rates may have helped in the case of this film as the audience (metros) for it will be prepared to pay at least initially but the distributors and exhibitors probably saw it as a risk.
Tum Se Tum Tak
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