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Emraan Hashmi has been going through a career-low. RUSH (2012) onwards, Emraan Hashmi has had 7 back-to-back flops, one after the other. This is quite depressing given the fact that he was once amongst the top 10 stars in Bollywood, a star who always guaranteed a profitable film. In fact, at one point, he was considered to be just behind Salman Khan in terms of popularity amongst the audience at smaller centers!
AZHAR is an important film for Emraan Hashmi. It NEEDS to work at the box office. Biopics can be hard to create due to the fact that there needs to be a right balance between reality and entertainment. Too much of one of the two elements, or a lack of one of those elements, can prove to be harmful for the film.
Unfortunately, the theatrical trailer of AZHAR came across as being a bit lacklustre. Also, Emraan Hashmi in that cricket zone gives off vibes of JANNAT, a film that released nearly 10 years ago and had a cricket backdrop, albeit it had the backdrop differently. RAJA NATWARLAL also saw Emraan in a cricket zone. These things would not have mattered as much if AZHAR seemed like a powerful film, but the theatrical trailer didn't pack a punch in the way that it could have.
I have seen that the initial critic reviews so far (including KRK, who's opinion is usually similar to that of the audience) have been positive. In fact, some have been very positive. But I will still go with my initial gut instinct of this film not working at the box office. I feel that the audience will not like the film much because they will find the mixing of entertainment and reality to be unbalanced. Also, I feel that the audience may find the film to be slow-paced at times, particularly in the middle of the film. The climax, whatever it may be, may find mixed feedback. These are all things that my instincts are telling me, without having properly read any critic review yet. The audience may appreciate the effort that went into making the film, but at the same time won't find much enjoyment in the film as a whole.
RUSH (2012) onwards, Emraan's highest grosser of the 7 consecutive flops have been GHANCHAKKAR and HUMARI ADHURI KAHANI, both co-starring Vidya Balan, both of which did 34 crores net lifetime respectively. I think AZHAR's lifetime collections may be a little higher, but not by much!
My Box Office Predictions for Azhar:
Opening Day: 5 crores net
Opening Weekend: 18 crores net
Lifetime Collections: 35+ crores net
Overall Verdict: Flop
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