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In the last 6 months, it has been surprising to see that one major film after another failed to live upto their expectations. Some of these films under-performed on the basis of box office. Some of them under-performed on the basis of audience appreciation. For some of them, both! Films like JAB TAK HAI JAAN, TALAASH, KHILADI 786, DABANGG 2, RACE 2, SPECIAL 26, and HIMMATWALA are examples of under-performing in at least one way, whether it be money-wise or content-wise.
To be completely honest, I think that the last major film to completely live upto to it's expectations (actually, surpass expectations in this case), both in terms of word of mouth and box office, was BARFI, which coincidentally was also a Ranbir Kapoor starrer!
So now this Friday, we have the next biggie: YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI, starring Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone. The question is, will the film live upto the hype? Or will it fall like a pack of cards like some of the films mentioned above?
YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI has a lot of factors that has made this film the flavour of the season in terms of anticipation: Ranbir Kapoor's film after the super-success BARFI and award winning performances in both ROCKSTAR and BARFI. The real-life ex couple of Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone. The power of Karan Johar's Dharma Productions. The chartbusting songs. The theatrical trailer, which won appreciation. The youthful theme of the film.
The factors mentioned in the above paragraph will ensure that the film takes an excellent opening, especially at multiplexes. The youth across the country will come in hordes to see the film, mainly the youth at the big citites. The opening at single screens also has potential to be good, especially due to the chart-busting music.
The big question of course is how the film's content will be. Seeing the trailer of the film, it seems as if the film sort of is old wine packaged in a new bottle. There seems to be elements from many old films that have been used in this film. As a matter of fact, after seeing the trailer, there were many who were reminded of elements from films that we have already seen, such as BACHNA AE HASEENO (Ranbir-Deepika pairing in an urban setting), KAL HO NA HO (the name Naina as well as her wearing glasses), and other romantic films.
If the film does turn out to be old wine in a new bottle, that may affect the film at multiplexes. The multiplex audiences like novelty, and seeing the "same old" in this film may get them to not appreciate the film too much. However, on the positive side, the director of the film is Ayan Mukerji, who's last film WAKE UP SID found huge appreciation.
I feel that the film will not really click with the single screen audience. As it is, those associated with the film (Ranbir, Deepika, Ayan, Karan) are all people that are more geared towards the multiplex audience. On top of that, the film's style looks urbanish, which will not be liked by the single screen audience. The songs may bring the single screen junta to the theatres initially, but the urban-style content of the film will not get the mass audience to stay in the theatres for long. Also, next week is the release of YAMLA PAGALA DEEWANA 2, a film starring massy actors that is aimed for the masses, which will have a bad effect to YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI at single screens.
My Box Office Predictions for YEH JAAWANI HAI DEEWANI:
Opening Day: 13 crores net
Opening Weekend: 43 crores net
Lifetime Collections: 90 crores net
Overall Box Office Verdict: Hit
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