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There is no doubt that Ranbir Kapoor is one of the biggest stars in India right now. He had been on a roll for years, especially since 2009 which was the turning point in career, with Super Hit AJAB PREM KI GAZAB KAHAANI, commercial/critical success with WAKE UP SID and then critical success with ROCKET SINGH. He has continued his victorious march over the years with ROCKSTAR and BARFI winning him Best Actor award, and the latter also being a Super Hit.
But, it was YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI that was the game changer! The film was supposed to be a regular 100 crore Hit, but it surprised everyone with it's mammoth collections. Opening day/opening weekend were comparable to Salman Khan's DABANGG 2. Most felt that YJHD would just 100 crore and just a Hit similar to a film like RACE 2, DON 2, etc, but it went all the way upto 188 crores, being just behind some of the Biggest Blockbusters like EK THA TIGER and 3 IDIOTS!
Suddenly, Ranbir's name was rightfully held in the same league as the Khans!
Now, we have a HUGE coming together of two big names: Ranbir Kapoor, and Abhinav Kashyap, who directed DABANGG. Basically, Ranbir and Abhinav are both coming from an ATBB each! (YJHD and DABANGG respectively).
Expectations are bound to be monumental!
The theatrical trailer of BESHARAM released a few months ago. When I saw the theatrical trailer, I liked it, and I had one thing in my mind about the film: "This will be another ATBB for Ranbir Kapoor". To me, it seemed as if the film had all the masala ingredients and Ranbir tactics that people would enjoy. However,I was shocked when I found out about the negativity that the trailer had created. Majority of people hated the trailer!
Some people hated that Ranbir was urinating while singing SRK's "Tuje Dekha" from DDLJ. Some hated that he used Salman's name by saying "sirf Chulbul naam rakhne se koi Dabangg nahin ban jaata" (to Rishi). Some hated how vulgar the trailer was, with Ranbir doing pelvic thrusts, the "padding" dialogue at end of trailer and more. Some hated that Ranbir was doing a masala film after doing more sophisticated, urban films in the past like YJHD, BARFI, WAKE UP SID, ROCKSTAR. Some feel that Ranbir doesn't suit doing masala films.
As I said, I personally didn't have any complaints with the trailer, and I didn't find anything offensive at all about SRK and Salman stuff in the trailer, especially the Salman thing which I'm not sure why people even complained about it! Nontheless, the trailer received a negative response!
The two biggest types of audience today in my opinion are the family audience and the urban youth. If atleast one of these types of audience embraces a film, then the film will likely work at the box office. However, in this case, BESHARAM seems to appeal to neither. It looks too vulgar for the family audience. For the urban youth, amongst who Ranbir is very popular with, they wouldn't like to see Ranbir in this type of film. The urban youth likes to see Ranbir in more sophisticated urban style films like YJHD, BARFI, etc and BESHARAM is the opposite. BESHARAM is a masala film with old-style songs, and this could be a huge turn-off for the urban youth!
If the family audience and urban youth both reject the film, then the film will face problems at the box office!
The heroine has also affected (in a bad way) the buzz of the film. She hasn't received much appreciation from the promos. In a film like YJHD, the pairing of Ranbir-Deepika created huge waves, partly because of their real-life past link-up, but in this case, there is nothing to talk about related to Ranbir and newcomer Pallavi Sharda.
Also, the songs of the film have a caused a problem for the film. The songs haven't been received well. People are finding the songs out-dated.
Also, there seems to be nothing new in the film for the public. No novelty factor.
The film is getting the second widest release of all time. Opening wise, the film should open with a dhamaka. Reasons being that it is a national holiday, Ranbir Kapoor coming after All Time Blockbuster YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI, Ranbir coming together with his parents for the first time on screen, and the huge Ranbir-Abhinav actor-director combo. The general negative buzz for the film will affect the collections slightly in a bad way. If the buzz for the film was positive, then I am damn sure that it could have atleast matched or even beaten the opening day record of CHENNAI EXPRESS, especially since Ranbir's last film YJHD earned a mammoth 19 crores on non-holiday opening day, whereas BESHARAM has national holiday. But, the negative buzz will affect opening day collections a little.
My Box Office Predictions for BESHARAM:
Opening Day: 25 crores net approx.
Opening 5 Day Weekend: 80+ crores net
Lifetime Collections: 100+ crores net
Overall Box Office Verdict: Hit
I feel that BESHARAM will turn out to be Ranbir Kapoor's RA ONE. RA ONE had negative word of mouth but was still a 100 crore box office success due to SRK's starpower and the holiday period. Same will likely happen with BESHARAM: Negative word of mouth, but box office success due to Ranbir's starpower and holiday period! I think the film will just go a bit past the 100 crore mark. It won't be a huge grosser like YJHD was, which grossed 188 crores.
Udne Ki Aasha
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