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It's been a year long wait, but finally...Salman Khan is back!
The superstar, the hero of the masses, the icon of millions...call him whatever, and whether you like him or hate him, his starpower can never be denied!
Salman Khan has been one of the biggest streaks ever in Bollywood. Delivering 5 back-to-back major Blockbusters (DABANNG, READY, BODYGUARD, EK THA TIGER, DABANNG 2) is no joke. It is this super-successful streak of his that has made Salman Khan be in the number one position of Bollywood for several years.
However, things started to change last year.
Ranbir Kapoor came extremely close to the lifetime figure of Salman's biggest grosser EK THA TIGER with YEH JAWAANI HAI DEEWANI.
Shah Rukh Khan, who some had written off, came back with a BANG with the historic Blockbuster CHENNAI EXPRESS, which shattered almost every record in sight and became the biggest grosser ever of Hindi cinema.
Then came Hritikh Roshan, who destroyed many records with KRRISH 3 and *may* have become the biggest grosser ever (there has been a lot of controversy on this matter, so we can't say for sure).
And then of course, Aamir Khan, who destroyed box office records with the All Time Blockbuster DHOOM 3, which as we currently speak is the highest grosser of Hindi cinema and it almost reached the 300 crore mark in India!
The war is on...Salman Khan, who has been untouchable at the box office, has had many competitors get ahead of him in the box office race in the last year.
JAI HO is the test for Salman Khan. Will Salman Khan get back to his throne and be hailed as box office king once again? Or is he going to be left behind his competitors Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, and Hritikh Roshan?
The theatrical trailer of JAI HO released in December, and the response to the trailer was interesting. On one hand, there were those who liked it. On the other hand, there were those who felt as if it is the trailer of some B grade movie, and featuring the same stuff Salman has been doing on screen for the last 5 years now. Basically, after seeing the trailer, some people said that the film will be a Blockbuster...and others said that the film could be 2014's version of HIMMATWALA!
The song promos have not generated too much buzz. Alot of the song promos made the film feel a little low class and not upto the mark of what the promos should be like for a film starring arguably the biggest film star in India. Unfortunately, the songs have not gotten a great response.
JAI HO is the remake of Telegu Blockbuster STALIN. STALIN was well-received and it therefore remains interesting to see if director Sohail Khan has done justice to the original with JAI HO. If he has, then JAI HO could emerge a major winner. Sohail Khan as a director has had a mixed run though in Bollywood: while PYAR KIYA TOH DARNA KYA was a Hit, AUZAAR did below average business, HELLO BROTHER was a Flop, and MAINE DIL TUJHKO DIYA did not do well.
One thing that could work big time with the audience is the idea of a superstar (Salman Khan) playing the role of a common man. Shah Rukh Khan played the role of a common man in CHENNAI EXPRESS, and the film became a huge Blockbuster. So, the idea of Salman Khan playing a common man in JAI HO works in advantage for the film. Recently, we saw Sunny Deol play common man in SINGH SAAB THE GREAT, and the film failed perhaps because Sunny's popularity is a lot lower than it used to be, where as on the other hand SRK and Salman are superstars of India and them playing the role of common man works with the public.
Another thing to take note of is that Salman Khan has been involved in a lot of controversy lately. First it was because of the recent season of his show Big Boss where he was seen getting involved in a lot of arguements and controversies, and he garned a lot of flak for that. Then there has been the recent issues involving Salman performing at UP government's Saifai event, as well as controversy involving Modi and Nitish Kumar.
If there has been something positive, however, it has been his recent patch-ups, and an example of that was the second meeting of Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan recently at an award show. This generates good attention for Salman. When they met last year in July, it was before SRK's Chennai Express released, and this time it has happened before JAI HO releases. Perhaps this was some sort of plan by SRK and Salman? 😆
Now, coming to the box office collections of JAI HO. The opening of the film will be earth-shattering, for a simple reason: Salman Khan back on screen in a film after a year, and after 5 Blockbusters. The opening weekend will be excellent, and although the film doesn't receive much benefit from the Republic Day holiday as it is on a Sunday (which is normally a holiday anyways), I feel that the film does have potential to touch the 40 crore mark on Sunday nevertheless, and if it does touch the 40 crore mark on Sunday it would be the highest collections ever for a single day. SRK and Aamir reached the 100 crore mark in the opening weekend itself with their last respective films, and surely Salman Khan would be able to touch the 100 crore mark as well in the opening weekend with JAI HO.
After the opening weekend, it will be interesting to see how JAI HO does. Unlike CHENNAI EXPRESS and DHOOM 3 which had some holidays after their opening weekend, JAI HO has none, and therefore, content will play a major role in determining what the lifetime collections of JAI HO are.
I think that the film will sustain well at single screens and mass-dominated areas after the opening weekend, while multiplexes might be on the lower side due to the tired masala genre and possible lack of novelty in the film. However, I am confident that the film's lifetime collections will not reach the figures of DHOOM 3, CHENNAI EXPRESS, 3 IDIOTS, and EK THA TIGER.
But I think that the film will be a huge success nontheless, especially due to it being Salman's film after one year and too in an avatar that the Indian public likes him in, and him having the role of a common man. His bracelet scene shown in the trailer will be enough to drive his fans wild with excitement.
My Box Office Predictions for JAI HO:
Opening Day: 30+ crores net
Opening Weekend: 100+ crores net
Lifetime Collections: 175+ crores net
Overall Box Office Verdict: Blockbuster
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