Posted:
Okay, it's no secret by now as to what the box office fate of FAN is. The film is a Flop in India. But, I just want to address some of the things I have been reading regarding the film's box office!
Some are still in the hope that the film will cross the 100 crore mark in India, which actually surprises me. The reason being that it was clear within the first few days itself that the film will not cross the 100 crore mark in India, and yet many are still somehow hopeful. The trend of the film right now suggests a lifetime finish somewhere in the range of 80+ crores net. Yes, this will be the first SRK film since MNIK to not reach the 100 crore mark.
Secondly, speaking as a SRK fan (SRK is my favourite actor), I'm quite surprised to read some of the things being said to defend the underperformance of the film. I've been reading things like, "people were just not interested in seeing the film" which is WRONG! People WERE interested in seeing the film, as proven by the huge 19 crore opening day that the film had! The truth is, FAN failed at the box office for one major reason only: the word of mouth (public feedback) for the film was NEGATIVE. The audience rejected the film, which was clear from some of the public feedback videos from the first day itself from places like Mumbai and Punjab where many people were calling the film things like "bakwaas". Sure, some did like the film, but they were a very tiny minority, whereas the mass majority hated the film.
Now, having said all that, I will admit that I myself gave a wrong box office prediction for this film. Before release, I was expecting the film to be a Hit on the basis of what I predicted would be a very positive WOM for the film. I predicted the WOM score of DILWALE (before it's release) correctly, as I felt that it would be in the 50% range. Before release, I felt that FAN would have WOM in the range of 70%, which would be very positive, but the reality is that the actual WOM score is probably in the range of 30% or so, which is very bad. I was predicting lifetime collections of FAN to be 160 crores on the basis of what I thought would be very positive WOM, which is an inaccurate prediction, but not as inaccurate as some who felt that the film could actually do 300 crores!
I did watch FAN, and I will say that I liked the film! The first half was great, although the second half was not as good as the first half, but overall I liked the film, and it was better than DILWALE. SRK was great as Gaurav, but it's unfortunate that the character wasn't showcased as much in the second half as he was in the first half. The second half had a bit too much emphasis on the superstar Aryan Khanna, and although SRK did well in the role, it was more of his usual act that we have seen in his previous movies in that role with him just playing himself on screen.
After many of SRK's box office underperformers in recent years, I don't recall feeling that SRK's box office superstar run was over. However, after DILWALE's underperformance, I really did start to feel that this is the end of SRK's box office reign. It wasn't just the fact that an expected Blockbuster ended up being just a Semi Hit (and honestly, the general perception is that the film is a Flop). It wasn't just the fact that Ranveer Singh beat SRK at the box office. Those were two major factors, sure, but the biggest feeling for me was that I could see it myself: SRK looking old and tired, his popular on-screen magic no longer working and feeling repetitive (arms out wide pose is an example of that). DILWALE always seemed like a project with the sole purpose of making money with SRK cashing in on his superstardom, and the audience probably saw that as well and gave the film a mixed response.
If you recall, I wrote an article in January this year on this forum, titled "DOWNFALL of the SUPERSTAR, RISE of the ACTOR: My thoughts on SRK!" (Link is below):
The ending part that I wrote in the article was this: "With the massive underperformance of DILWALE at the box office, which can be called a Flop for his standards, the box office part of his career is over. Now's its acting part of his career only. Because now it's going to no longer be about Shah Rukh Khan the box office superstar...it's now going to be about Shah Rukh Khan the actor, and both FAN and RAEES should cement that!"
After the release of FAN, my words from the article I wrote have been proven accurate. With FAN being SRK's first box office flop since PAHELI (2005), it's further proven that the box office part of SRK's career is done. Now, it's all about SRK the actor, similar to how Amitabh Bachchan gave award-winning performances later in his career (BLACK, PAA) when he was no longer dominating the box office. Filmfare may award SRK the Best Actor award for FAN (as I wrote in my article about how he would likely be winning it this year for FAN or RAEES!) and if he does get it, it will be his first Filmfare Best Actor award since MY NAME IS KHAN from 2010.
In closing, I will say that CHENNAI EXPRESS (the film did approx. 227 crores at the time) will probably remain the biggest grosser of SRK's career for his entire remaining career. Also, SRK will probably not have a film in the 200 crore club again (HNY and CE both did 200+ crores each), because as I said, the box office part of his career is done. Now, it's only going to be about his acting. Just like how FAN failed at the box office but had a performance from SRK that was hugely praised by everyone, we can expect something similar from RAEES: it may not do too well at the box office and the film may get a mixed response from those who watch it, but SRK's performance in the film will be loved by everyone!
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