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What does Singham Again’s 60 percent screen allocation and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’s Rs 2700 ticket pricing mean for the films’ day 1 figures?
Itās going to be the clash of Titans this Diwali as Singham Again and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 will be locking horns at the box office on November 1. The advance bookings for both the films have opened now. At the onset, the films are on an equal footing as both belong to successful franchises and mark the third instalments in their respective series. Both promises to be high on entertainment quotient and boasts of a star-studded ensemble. Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 stars Kartik Aaryan, Madhuri Dixit Nene and Triptii Dimri and sees Vidya Balan returning as Manjulika after 17 long years.
Rohit Shettyās Singham Again ā the fifth film in his cop universe after Singham, Singham Returns, Simmba and Sooryavanshi ā is headlined by Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar, Ranveer Singh, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Deepika Padukone, Tiger Shroff and Arjun Kapoor. So, which film is set for a bigger start? What are the factors working in favour of Anees Bazmeeās horror-comedy? Does Singham Again have the potential to set new records?
Ahead of their releases, News18 Showsha exclusively talks to trade gurus, who share their stances on the films and predict the winner between the two. Unlike team Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 that went all out with their promotions, team Singham Again chose to take a step back after unveiling the trailer amid much fanfare last month. And yet, trade expert Atul Mohan believes āSingham Again has an edge because of its overall packagingā.
He elaborates, āIt also has a good buzz. In Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, you only have Kartik who can pull the crowd. But in Singham Again, thereās Ajay, Akshay, Ranveer, Deepika and Tiger! In a situation like that, the other film has to go all out. They canāt just sit home. They should be promoting aggressively and thatās what Kartik is doing. He has to make his presence felt in front of Singham Againās big star cast.ā
Veteran trade analyst Komal Nahta feels that the announcement of Salman Khanās cameo in Singham Again more than compensated for its lack of promotions. āSingham Again makers might not have promoted the film but that hasnāt taken a beating on its buzz. Sometimes, a trailer is enough. Thereās no set formula when it comes to film promotions. In fact, they recently announced Salmanās presence in it and to do that at the eleventh hour is a huge marketing strategy. It has definitely made the filmās impact stronger,ā he states.
Producer and film business expert Girish Johar is also placing his bets on Singham Again. He says, āItās like comparing apples to oranges. One film is made on a budget of more than Rs 200 crore and the other on Rs 120 crore. Singham Again is a multi-starrer with ten actors. Bhool Bhualiyaa 3 also has Kartik, Vidya and Triptii but you canāt compare it to Singham Again.ā
He adds, āHaving said that, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 has made its own mark and is a successful franchise too. What Iām happy about is that people are considering it worthy enough of being a competition to Singham Again, which is mounted on a mammoth scale. Both films are commercial family entertainers. But I expect Singham Again to have a bigger start. Both will see a rush in the first two days. Eventually, the one whose content is more appreciated will do the final talking. Plus, clashes expand the market.ā
Film exhibitor Akshaye Rathi, in a similar vein, says, āThe advance bookings for both saw a staggered opening and thatās why they arenāt as ballistic as we wanted them to be. But Singham Again is poised to open bigger with Rohit, Ajay, Akshay, Ranveer, Tiger, Kareena and Deepika on one side. It deserves slightly higher showcasing in cinema halls because of its scale, cast, budget and screen count. But there have been enough instances where the perceived underdog has come and eclipsed the big one. Anything can happen.ā
Much like the trio, Nahta is also confident that Singham Again will pass with flying colours on day one of its release due to the āsheer strength of its star castā. āOne part of India will be celebrating Diwali on November 1. And if thereās Lakshmi Puja, collections will get affected adversely. Thatās why, we donāt know whatās exactly in store. What I do know is that both has generated enough heat and so, weāre set for a great Friday. Both are franchise films, which means thereās a lot of recall value for them,ā he tells us.
The presales, however, state a different story. As of Wednesday evening (October 30), Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 left Singham Again behind in advance bookings. On BookMyShow, both films are providing a stiff competition to each other with Kartikās film marginally ahead of Ajayās film in terms of the number of people who expressed their interest in watching the films.
Talking about it, Rathi says, āNow that the audience is largely aware that advance bookings have opened, weāre finally seeing good traction between both the films. These two are mass entertainers and the audiences for these very often come to the box office and buy tickets before a film begins rather than booking them through BookMyShow. The advances look encouraging now but I donāt think theyāll determine the magnitude of the opening collections. Those will be much higher than what the presales indicate.ā
Predictions around Singham Again superseding Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 is further cemented by the former bagging 60% showcasing across national multiplex chains. Talking about it, Johar explains, āSingham Again may be made on a big budget but I donāt think it will be difficult to recover it. The film has a decent window post release. And since the costs involved are more, they got a bigger screen count. Advance bookings are in favour of this film because of its sheer scale and magnitude.ā
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, on the other hand, has its most expensive ticket priced at Rs 2700, available at Maison PVR: Jio World Drive in BKC. The Delhi-NCR circle is also not far behind as PVR Directorās Cut in Ambience Mall is charging tickets worth Rs 2400. These costs are excluding convenience fees and taxes. Mohan reacts to these exorbitant prices and opines, āWhen you put a price of Rs 2700 on a ticket, it makes people think, abb kyun hi jaana hai! However, these are for the experience you get at premium screens in luxury properties. This is something that favours the production house too as they can show these numbers as part of their box office collections.ā
While Bazmee had earlier told us exclusively that he wishes both his film and Singham Again to do well in theatres, recently the title track of Singham Again was removed from YouTube and replaced by a message that implied it was taken down due to a copyright strike from T-Series, the production house for Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3. Simultaneously, T-Series also reached out to the Competition Commission of India, accusing the makers of Singham Again of unfair practices regarding screen allocation and pushing for a 50-50 screen allocation between the two films.
Reacting to these, Rathi asserts, āFor all of us in the exhibition sector, it looks like a great time at the cinemas irrespective of which one fires bigger. But we wouldāve preferred it if the whole showcasing debate couldāve happened in a lot more seamless and cordial manner where both the producers and the distributors work towards the goal of optimising their films rather than cannibilising each other.ā
For the exhibitor, however, the very fact that two films are hitting the screens is a major sigh of relief considering 2024 has been āa fairly gloomy yearā. āLast year, we had Animal, Pathaan, Jawan and Gadar 2. This year, we only had Stree 2 that did fantastic business, Kalki 2898 AD, which performed to a certain extent, and Munjya that did a little something. Now, we really need this dry spell to end,ā he rues.
Rathi further continues, āThe last couple of quarters have been pretty alarming for the exhibition sector and we need a couple of big-ticket, mass entertainers to come and do huge numbers, back to back. With these two coming in Diwali, Kanguva soon after, Pushpa 2 and Baby John in December along with Mufasa: The Lion King, weāre hoping this quarter can deliver the numbers for all of us.ā
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