When two big Bollywood films clash, one inevitably loses. It's like the elections, Vishek Chauhan analyses
Big is beautiful, at least when two highly anticipated films slug it out for box office stakes. But, more often than not, one tends to annihilate the other — eventually, if not immediately. The latest example being Akshay Kumar’s Rustom vs Hrithik Roshan-starrer Mohenjo Daro, with the former taking a lead of Rs 30 crore over their four-day run despite getting 400 screens lesser. Well, trade folk had predicted an even fight, but at this rate, it looks like their lifetime collection difference would be in the Rs 60-crore zone.
Here’s a closer look at hyped clashes in recent times and how one film beat its competitor by a huge margin...
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Akshay Kumar and Ileana D’Cruz in Rustom and Pooja Hegde and Hrithik Roshan in Mohenjo Daro
Akshay Kumar in a drama based on real-life events pitted against the third instalment of a hit adult comedy franchise (Kyaa Super Kool Hain Hum in 2012 had done a total business of Rs 45 crore). Airlift looked like a docudrama set against the backdrop of the largest civil evacuation (Indians based in Kuwait) during the Iraqi invasion in 1990, something that people didn’t really know or care about. However, the film led the race from day one. What’s more, it shattered the so-called January jinx.
Right from the time of promotions, Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol’s reunion movie after five years stole the thunder from the period drama based on the love story of Maratha warrior Peshwa Bajirao and second wife, Mastani. Sanjay Leela Bhansali was even asked to move the film to another date. Taking on a Rohit Shetty entertainer wasn’t a great idea, he was told, and there was a lesson to be taken from the past too — Bhansali’s Saawariya had failed miserably before the magic of SRK-starrer Om Shanti Om in 2007. However, the filmmaker held his ground with strong backing from Eros International. On the opening day, Dilwale’s collections were nearly double of that of Bajirao Mastani. By the weekend, there was a Rs 18 crore difference, in favour of Dilwale. Monday onwards, however, the fortunes started changing. And it was ultimately Bajirao Mastani that won the BO contest while SRK had to refund 50 per cent of the losses to Dilwale distributors.
Not the typical Bollywood clash, but when Sushant Singh Rajput-starrer released along with Furious 7 from the epic Fast and Furious franchise, the results were, well, catastrophic. The Dibakar Banerjee-directed thriller earned mixed reviews and grossed Rs 25 crore in its lifetime run. On the other hand, Furious 7 comfortably crossed the Rs 100-crore mark at the Indian box office.
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