Will Dubbed Hindi Film Khiladi Pip Badhai Do l Box-Office Analysis by Amit Kumar Agarwal


The super success of Pushpa in December 2021 made distributors and exhibitors look south once again! Reason being after Baahubali none of the south films really made a mark @ Hindi Box-Office. KGF was the sole success but just a moderate one. Pushpa changed it all; the success firmly cemented with the unexpected disastrous showing of the keenly anticipated '83.
 
 
With the third covid-wave subsiding and the cinemas becoming functional pan-India from February 11, 2022, the box-office, it seems will start from the very point it closed - the Hindi film and the dubbed Hindi film clash. With Badhaai Do clashing with Khiladi.
 
On the surface Badhaai Do has everything going for it - successful spiritual franchise, a top production-house and an ensemble cast; but the biggest undoing of the film is the main cast, Rajkumar Rao is hardly known to carry a film on his shoulders strictly on commercial aspect and Bhumi Pednekar, well, it takes a while to dig out her last hit!
 
Khiladi on the other hand stars Ravi Teja, a superstar down south, and fairly well-known in the Hindi markets too thanks to the channels that dish out his dubbed films regularly. It is a typical masala fare; but other than these, the flips are, the director hasn't given a big hit and DSP who gave a definitive edge to Pushpa with the item number, Oo Bolega Ya Oo Ooo Bolega Saala.. is missing here in Khiladi. Most importantly, the name Khiladi is synonymous with Akshay Kumar, how the Hindi audiences take to it would be interesting to see.
 
The writer feels, it will be an even battle between the two films, which, in the longer run will be won by Khiladi as it is a mass film.