Brahmastra l Box-Office Expectations

by: Amit KumaR Agarwal
 

 
Brahmastra the latest Hindi film that opens on September 9 has seen a lot of changes in the film-industry dynamics ever-since it was started, right from the title to it's final release date - but most importantly the 'boycott trend' that has started in the Hindi film industry. While attributing a film's failure to boycott trend is like a child attributing spilt milk "because the bottle slipped", the question remains will Brahmastra pack in the very ingredients missing in disasters like '83 and Lal Singh Chaddha. 
 
Let's analyze
 
Ranbir Kapoor's career has been a checkered palette, more so, because of the way he shaped his career, rather than his draw! Except for the grossly gross Bombay Velvet, all his films took an initial. Even his second biggest flop Besharam opened to a whopping 25crores nett! Ranbir has a wide base of fans, but he needs content to sustain the film, as is the case with the two biggest superstars of Hindi cinema, Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan. 
 
Brahmastra has the complete package top-lined by Amitabh Bachchan, ever-since Bachchan moved to mature roles in 2000, he has had one solid-hit every year, almost fifty percent of them in the starring role! He is a definite add-on to the film. Alia Bhatt is in the top-3 lead actresses of Hindi cinema and this year she had two successful films, Gangubai Kathiawadi and RRR, so she too is a definite add-on.
 
The director Ayan Mukherji is a sensible filmmaker with a hit, Wake Up Sid and a blockbuster, Ye Jawaani Hai Deewani to his credit. If the promos are anything to go by, he has got that gift of story-telling intact in Brahmastra.
 
The biggest plus for the film is the advance booking, which contrary to expectations, is the best post the pandemic, barring K.G.F. 2, which is a film on an another level altogether. Nitin Agarwal, exhibitor in the Delhi-U.P. circuit says that the first day should be around 25 crores. Rakesh Jain, prominent distributor in the Delhi-U.P. circuit, pegs the figure at 30 crores, while vice-president of a leading national multiplex chain on condition of anonymity says that the film is sure to do a 20crore plus Day 1.