Amir Khan's 'Thugs of Hindostan' tanks: Biggest Day 1 grosser becomes 'biggest shocker'

The star-studded cast of Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Katrina Kaif couldn't help pull people to the cinemas. The film minted Rs 1.33 bn in 5 days, which is way behind the Rs 3 bn budget of the film.

The combination of Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Katrina Kaif hasn't helped Thugs of Hindostan garner box office numbers after the first day. After minting a record Rs 500 million on Day 1, the multistarrer's fortunes have been in a free fall as it collected just above Rs 1.33 billion in the first five days after release.

By the time the weekend was over, the movie seemed to have gone out of favour with the audience as it struggled to notch up even a tenth of its Day 1 figures on Monday and Tuesday.

Bollywood analyst Taran Adarsh summed up the box office figures as follows:

Hindi:

Thursday: Rs 507.5 million

Friday: Rs 282.5 million

Saturday: Rs 227.5 million

Sunday: Rs 172.5 million

Monday: Rs 55 million

Tuesday: Rs 43.5 million

Total: Rs 1.28 billion

Tamil + Telugu collection for five days: Rs 49 million

Grand total: Rs 1.33 billion

Adarsh called the movie the biggest shocker of the year in a tweet.

Trailer of the 'shocker'

Here's how news agency ANI had reviewed the movie's trailer:

The trailer of Vijay Krishna Acharya's "Thugs Of Hindostan" turns out to be much ado about nothing, except Aamir Khan.

The trailer opens with an interesting interlude where the mighty (Amitabh) Bachchan baritone which resonates across a skyline clearly painted with the same colours as "The Pirates Of Caribbean".

Bachchan is a pirate from the "Lagaan" era and among his rugged band of thugs is Fatima Sana Shaikh who looks determined to prove "Dangal" was no flash in the pan. But Katrina Kaif is happy with the status quo. She poses and preens as though she had walked into the "Chikni chameli" sets again.

Business Standard

Leave India' comment will have no effect on Kohli's popularity as endorser

Kohli will have to watch his conduct on and off social media going forward, and remember that he dons two hats - India cricket team captain, and an endorser to almost 22 brands.

India cricket team captain Virat Kohli may have been rested for the ongoing West Indies tour of India, but that does not stop him from being in the centre of social media banter.

The 30-year-old cricketer stirred up a storm recently when he said people who like other countries’ players, should leave India and settle in those countries. Social media, of course, went into a tizzy, resulting in a severe backlash on the cricketer.

Kohli has since then clarified his stance on the matter, saying he was reacting to a particular comment on Instagram which read, “Over-rated batsman. Personally, I see nothing special in his batting. I enjoy watching English and Australian batsmen more than these Indians,” and that his reaction was targeted towards to phrase ‘these Indians’.

Clarification or not, the incident begs to ask the question whether the many brands that Kohli endorses will take note, and consequently action.

In the past, we have seen actor Aamir Khan face the consequences of the ‘intolerant India’ remarks by him and his wife Kiran Rao.

Khan was the endorser for e-commerce company Snapdeal back then. The company severed ties with the 'Dangal' actor within days of the incident. Does Kohli face a similar threat when it comes to endorsements?

Experts believe that brands will not cut ties with the cricketer straight away, but will keep a keen eye on his social media conduct.

“Brands today are made on social media. So an endorser’s conduct on social media is important for them. So yes, they would have taken notice of the controversy and will keep tabs on his conduct going forward, but as of now, I don’t see any adverse consequence to the incident. The fact that Kohli was prompt in issuing a clarification has also helped his case,” says Harish Bijoor, founder, Harish Bijoor Consultants, a brand marketing firm.

However, if the brash social media behaviour continues, the cricketer may find himself losing endorsement deals.

So what makes his case different than Khan’s? Brand pundits believe that the fundamental difference between the two cases is the forum that the statements were made on.

In Kohli's case, it was a part of a scripted video on his new app while Khan and Rao made the statement at a public function.

“Aamir’s case was also different because the social and political environment at the time was more sensitive towards the issue. In Virat’s case, it is contained to cricket, so the backlash is limited to that,” says another expert.

While he may not lose any endorsements as a result of this incident, experts believe that he will have to watch his conduct on and off social media going forward, and remember that he dons two hats – India cricket team captain, and an endorser to almost 22 brands.

Business Standard

Thugs of Hindostan' is like Koffee with Karan, albeit without the gossip

It's time we retire the films that put the stardom of actors above content and form.

Business Standard : Movies appeal to us for a variety of reasons. Some stand out for their ‘what’ (content), some for their ‘how’ (form), some for their both ‘what’ and ‘how’. 

Then there’s the fourth kind: the one about ‘who’. This is the cinema of the privileged – the moneyed producers who make the ‘who’ possible, the factor transcending ‘what’ and ‘how’. The main curiosity here revolves around the stars. That gets multiplied if the makers manage a casting coup: convincing two big names, not known for their collaboration, to share screen time. That in itself is enough – to the extent that the craft of filmmaking becomes irrelevant. The audience gets its doze of voyeurism: watching stars react to each other. It’s a bit like Koffee with Karan, albeit without gossip and with some pretense of storytelling.

Such films will always be in demand because we don’t just love our stars, we revere them. Which is why it’s not surprising that the cinema of ‘who’ hits the theatres during festivals. This Diwali, we have Vijay Krishna Acharya’s Thugs of Hindostan, produced by Yash Raj Films, featuring stars that have never acted in a film together: Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan. A period drama, Thugs of Hindostan is set in 1795 when the East India Company has begun its rapid colonisation of the country. Resistance comes through a band of thugs, led by Khudabaksh Azaad (Bachchan), who aspires to free the Indian subcontinent – Hindostan – from the foreign rule. Then there’s another thug, the small-time conman Firangi Mallah (Khan), thoroughly devoid of conscience and purpose, hired by the British to capture Azaad and dismantle his group.

You don’t need to re-read the synopsis to figure out the mechanics of this movie. Two big stars, cast opposite each other, spawning hype and intrigue: check. Casting them as characters hostile to each other to generate conflict and tension: check. Bringing them together later in the guise of fighting the common enemy (because stars, obsessively guarding their images, can do no wrong): check. Enough action sequences to keep you distracted: check. Heated confrontations culminating in sweet resolution and reunion: check. This is predictable and clichéd filmmaking, and, if you’ve seen enough multi-starrers, Thugs of Hindostan – with one eye at the box-office and the other at the vanity of the stars – will not come as a surprise.

This lack of ambition, however, isn’t as much of a problem as is the lack of effort. At its best, Thugs of Hindostan could have been a straightforward, by-the-numbers crowd-pleaser. Which would have been fine: nothing more was expected of it. And for that to happen, its principal actors had to do just one thing: show up to work. But they fail to cross that ridiculously low bar as well.... Read More