Ancillary revenue to help YRF tide over 'Thugs of Hindostan' debacle

The film finished its opening weekend, an extended four-day festive weekend at that, with Rs1.23 bn in domestic box office collection.

After breaking records with an opening-day collection of over Rs 500 million (net after tax), the response to Yash Raj Films’ (YRF’s) Thugs of Hindostan took a nosedive, falling drastically over the weekend.

The film finished its opening weekend, an extended four-day festive weekend at that, with Rs1.23 billion in domestic box office collection. Given the start it had, experts opined that had the film been appreciated by audiences, it could have collected up to Rs1.8 billion in the first weekend. Its first week collection has been Rs 1.32 billion, a far cry from what YRF expected it to make.(Business Standard)

The film’s massive budget — Rs 2.2 billion, coupled with the sound thrashing it has got from critics and moviegoers alike, means that profitability at the box office is now practically impossible. Considering the current system of working in the industry, the film needs to make Rs4.4 billion for everyone in the eco-system — producers, distributors and exhibitors — to break-even and make profits. The possibility of that happening through domestic box office collections is nil. Trade pundits estimate that Thugs of Hindostan will make at most Rs 2 billion in its lifetime.

“As a thumb rule, a film’s lifetime collection is double its haul in the opening weekend. There are exceptions such as Queen and, more recently, Badhai Ho, which exceeded expectations and were surprise hits. But, by and large, the thumb rule applies. By the calculation, Thugs of Hindostan is looking at a collection of at most Rs2 billion in four weeks (which is what is considered to be a film’s lifetime at the box office on an average). 

YRF had hopes of the film breaching the Rs-4 billion mark, but the outright rejection it has received has foiled those hopes,” says a distributor.

The film’s collection fell 44 per cent from Day One to Day Two, as it collected Rs 282.5 million on Friday, November 9 (it released on Thursday, November 8).

The business continued to take a hit as it collected Rs227.5 million on Saturday (November 10), and just Rs172.5 million on Sunday.

The biggest dip, however, came on Monday (November 12), when the film collected a mere Rs55 million. This was to be expected as the festive period got over. However, had the film’s content been appreciated, it would have seen better numbers after the first day, observe trade pundits.

Those in the know, however, pointed out that despite the film’s dismal run at the box office, YRF might come out of the debacle fairly unscathed financially. It will be the exhibitors and smaller distributors who will take almost 75 per cent of the hit.

“The Rs1.5- 2 billion deficit in the film’s collection, to allow everyone involved to make money or at least break-even, will hurt the exhibitors and distributors the most. Many of the deals have been signed on a minimum guarantee basis. This means the risk is primarily taken by the exhibitor,” says another film executive in the know... Read More

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

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