MIX AND MATCH
Big festive release dates are all set to get mixed up this year on. HT Café finds out if special weekends make a difference
O ver the years. the Khans — Shah Rukh (above left), Salman (above) and Aamir (far left) — have become synonymous with certain festive weekends thanks to their big-ticket movies. While Shah Rukh is believed to have a hold on the Diwali weekend, Salman dominates the Eid period, and Aamir has an envious track record on the Christmas weekends.
THE REIGN ENDS?
Aamir continued his reign over Christmas with his latest blockbuster, Dangal (2016), and Salman also has another date with Eid this year, with Kabir Khan’s Tubelight.
However, these established release dates are likely to get mixed up this year. To start with, Akshay Kumar seems all set to take over Diwali this year with 2.0 (the sequel to Robot; 2010), while Ajay
Devgn (left) will chime in on the same weekend with Golmaal 4. Also, Salman’s Tiger Zinda Hai, co-starring Katrina Kaif, will be out on the Christmas weekend.
THE MISHMASH
Next year will see Aamir’s Thugs of Hindostan releasing around Diwali, while Shah Rukh will take over Christmas with his currently-untitled project with film-maker, Aanand L Rai. “As far as big stars and festive weekends are concerned, there’s definitely an element of curiosity involved. It’s also because once people watch several films starring an actor on a particular occasion, they associate that star with that festival,” says trade analyst Taran Adarsh.
While trade experts estimate that festive weekends may boost a movie’s box office returns by 30% to 40%, they insist that content is still the king. “On a festive weekend, people have more free time to go to the theatres, but that doesn’t mean they will necessarily go there. Only good content can bring people to theatres, and that has nothing to do with any release date,” says exhibitordistributor, Akshaye Rathi.
Akshay Kumar (above) admits that releasing a movie around a festival date is “definitely advantageous”. He said recently, “It is vacation time; people have money as they get their bonuses. So, releasing movies during festive occasions help… I never get the festival dates for my releases. They’re picked up very quickly. The bookings for those dates are done much in advance. Where do I get those dates then?”
While Adarsh says that festive releases help a movie’s business, he says that’s only applicable for the first few days, “because ultimately, everything boils down to the content”. He says, “There have been so many films such as Mohenjo Daro (2016) and Dilwale (2015), which have released on festive weekends, but they performed below expectations. What you do creatively on screen matters the most.”
THE KHILADI FACTOR
Rathi points out at Akshay’s track record to indicate that festive releases don’t always matter as much as people might think. “He almost always comes with his films on a random date and still hits the bull’s eye. A case in point being Jolly LLB 2, which released without any brouhaha over a special release date,” he says. Although he had no festive weekend releases, a few of Akshay’s movies have released around Independence Day, such as Brothers (2015) and Rustom (2016). Next year will see his film, Gold, releasing on the August 15 weekend.
“Nothing else matters except the content. If festive weekends helped, then every film, including Bombay Velvet (2015) and Besharam (2013) would have been successful,” Rathi concludes.