Missing the `1 crore mark

The Taapsee Pannu and Bhumi Pednekar starrer did not manage a collection above `1 crore on its first day

Many films have tanked this year despite great marketing campaigns and publicity blitzkriegs. While some of these films do not have great content, others have been good but unable to rake in the money.

Take the case of Saand Ki Aankh — the film has some great content, has won critical acclaim, and the cast was seen on many popular shows on TV trying to reach a national audience. “It is surprising. People haven’t really come out to the theatres during Diwali like they used to earlier. That could be one reason why Saand Ki Aankh, despite being a content-driven film, did not manage a collection above `1 crore on its first day. Other films which did not cross that mark were not really good films, despite being backed by some big banners and starring known actors,” says a trade analyst, nonplussed by the response to Saand Ki Aankh. The film, however, did five times the business on Monday than it did on its first day. It follows films like the Sanjay Dutt starrer Prasthanam, Sanjay Leela Bhansali-produced Malaal, Sonam Kapoor starrer The Zoya Factor, Sonakshi Sinha starrer Khandaani Shafakhana, Salman Khan-produced Notebook and the Taapsee Pannu starrer Game Over.

Taapsee did enjoy super success with Badla and later with Mission Mangal, but failed on Day One with the other two films. Ostensibly the trade is in a lather. “There are subsidies of shooting in

Considering the trend of selling films to OTT platforms, Saand Ki Aankh could recover given the positive reviews

London and that is availed by filmmakers and they get their monies back. Some filmmakers presell their films to the OTT platforms and they have a deal that they should release the film in a certain number of theatres minimum. So, they do some brouhaha about the film across in the media so that they meet the requirements. Their investments are safe because of these subsidies and advance deals with satellite and OTT,” says trade observer Rajesh Vasani of Paras Publicity.

It should be noted that Salman Khan’s film Notebook had a deal with Amazon, Vikram Bhatt’s Ghost was shot in London and received subsidy and the digital was sold for a good price. Hence the publicity expense was kept rather low. Saand Ki Aankh has now picked up and the reviews are positive hence the digital and satellite will help the film recover.