PATHAAN’: WHAT CAN ONE EXPECT FROM THE SRK STARRER
By
KOMAL NAHTA
Just a day to go before the controversial Pathaan comes to the cinemas for public consumption and scrutiny. With the hype the film has generated, rest assured that there will be as many reports and analysis as the number of people watching the film.
Now that it is clear that the advance booking for the film is just too phenomenal, the question uppermost in the public minds is: how much business will the spy film do?
Well, Information predicts the following:
If the film is just average, it will collect a net of at least Rs. 200 crore in India during its lifetime which will get exhausted within a couple of weeks from the date of its release (25th January).
If the film has above-average merits, it will do business which is hit. In such a scenario, the film can safely be expected to cross the Rs. 250-crore mark. The film will run for around four to five weeks in this case.
If the public doesn’t just like the film but loves it, hitting the Rs. 300-crore mark will be a cakewalk for the Yash Raj film. In this case, the film will complete a run of seven to eight weeks in cinemas.
If the film drives the audience crazy with joy, it will easily end up doing more than Rs. 300 crore, maybe even Rs. 350 crore. A run of eight to ten weeks is assured.
Of course, if, God forbid, the film is found lacking in merits, even the almost unprecedented advance booking may not be able to save the film.
As far as the first day’s figures are concerned, it is a given that the film will net more than Rs. 45 crore tomorrow. Whether it touches the Rs. 50-crore mark is to be seen. And it is also to be seen if it records the best opening ever, outdoing War, Thugs Of Hindostan and K.G.F. Chapter 2 too. Anything is possible. Read that again: ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE ON THE FIRST DAY which is neither a regular day (Friday) nor a holiday (festival or national).
