ROOHI IS A SUCCESS; NOW ALL EYES ON MUMBAI SAGA!

Since November 2020, we, through the Bollywood Talk, have been stressing that the mid and big films should release despite the pandemic. The first major release post lockdown, Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari, opened at around Rs. 55 lakhs. It became clear that if a film with a weak star cast and limited hype can put up such a figure, then a bigger film can do better. Later, in January 2021, Vijay's much awaited film Master released and it emerged as a huge hit, collecting more than Rs. 100 crore. It made it clear once and for all that audiences are ready to come to cinemas and that films can collect well, despite 50% occupancy. Bollywood, however, didn't agree. It's only when the central government allowed 100% occupancy that the industry finally woke up and drew a line up.

Sadly, the 50% occupancy rule still remains, in major centres like Mumbai and Pune. Still, producers Dinesh Vijan and Jio Studios went ahead with the release of Roohi, starring Rajkummar Rao, Jahnvi Kapoor and Varun Sharma. The hype was limited and we expected the film to open in the Rs. 1.50-2.50 crore range. Even the trade felt the same. Surprisingly, the film opened at Rs. 2.75 crore! It was released on Mahashivratri holiday and that also helped. The collections improved on Saturday and Sunday and ultimately it collected Rs. 11.35 crore in 4 days. The weekday drop is normal and the first week collections are expected to be around Rs. 15.50 crore.

This is a great result for a film like Roohi. The response is mixed and yet, audiences have thronged theatres to watch it. Many of these viewers have gone to cinemas for the first time in a year. This reiterates that there's tremendous pent up demand among audiences.

Now two more films are expected to release tomorrow and trade is hopeful that one of them will manage to score. The first one is Mumbai Saga. It is directed by Sanjay Gupta and stars John Abraham and Emraan Hashmi in leading roles. It is based on the Mumbai underworld and is in the same space as Sanjay Gupta's Shootout At Lokhandwala and Shootout At Wadala. The film looks like a massy fare and the casting of John Abraham and Emraan Hashmi has helped. They have a following in single screens and B and C centres. On the flipside, the film has limited buzz. Songs haven't worked much. But if a film like Roohi can open at Rs. 2.75 crore, Mumbai Saga can do better and have an opening of Rs. 3-3.25 crore. It can sustain well if mass audiences give it thumbs up.

The other release tomorrow is Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar. It is a delayed film that was shot in 2017 and 2018. Directed by Dibakar Banerjee, it was finally scheduled to release on March 20, 2020. But the lockdown played spoilsport at the eleventh hour. The producers Yash Raj Films (YRF) had unveiled a trailer of the film last year which was very poor and dry. 10 days back, YRF came up with a new trailer and this one is much better. Yet, one thing remains - it looks like a niche fare. It has got limited shows since Roohi and Mumbai Saga have taken over majority of shows. The opening will thus be less than Rs. 50 lakhs.

Roohi (RELEASED ONLY IN CINEMAS WORLDWIDE) starts off on an interesting note. The concept is novel and a lot of things stand out like the setting, characters of the various towns shown in the film, and even the reactions of characters when they come across possessed people! A few scenes are outrageously funny and even the horror moments are convincing. However, the climax is bizarre and hence, disappointing. The dialect used in the film is difficult to decipher. Also, no attempt has been made by the makers to provide backstories, probably as they have a few more films coming up in this horror universe. Even Stree fell in the same category but at least, it had humour and simple narrative going throughout, and that’s also missing here. Speaking of performances, Rajkummar Rao as expected rocks the show. His comic timing especially is spot on. Janhvi Kapoor is a big surprise and proves that her performance in Gunjan Saxena was not a fluke. She hardly has any dialogues in the film and yet leaves a huge mark. Varun Sharma shines and adds a lot to the film’s humour quotient. Sarita Joshi is too good and one wishes that she had a longer role. As for the songs, 'Nadiyon Paar' is terrific and looks great on the big screen. Sadly, it’s not a part of the narrative, or even the beginning and end credits – it’s attached to the prints before the film starts. All in all, Roohi has equal plusses and minuses and hence is an average fare. If you are interested to see it, make sure to watch it in cinemas as it has the big screen appeal.

My rating - ** ½ out of 5!

WILL ROOHI FINALLY BRING AUDIENCES TO CINEMAS IN HORDES?

Exactly a year ago, the last major film before the Coronavirus lockdown, Angrezi Medium, was released this week. It was produced by Dinesh Vijan and it sadly had a run of just 4-5 days in cinemas. A week before the Irrfan Khan starrer release, Kaamyaab, directed by Hardik Mehta, had made it to cinemas. And as luck would have it, a year after the release of small and not-so-exciting films, the first major Hindi film to release post lockdown is here. And coincidentally, Roohi is directed by Hardik Mehta and produced by Dinesh Vijan!

Roohi stars Rajkummar Rao, Janhvi Kapoor and Varun Sharma and is a part of the horror comedy universe. The first part of this universe, Stree, was one of the biggest grossers of 2018 and also starred Rajkummar Rao, along with Shraddha Kapoor. Just like Stree, Roohi also seems to be in the same space and that’s a plus. After all, Stree was patronized not just by the youth but also by families and that’s why it became a Rs. 124.56 crore grosser. Roohi can also target the same audience and emerge a hit. Two songs of the film – 'Panghat' and 'Nadiyon Paar' – have got noticed and appreciated.

On the flipside, the trailer hasn’t really created the desired impact. The film looks fun and exciting but only to an extent. Stree’s trailer had single-handedly generated huge buzz for the film. And then the songs like ‘Milegi Milegi’ and ‘Kamariya’ had added to the hype. Here, the trailer has been found okay by most people and songs, though interesting, haven’t really caught on the way it should have. Moreover, the marketing is very low. Many aren’t aware that it’s releasing tomorrow (Thursday, March 11). Also, viewers are used to watching films on online platforms and they might mistake that Roohi is also going the OTT way. One wishes if Roohi’s producers had focused on this aspect and made it clear that it’s releasing ONLY in cinemas.

Roohi is getting a wide release. However, with limited buzz, one wonders how much it’s opening would be. Moreover, it’s releasing on Thursday to take advantage of Mahashivratri holiday. Even then, the opening would be poor, in the Rs. 1.50-2.50 crore range. The collections might pick up from Friday evening, provided the word of mouth is positive. And then Saturday and Sunday’s collections can be encouraging. If word of mouth, however, is not great, then the film might crash. Unlike pre-lockdown when collections didn’t come down rapidly for a poor film, here it can as viewers are not used to going to cinemas. Also, with the second wave supposedly at the doorstep, moviegoers would go to cinemas to watch the film only if it’s worth watching.

Nevertheless, the makers of Roohi need to be appreciated for releasing it in such a time. Also, it kickstarts the movie watching season as from now on, there’s going to be a major film releasing almost every week. The producers of Sooryavanshi are now also looking forward to the response to Roohi. Till now, Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari has been the biggest grosser post pandemic but even that film collected around Rs. 4.10 crore, with opening day figures amounting to Rs. 55 lakhs. If Roohi collects more than that on the first day and on the weekend, it’ll be heartening and make it clear that audiences are ready to come to theates in hordes, especially if exciting content is made available to them.

Two more films would release this week, on March 12. Time To Dance stars Sooraj Pancholi and marks the debut of Katrina Kaif’s sister Isabelle Kaif. It is directed by Remo Dsouza’s assistant, Stanley DCosta. The film has been ready since almost two years and there were reports that it was shelved. The trailer is strictly okay and despite being a dance musical, it’s songs haven’t picked up. The awareness is negligible and it’ll have a tough time at the box office. The final release is Fauji Calling, starring Sharman Joshi, Bidita Bag, Mugdha Godse and Zarina Wahab. Again, there’s neither awareness nor excitement about this one and it’ll sink without a trace.

MOVIE SEASON TO BEGIN WITH A BANG FROM NEXT WEEK!

The cinemas have been allowed to resume from mid-October in most parts of India and in the crucial market of Mumbai from November 5. Yet, we hardly have had a handful of Hindi films that have been released in cinemas. And the collections have been poor for all films. Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari is the biggest grosser post lockdown but even that, it managed to collect mere Rs. 4.06 crore. Meanwhile, the collections down South have been great as some big films got released there and even emerged as a success. It gave a clear indication that if big and mid-sized films release in theatres, then the viewers are bound to turn up. However, filmmakers here didn’t believe so. They felt that there’s still fear of the Coronavirus among viewers. Also, the government had allowed only 50% occupancy in cinemas. The ones with the big films in their kitty believed that this restriction will prevent them from collecting enough. The trade countered that even Master earned more than Rs. 100 crore with these restrictions but their plea fell on deaf ears.

However, on January 30, the union government allowed 100% occupancy in theatres. This was done after the Coronavirus cases began to fall gradually. This led to a wave of cheer in the industry and trade. And in the next 3 weeks, the filmmakers took the risk and announced the release dates of their films. What’s heartening is that unlike the October-January period, where one small film would release every 2 or 3 or even 4 weeks, this time, a line-up was announced. As per the schedule, there’s an interesting film releasing now almost every week.

The first film that’ll make it to cinemas is Roohi. It belongs to the same universe as Stree and stars Rajkummar Rao, Janhvi Kapoor and Varun Sharma. It releases on Thursday, March 11, to take advantage of the Mahashivratri holiday. March 19 will see the release of John Abraham-Emraan Hashmi starrer, Mumbai Saga. This massy fare is directed by Sanjay Gupta. The same day, Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar, starring Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra, will also arrive in cinemas.

April 2 will see the release of the much awaited film Sooryavanshi, starring Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif. Directed by Rohit Shetty, the official announcement is yet to be made, however. Then there’ll be a clash on April 23 between Bunty Aur Babli 2, starring Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukerji, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Sharvari Wagh and Kangana Ranaut-starrer Thalaivi. Amitabh Bachchan-Emraan Hashmi’s Chehre will make it to cinemas on April 30.

Eid 2021 falls on May 12 or 13 and this time there’ll be a clash, between Salman Khan’s Radhe and John Abraham’s Satyameva Jayate 2. 2 weeks later, Akshay Kumar will present his action thriller, Bellbottom, on May 28. A week later, June 4, will see the release of the highly awaited sports biopic, ’83, starring Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone. While June 18 will see the release of Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Jhund, June 25 will see Shamshera, starring Ranbir Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt, arriving in cinemas. Similarly, the release schedule for the rest of the months of 2021 is also more or less finalized.

However, there’s a small catch. Since mid-February, the cases of Coronavirus in the country have started rising. This is mainly happening in the state of Maharashtra, where the crucial markets of Mumbai and Pune, are located. This state along with Uttar Pradesh (barring Lucknow and Noida), Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Odisha and Kerala haven’t allowed 100% occupancy yet. Punjab had allowed but went back to 50% after cases there spiked. Industry insiders feel that the important centres like Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata etc should allow full occupancy and only then, it’ll make sense to release big films. When the central government had allowed 100% occupancy on January 31, the belief was that all states would follow suit by March-end. This would pave the way for Sooryavanshi to release with full occupancy on April 2. But now with the cases rising, it’s difficult to say if the 50% rule would go away or will it be retained for a few more months. This is one of the biggest reasons that Sooryavanshi’s release date isn’t announced.

As per the trade, the makers of Sooryavanshi will have to take a call by March 9 or 10 at the maximum. This will give the film a 3-week window for promotion which is bare minimum. Murmurs have already begun that the film might be postponed. But the makers can only delay its release by a week, on April 9. It can’t be pushed further as the holy month of Ramzan will begin somewhere from April 12. A chunk of audiences would then stay away from cinemas for a month. And there’s no way that Sooryavanshi can further postpone and come only after Eid. It’ll disrupt the whole schedule of the year.

Hence, it remains to be seen what happens next. But thankfully, the increase in cases isn’t alarming. Death rate is quite down and even hospital occupancy isn’t too much. Here’s hoping the situation improves in the next fortnight so that these exciting films can release as per schedule!