Nayandeep Rakshit (DNA; December 5, 2017)

Even before Sunny Leone made her Bollywood debut with Jism 2 in 2012, she was already popular. But with the adult film star all set to appear on the big screen, there was a palpable excitement among the Indian audience.

Realising how popular she was, filmmakers queued up outside Sunny’s rented flat in Mumbai offering her unheard of sums to star in their movies. Five years later, it seems the actress, who is still the most-searched Indian celebrity online, has lost her magic touch. She has starred in nine films till now, out of which seven have been complete non-starters.

Producers have lost an enormous amount of money and her latest film Tera Intezaar seems to be a damp squib, too. This is the fifth Sunny-starrer that has met with a lukewarm response. The film opened to a dismal Rs 40 lakh and there was hardly any growth over the weekend, the first three-day total being Rs 1.35 crore only, which is around one-third of the opening day of her earlier film Ek Paheli Leela.

Trade analyst Komal Nahta explains, “Tera Intezaar will lose almost all its investment. It will finish at a lifetime of Rs 2-3 crore, which means the total loss for the makers would be Rs 12-13 crore, which is almost 90 per cent of their budget.”

So, what’s going wrong with Sunny’s films? Why isn’t she able to pull the crowd to theatres anymore? A producer, a director, and a trade analyst tell us what they think of the current situation.

PRODUCER SPEAKS

There’s a sense of fatigue: Ahmed Khan

Ahmed Khan was the producer of Ek Paheli Leela that collected around Rs 19 crore at the box office. Since then, Sunny’s films (except Mastizaade) have struggled to cross the Rs 10 crore mark in its lifetime. Ask Ahmed and he explains, “Sunny is beautiful and she fits the requirements of the audience. The only problem, as I see it, is that there’s a time for everything. Ek waqt hota hai jab sab chalta hai, phir woh nahi chalta. She’s done nine films, but Leela was the last one that opened well because the treatment was different. Sunny has what it takes but I believe there’s a sense of fatigue that has come in with her films.”

Ahmed also has a simple word of advice for Sunny. “She should just hold on for some time now. She should not do everything that comes her way,” he says. But as a producer, will he back another film featuring the actress? Pat comes the response, “She is a thorough professional and I have no regrets working with her. If things come my way, I’ll definitely collaborate with her. Even if I want to make a Leela 2, there will be an oomph factor about Sunny because of the treatment and promotions. There will definitely be a crunch in the expenditure but all of it depends on the project."

DIRECTOR SPEAKS

Sunny is stuck in an image: Milap Zaveri

Milap directed Sunny last year in Mastizaade, which bombed at the box office. People expected that the sex comedy featuring the actress would set the cash registers ringing. But that didn’t happen. Milap takes the blame on himself. “I obviously must not have made a good enough film which is why it didn’t work. Because of her popularity and image, I also ended up typecasting her, which was wrong,” he admits.

However, he adds, “Right now, Sunny should try and do something more dramatic, emotional or maybe even a thriller as today audiences have learnt to separate the star from the film. Every actor goes through a phase of highs and lows. She is a professional and very committed to whatever she does. Eventually, an actor can only do so much to the film. If the films that are being made with her are not living up to the mark, then you can’t blame her for it.”

Prod him about all of Sunny’s films suffering the same fate at the box office and he asserts, “She’s stuck in an image where she keeps getting offered the same kind of films. When she does a song like Laila Main Laila in Raees, it becomes a rage and pumps up the excitement for the film. She still enjoys an immense fan following and people do want to see her. But the content is not working for her right now. People need to give her a chance to do something different.”

TRADE ANALYST SPEAKS

Unfair to blame Sunny completely: Komal Nahta
Trade analyst Komal Nahta has a different take on the issue. He tells us, “It’s unfair to blame an actress completely for a film’s failure. So, it would be wrong to put the whole responsibility solely on her. We have to understand that Hindi films still run on a hero’s star power. Sunny is just signing the wrong films, which don’t have any meaning for the audience. It’s the film, the content and the director who should be blamed first.”

Having said that, he believes that the actress should take a step back and analyse what’s going wrong.  “She needs someone to help and guide her while choosing her films. She has still not reached the stage where producers won’t invest money on her. So, she still has time and should be judicious about her choice from now on.” There’s also a huge debate about how there has been an overexposure of Sunny, thanks to her several item numbers and cameos in films along with her own movies. But Komal disagrees, “There’s a huge difference between an item number and a proper role. That can’t be the conclusion to this topic.”

Lifetime collections of Sunny’s films (net gross)
Jism 2 (2012): Rs 35.19 crore (semi-hit)
Jackpot (2013): Rs 4.37 crore (disaster)
Ragini MMS 2 (2014): Rs 46.56 crore (hit)
Ek Paheli Leela (2015): Rs 18.51 crore (flop)
Kuch Kuch Locha Hai (2015): Rs 2.64 crore (disaster)
Mastizaade (2016): Rs 17.71 crore (flop)
One Night Stand (2016): Rs 3.45 crore (disaster)
Beiimaan Love (2016): Rs 2.23 crore (disaster)
Tera Intezaar (2017): Rs 1.35 crore*(currently running)
(Figures: boxofficeindia.com)

KAPIL SHARMA VS SUNNY LEONE THIS FRIDAY!

Tomorrow is December 1, the day when the most awaited period film Padmavati was going to release. But due to the numerous protests, it had to be postponed indefinitely. On the other hand, Tera Intezaar and Firangi were to release last Friday (November 24) but due to Censor issues, both couldn’t get a release then. With Padmavati being pushed ahead, it was luck on the side of these makers as they could postpone their films by a week and not find any competition. A rarity! My views on these two films:

FIRANGI: It is the second film of Kapil Sharma and the first film produced by him. His debut film Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon featured him in a comic role and in sync with his avatar on his TV shows, Comedy Nights With Kapil and The Kapil Sharma Show. But Firangi shows a different side of Kapil Sharma. Here he’s a playing a character and it looks straight out of life. It’s based in a village in Punjab during the pre-Independence era and how Kapil’s character joins the British at a time when they were hated. The film is directed by Rajiev Dhingra, who is a close friend of Kapil. The film looks nice and has a nice rustic, Punjabi appeal. Hence, it has more chances in the North. But overall, the buzz is limited and hence, the opening will be moderate to poor. Also, the film is quite long (158 minutes) and it needs to have enough entertainment to be engaging from start to finish. A good word of mouth can work wonders for the film.

TERA INTEZAAR: This looks like a dated film. Starring Sunny Leone and Arbaaz Khan, it has some hot scenes but overall, the trailer was laughable. 4-5 years ago, a film featuring Sunny Leone would work a bit if it had sex scenes. But now times have changed. Tera Intezaar will have a disastrous opening and it’ll have a tough time at the box office.

WHICH FILM WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE AND WHY? DO LET ME KNOW!

Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; November 24, 2027)

With the deferral of Padmavati leaving windows open for fresh releases over the December 1 weekend, Bollywood filmmakers have been revising their respective releases. mid-day has learnt that Kapil Sharma’s second Bollywood outing, Firangi, will now clash with Sunny Leone’s Tera Intezaar, also featuring Arbaaz Khan, on the first weekend next month. Both the films were set to hit screens this month.

With the Sharma-starrer yet to procure the CBFC’s nod, the filmmakers have decided to postpone the release. Highlighting the reason behind the December date being profitable, a source says, “By then Vidya Balan’s Tumhari Sulu will be old. The film is amassing viewers due to positive word of mouth, thus, any other release next week will suffer.”

JULIE 2 GETS A SOLO RELEASE!

A lot of changes happened in the last eight days with regards to movie releases. The Hindi version of Justice League that was to release last week couldn’t arrive in theatres as it didn’t get a Censor certificate in time. The Hindi along with Tamil and Telugu versions of this Hollywood film will now release tomorrow. The English version has got a mixed response and this is bound to affect the business of the dubbed versions.

Moreover, Padmavati that was to release on December 1 has been pushed ahead indefinitely. The decision was taken after the protests didn’t stop and it became bigger by the day. Also, it was submitted to the Censor Board but they returned the film, citing incomplete application. The Censor Board would now want Padmavati to be in queue and won’t give it priority.

Also, the Censors have brought an old, unfair rule that states that a film will take around 68 days to get a certificate. The rule was never followed for obvious reasons but now it has come to haunt films up for release. Two of the films that were to release tomorrow – Kapil Sharma-starrer Firangi and Arbaaz Khan-Sunny Leone starrer Tera Intezaar – also didn’t get Censor certificates on time, just like Justice League, thanks to the new 68-day rule. With Padmavati not releasing on December 1, Firangi and Tera Intezaar makers were able to postpone their film by a week.

So this week, the only major Hindi release is Julie 2. It is the part two of Julie, which released in 2004 and made Neha Dhupia a sex siren. The director of both Julie and Julie 2 are same – Deepak Shivdasani. But the second part features Southern siren Raai Laxmi. The trailer is super-sizzling and it can work at the B and C centres. The cost of the film is also limited. Obviously, it won’t have a big opening on the whole as multiplexes will be poor. But still, the costs are reasonable and hence it can benefit the film. Surprisingly, this erotic film is presented by ‘sanskaari’ ex Censor Board chief, Pahlaj Nihalani. The film was to earlier release on October 6 but it had to be pushed forward thanks to a copyright infringement case filed by the producer of Julie, N R Pachisia. The court case was settled in the favour of Julie 2 makers and it was a blessing as now they have got a solo release.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE JULIE 2 AND WHY? DO LET ME KNOW!

MUMBAI MIRROR (November 16, 2016)

Sunny Leone and Arbaaz Khan who are coming together for the first time for Rajeev Walia’s musical-romance, Tera Intezaar, kicked off the second schedule of the film in Mauritius on Tuesday.

The actor-duo seemed to be enjoying each others company as Arbaaz shared on social media, “Sundown with the beautiful Sunny Leone” revealing their look from the film. They have already shot for 25 days in Kutch. Next up, Sunny and Arbaaz will record their first duet for the film.

Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 30, 2016)