WILL HIMESH SUCCEED AS AN ACTOR WITH THE XPOSE?

The Xpose never made any noise while it’s being made. But it caught everyone’s attention the moment its theatrical trailer was out. Most of them ridiculed the promo and lead actor Himesh Reshammiya’s appearance (he has lost oodles of weight and indeed looks a bit odd) and his dialogue delivery. Also, the design of the poster and Himesh’s ‘cheers’ moment immediately was dubbed a copy of Leonardo DiCaprio’s The Great Gatsby. But Yo Yo Honey Singh, who is seen as the villain, was appreciated and few songs of the film too picked up fast enough.

The Xpose is set in the 60s and revolves around a murder of an actress. The film industry serves as a backdrop and the makers have attempted to incorporate several real life instances and character inspirations in the film. The film’s leading heroines, Zoya Afroz and Sonali Raut, are shown to be rivals and reportedly, they have taken their rivalry off-screen as well and fought with each other during promotions. It seems like a bad publicity stunt and thankfully didn’t have the ‘breaking news’ honour. Sonali also does a Zeenat Aman’s Satyam Shivam Sundaram stint by wearing a white saree in the film. Sadly, the scene has been shortened by the Censors.

The buzz for the film is moderate and hence, a moderate opening can be expected. That it releases tomorrow (May 16) which is a counting day won’t affect the film much. After all, not everyone will be glued to their TV screens to check the election results and they can always do so on their smartphones and tablets. Moreover, majority of people watching the film in the morning shows especially are youth who might not be very inclined with the election results. However, a section of moviegoers are going to stay miles away from the film and this can affect the film, especially if reports are bad. On the positive side, the budget is reasonable (Rs 15 crore) and hence, recovery won’t be a big issue.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THE XPOSE AND WHY? DO LET ME KNOW!

MID-DAY (May 15, 2014)

Himesh Reshammiya’s film, The Xpose, may be releasing on the election results day but the musician- turned-actor-and-producer is not worried about his film’s fate at the box office. If anything, he appears very confident about his film.

One reason behind his confidence is the fact that he has already sold the satellite rights of this film.
The film’s rights have been sold for Rs 8.5 crore, but with certain conditions in place.

Says a trade insider, “Himesh has been told that if his film does a business of Rs 15 crore or more, his film will fetch a satellite price higher than Rs 8.5 crore. In fact, he was offered Rs 10 crore initially without the incentive clause, but Himesh is sure of his product. He believes that the film will do very well and hence, he has decided to go ahead with the incentive clause.” Whether this move will pay higher dividends or not is something that only time will tell. Either way, the film has already recovered its total cost of Rs 15 crore; this includes the production cost of Rs 9 crore as well as costs for publicity and advertising that amount to Rs 6 crore.

The film has recovered its costs through sale of satellite rights, music rights, overseas video rights and other royalties. “With this arrangement, all the revenue earned from theatrical releases in India will add to the film’s profit. The film’s music is anyway a hit and it has helped Himesh in recovering the entire cost,” says the source.

The Xposé releases in theatres on May 16.