Why Bollywood will witness a 'clash of titans' this year end
Two upcoming big-budget Indian films are in the news.
One of them is Vijay Krishna Acharya’s Thugs of Hindostan, an action-filled period drama that will hit the marquee on November 8. In Thugs..., Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan have teamed up as co-stars for the first time ever. The film’s main characters have been introduced to potential viewers with the use of innovative ‘motion posters’.
Big on ambition
The official trailer that has gone viral was released recently. The film’s budget is an estimated Rs 250 crore, making it the most expensive project of Yash Raj Films.
The second big film is director S Shankar’s 2.0.
Starring Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar, it is the ‘spiritual successor’ to Shankar’s Enthiran (2010). The film’s first teaser has grabbed eyeballs while generating mixed reactions. It has received so much attention that even Google India couldn’t resist the idea of making an animated video showing the two main characters.
That doesn’t happen every day.
Enthiran’s making was a time-consuming affair. 2.0’s story is rather similar. While work on VFX is a major reason for the delay, the film’s final estimated budget is a mindboggling Rs 543 crore. Any cash-rich producer of Indian cinema will agree that it’s a lot of money, even by the standards of the costliest films ever made.
2.0 will be released in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, apart from 12 dubbed versions in other languages. The film is going to be the biggest test of Rajinikanth’s commercial clout, his undisputed fan following notwithstanding.
Kumar’s performance and box-office power will be also tested, especially since his presence as the bad guy challenging the good guy (Rajinikanth) is being seen as the onscreen clash of the year.
If the budget is big, one can dream big.
A few years ago, there were reports that the makers had ventured Hollywoodward to shop for the villain. Efforts to hire Arnold Schwarzenegger for a staggering fee of around Rs 100 crore were said to have been made.
The deal fell through, and the search continued. Aamir Khan and Kamaal Haasan were reportedly among those who had been approached. Finally, Kumar signed on the dotted line. While the actor’s fee is a mystery, he wouldn’t have settled for anything less than a very fat packet to play a negative role.
The challenges
2.0’s budget had to be big, considering the stature of the stars who were being roped in. Realistically speaking, however, the film must please everybody who sees it in order to be a winner. Kumar’s blink-and-miss presence in the first teaser led to complaints from his Twitter fans. There are reports that the second teaser will have more of him, clear indication that both Rajinikanth and he will make or break the film.
The actor’s presence will be decisive in the Hindi belt where he has a significant following.
Among the challenges he and his senior co-star must contend with is dealing with the collective might of Bachchan and Khan, whose film will be three weeks old at the time of 2.0’s release. If Thugs... does brilliantly, as Aamir Khan films frequently do, it might impact the initial business of 2.0. A small film that has remained hidden from the spotlight is Abhishek Kapoor’s Kedarnath, which stars Sushant Singh Rajput and Sara Ali Khan.
Kedarnath, which will be released a day after 2.0, might be a sleeper hit if it is good enough. Indra Kumar’s Total Dhamaal, the third film of the Dhamaal franchise, will be released one week later. The film may not be dramatically different from its predecessors, but it has a strong BO-friendly cast, led by Madhuri Dixit, Anil Kapoor and Ajay Devgn.
If the average first-day viewer finds it sufficiently enjoyable, Total Dhamaal might prove to be tricky for 2.0 at the Bollywood box-office.
Rajinikanth factor
Rajinikanth has a God-like stature in south India and not just Tamil cinema. In recent years, the South has delivered two spectacular mega-successes: SS Rajamouli’s Baahubali: The Beginning and Bahubaali 2: The Conclusion. The first film cost Rs 180 crore to make and earned a reported Rs 650 crore.
The second one, which served as the sequel and prequel, was made with an estimated budget of Rs 250 crore and earned in the region of Rs 1,790 crore.
It might come as a surprise that no Rajinikanth film has done comparable business until today.
Enthiran had grossed around Rs 290 crore globally. Kabali, a 2016 socio-political film, was an impressive performer. But its earnings were disputed: anything between Rs 267 and Rs 477 crore. Kaala, his latest film, earned a modest Rs 160 crore.
2.0 must surpass these figures. That is possible, but only if the film delivers on all fronts and not just VFX.
(Courtesy of Mail Today)
Also Read: 2.0 teaser: Who misses Akshay Kumar when Chitti winks like Rahul Gandhi