Come Friday, two highly talked and awaited Bollywood movies will hit screens to fight for supremacy. The clash of ‘Shivaay’ and ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ has become a topic of keen interest over the months due to many reasons and it has now all boiled down to the D-day, the October 28. Both the movies have a lot at stake and the final numbers will contribute in a big way to their career.
On one hand is ‘Shivaay’ which is out and about Ajay Devgn’s show. The movie has him as the protagonist, is directed by him and he is also a co-producer. Going head on with ADHM, was not something that Ajay decided earlier since he had announced the release date well in advance.
Competing with ‘Shivaay’ is Karan Johar’s ambitious project ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’. ADHM boasts of an ensemble cast, is backed by reputed Dharma productions and is being distributed by another biggie Fox Star Studios.
Ajay Devgn’s ‘Shivaay’ has been made on a budget of Rs 90 crore with Rs 15 crore spent on Print and advertising. Numbers reveal that the movie needs to earn Rs 45 crore at the box office to avoid a loss. It also means that anything less than Rs 100 crore at the box office would not earn this movie the hit tag.
Same goes for ADHM too. Made on budget of Rs 75 crore and Rs 15 crore spent on P&A, this multi starrer needs to earns Rs 35 crore to recover all costs. But to earn the tag of a hit, it will have to mint at least Rs 90 cr.
The difference between the screen count for both these movies is not much. Both the movies are expected to release in over 2800-3000 screens across India, making the competition tougher.
However, trade analysts have revealed that ADHM has an edge over Shivaay. The former movie caters to multiplex audiences and has managed to beat the latter in advance bookings. Since ‘Shivaay’ largely caters to single screens, its first day collections will depend on current bookings.
The early advance booking numbers hint that on first day ADHM might earn more than Shivaay. Trade experts think that KJo’s movie will easily earn somewhere around Rs 10-15 crore on first day while Ajay’s project may settle for Rs 10 crore.
While the early reports favour ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’, it won’t take long to change fate. It should not be forgotten that ADHM trailer did not get as astounding a response as Shivaay’s. Reviews of both movies will definitely play a role in deciding their fate, something which Bollywood experienced last year. In the clash of ‘Dilwale’ and ‘Bajirao Mastani’, the former opened to better earnings but fell prey to poor reviews.
Also, the current political scenario of the nation may have a large role to play in this case.
Though Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), after initially opposing the release of Karaj Johar directorial, the party has now promised a smooth release of the movie. Amid the souring Indo-Pak relations and the heightened nationalistic sentiments, presence of Pakistani actor Fawad Khan may repel viewers from theatres. It can also go otherwise as the actor has huge female fan following.
Only time will tell which movies cashes on the festive season better.
