Secret Superstar vs Golmaal Again: Did Aamir Khan make a mistake by releasing his film first?

Most of the critics praised Secret Superstar for its content and tone. Khan probably tried to give a strong message to the opponent, Golmaal Again.

Aamir Khan released his latest film Secret Superstar on Thursday, October 19. It was Diwali. Ajay Devgn’s Golmaal Again hit the screens the next day, Friday, October 20.

Secret Superstar and Golmaal Again are fighting it out at the box office.

Diwali, being the national holiday, saw movie goers celebrating the festival and not leaving the comfort of their homes for cinema halls. Trade pundits expected a slow opening day for Secret Superstar.

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted, “Although biz is generally low on Diwali day, Aamir’s decision to release #SecretSuperstar on Diwali day itself did raise eyebrows...”

Most of the critics praised Secret Superstar for its content and tone. Khan probably tried to give a strong message to the opponent, Golmaal Again. There was enough buzz for his film before its release the weekend.

However, a good part of this strategy might have anticipated an average rating for Golmaal Again. Interestingly, Rohit Shetty’s film is garnering mostly favourable reviews.

The box office was also probably waiting for such a light-hearted film as cinema halls started showing good occupancy in metros. Adarsh tweeted about good footfall.

Now, take a look at this clash from a different perspective.

Secret Superstar released in 1750 screens while Golmaal Again was allotted 3500 screens in India. This shows which films the exhibitors are favouring. Of course, the budget of Secret Superstar is much less than Golmaal Again, but even then it is likely to be more than Rs 40 crore including the advertising cost.

So, an opening of Rs 4-5 crore can’t be called ideal. And if Golmaal Again registers big numbers on day one then the battle will be more intense over the weekend. If the latter sustains the public interest then Secret Superstar might find it tough to garner sizeable money by Sunday.

There’s another dimension to it. After the mega success of Dangal, Aamir Khan has a really big fan following in many foreign markets. In the first phase, Secret Superstar will be released in 1090 screens in the overseas. On the other hand, Golmaal Again has been allotted only 732 screens in foreign markets. So, a good chunk of Khan’s money can come from these markets.

The only problem is what if Golmaal Again’s business picks really fast over the weekend! Wouldn’t it be too late for Secret Superstar to wait till Monday to start winning?

Well, we can only wait and watch.