Bachchan Pandey, Laal Singh Chaddha, Maidaan: The race begins with festive releases on Bollywood’s radar

With filmmakers and actors already lining up at the box office with their big ticket films, festive weekends seem to be the hot favourite for everyone to lap up. We explore.

Festive release dates have always meant the biggest of films coming our way. And in the current scenario where the backlog is high after everyone waited for almost a year owing to the pandemic, it seems that actors and makers want to make the best of everything.

Akshay Kumarhas booked Republic Day 2022 for Bachchan Pandey while Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chadha is scheduled for Christmas 2021.

2021 has some festivals already booked at the box office — John Abraham and Salman Khan both have settled on Eid for Satyameva Jayate 2 (SMJ 2) and Radhe: Your Most Unwanted Bhai respectively, while Akshay Kumar will come out with Raksha Bandhan on Diwali. He has also already booked Republic Day 2022 for Bachchan Pandey.

Is blocking festivals so much in advance a wise decision? Reliance Entertainment CEO Shibasish Sarkar sees no harm in this. He explains, “Society has started believing that we are out of the Covid pandemic. Forget industry, markets, shops, malls, trains, buses everywhere life has started. Since the last two-three months shoots have been on too, and top 10 stars, including Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir, Ajay Devgn, Salman, Akshay Kumar, all of them have been working. Different producers, depending on their films, will start looking for dates. Once the floodgates are opened, everyone will try to look for a release, probably in the second half of the year.”

FESTIVE BONANZA

Aamir has lined up Laal Singh Chadha, his Hindi adaptation of the Hollywood film Forrest Gump, for Christmas 2021. Ajay Devgn’s Maidaan and RRR meanwhile both recently created headlines, with the former’s producer Boney Kapoor miffed with the latter’s director SS Rajamouli for announcing the same Dusshera release date for his film.

Milap Milan Zaveri, director of SMJ 2, says, “Like the first part, this is a massy commercial entertainer with huge action, dialoguebaazi and music. It’s the perfect recipe for a festive occasion just like part one had been loved by audiences in 2018 on Independence Day. This Eid, I believe the masses and all audiences who have been starved since a year for entertainment because of the pandemic will rush to cinemas.”

Echoing similar sentiments is producer Bhushan Kumar, also a part of SMJ2. “The film deserves to have as many footfalls as possible and what better than a festive reason. We feel Eid will be a perfect date to celebrate the true massy cinema we plan to give our audience with SMJ2,” he says.

NO SENSE TO EARLY ANNOUNCEMENTS?

Exhibitor Akshaye Rathi feels early announcements beyond a point don’t make sense. He reasons, “This year, Diwali will see five releases. I’m more than willing to bet my right arm all five won’t release come what may, irrespective of how conducive a scenario it is.”

He feels that makers should focus on completing the films first. “Rather than cutting a sorry figure by announcing a release date and then moving away from it, rather they should complete the film and then everyone to decide in a proper manner,” Rathi maintains.

Experts, however, don’t negate how festive releases make a difference to revenue altogether. Trade analyst Joginder Tuteja says, “Since there’s a certain backlog, it’s all the more important to block a festival date. At the end of the day, if a good films has to run, it’ll run even without a festive release, for example Baahubali. If one superstar doesn’t block a date, someone else will. As for 2022, it’s a wise decision for filmmakers to go ahead and block it. At the end of the day, calculations change closer to the release date. This way, at least a start is made, and it’s a good promotional peg.”