Actor Pankaj Tripathi was a part of the biggest Hindi film release this year Stree 2, but he isn’t affected much by the result of the film. “It is a thing of great joy that a film of such a nominal budget became such a big blockbuster. Par ye success se aapka dimaag kharab nahi hona chahiye. Ek thehraav rehna chahiye,” he says.
Pankaj Tripathi insists that the film being a part of a franchise, helped its box office numbers: “The happiness audience got after watching the first part, played a huge role in bringing the audience to theatre for the sequel in the first weekend itself. Otherwise, people wait for the weekend to get over to know the reviews and the performance, but for franchise films that isn’t the case.”
Having been part of franchises which have been both hits and misses, the actor opines on Bollywood’s obsession with sequels. He says, “To make a franchise, a successful film isn’t all you need. You need a unique film for that. Sometimes a film is successful but not unique. Stree fit in both the requirements. So, that is also a factor.”
This year, saw the biggest hits come in form of sequels with Stree 2, Singham Again and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3. But overall, Bollywood underwhelmed at the box office. Ask him what created this disconnect from audience and he says, “I am an actor, and I don’t have an expertise in the business side of films. But the audience is unpredictable, they change their taste at any time. Wo trailer dekh ke hi apna mann bana leti hai. Baaki publicity, gimmicks aur stunt se kuch nahi hota hai.”
{{/usCountry}}This year, saw the biggest hits come in form of sequels with Stree 2, Singham Again and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3. But overall, Bollywood underwhelmed at the box office. Ask him what created this disconnect from audience and he says, “I am an actor, and I don’t have an expertise in the business side of films. But the audience is unpredictable, they change their taste at any time. Wo trailer dekh ke hi apna mann bana leti hai. Baaki publicity, gimmicks aur stunt se kuch nahi hota hai.”
{{/usCountry}}As he talks about Stree 2, Pankaj shares an interesting anecdote from it: “During Stree, the producers had told me that if Stree works really well, they will give me a bonus. That amount was crossed in four days for the first part. I didn’t even know when the makers had put that same clause in my contract for Stree 2 too, as for (producer) Dinesh Vijan’s films I never read the agreement. And the figure for the sequel was crossed in just two days.”