There has been a great amount of anticipation for the upcoming Sooryavanshi film. Set to release this Friday, November 5th, it is the first big blockbuster released since March 2020 and as such, there is incredible hype around it. The industry and trade are already talking about how well it will do in theaters, its lifetime earnings, etcetera; however, Bollywood Hungama wanted to speak with those in trade to hear their thoughts on the matter.
When asked if viewers were very excited about the movie Taran Adarsh stated People are really excited! To see a major movie at a theater excites me right now. Akshaye Rathi – Film exhibitor and distributor – agreed saying there’s definitely an intense level of excitement surrounding Sooryavanshi.
Girish Johar, a producer and film industry expert, agreed when he exclaimed I am personally very excited. I’m even more thrilled to see that people from all different areas of the industry are talking about this movie! Even big-time stars like Vidyut Jammwal and Allu Arjun showed their support. Hollywood has gone out similar to us by encouraging audiences to go back to the theater! Plus you can’t forget how successful Hollywood was last year at the box office either. With all these things going for us, there’s no telling what will happen.
Day 1 predictions
Sooryavanshi was slated to release after Diwali, an event celebrated in India. Many Indians awaited its release, ready for an overwhelmingly successful first day of sales. Akshaye Rathi stated: This film has the potential to do between Rs 15-17 crore on Day 1.
The other trade analysts present did not express their expectations of how well the film would perform. Atul Mohan said: It’s tough to predict what opening numbers might be like. But I want anyone who predicts them! [laughs] No one can give you a specific figure!
He also suggested that if Sooryavanshi were released at 3003 theaters it would make Rs 50% of what it used to be before boycotts took place. Girish Johar predicted that if it was released at 3120 theaters then he thought it could do approximately half what is used to during pre-boycott days.
Taran Adarsh told, We don’t know what the screen count is at the moment. However, I think it’ll be around 3000+. Secondly, we’re unsure about how much tickets will cost. It’ll discourage people if prices are too high – but if they’re easy enough for anyone to afford, there might be a lot of interest. Anyway he feels that the opening weekend box office sales should do well because Diwali is just around the corner. He continued by saying that People want to celebrate and go out on this holiday. They also want to spend money. And if they find something entertaining that’s in theaters during this time- why not take them up on it?
Lifetime predictions
Akshaye Rathi said that he believed that Sooryavanshi could easily reach pandemic levels, It’s very possible because the only Hindi movie playing in theaters was ‘Sooryavanshi’. The compensation for its low capacity would be the high number of screens and a high number of showings. Every screen and theater would be showing ‘Sooryavanshi’ with unprecedented numbers of showings.
Taran Adarsh commented, The lifetime will always depend on the content. Fortunately in this case, there’s no release a week after. It is important for the industry for this movie to do well. Its success would boost moral.
Girish Johar commented, The lifetime numbers will be affected. There are still a few restrictions that might scare people into thinking theaters aren’t doing well in their state. But it’ll only affect them temporarily – we’re just going through these short-term obstacles.
According to Atul Mohan,It won’t go back to how things were before the pandemic. [As] What matters is that they’re being released in theaters again. What’s most important right now is how audiences react; how many of them go watch the film.
When asked about comparing recent release numbers with pre-pandemic totals, he replied: Whatever Sooryavanshi does at the box office should establish itself as the new benchmark. To stay ahead of competition, filmmakers need look no further than Sooryavanshi – if not for its box office successes then for clear directions on what to do next.
Will Eternals affect Sooryavanshi?
The much anticipated Marvel film, Eternals, releases today during Diwali celebrations. With the success of other past Marvel movies such as Shang Chi: And The Legend Of The Ten Rings (2021) that took an even larger opening at the box office than Akshay Kumar’s Bellbottom and had a healthy lifetime. Will this affect Sooryavanshi’s chances at making money? Taran Adarsh said, Eternals won’t affect Sooryavanshi too heavily and it will still find an audience but there is no doubt that we all want to see our Indian actors make waves on screen!
If given a choice between Sooryavanshi and Eternals – personally, my first choice would definitely be Sooryavanshi. Taran also predicts that this Hollywood movie may cause a large opening in India due to how popular they are back home.
Akshaye Rathi feels confident about its box office performance and said, Both can very happily co-exist. Both films have their own fan bases and fan following. And both will do very well. Regarding Eternals, he also stated that It’s a film that has a serious fan following.
So depending on the showcasing it gets, I think it can do very good numbers and surprise people. Girish Johar believes there’s no need to worry, The box office has the capacity to accommodate 4-5 films. Post-Diwali is a big festival weekend. In the past we have seen 2-3 big Diwali releases down south clashing with 2 Hindi releases and 1 medium Hollywood film.
Nowadays, most Bollywood movies seem to just be marketed in order to make profit; which is what really bothers me. Films are largely being made for the masses and not for artists who want something deeper than a mindless popcorn flick. I prefer films that show artistic integrity and give off an air of class instead of trying too hard to sell themselves out. But even though at first glance it might seem like Eternals will follow this trend– as said by Mr.
Mohan– but after thinking about it more carefully, it becomes clear how much potential this movie has for being different from anything else released before it. Its marketability is yet unknown because we don’t know how well these new superhero movies would do with the masses but if they end up appealing specifically towards Indian audiences then there isn’t any movie out there that could stop them anymore because those movies already pander towards popular taste anyways!
The big Rajinikanth movie, Annaatthe, also releases on Diwali day – November 4th- and the anticipation is enormous. Akshaye Rathi said, In Southern India, Annaatthe is a ‘tent pole’ film and in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala where Rajini sir has stauck fans and follows religiously, I’m sure it’ll be huge. With Sony Entertainment coming out with its own production called Sooryavanshi; this will be an exciting time. He addded,with two mega productions releasing around the same time — there’s Sooryavanshi; Endemol; Annaatthe; we’re expecting things to work out well for all of them.
Taran Adarsh also believed that the diverse films releasing on Diwali would be an advantage. Annaatthe is a very big film down South. Rajinikanth is a major star there. He’s not just ruling the box office but he’s also ruling the hearts. Down South, people would definitely go and watch this film. It so good to see that one Rajinikanth film down South, an Akshay Kumar-Ajay Devgn-Ranveer Singh-Katrina film in North and Eternals would be running in cinemas. So lets hope that the festival of Lights spreads a lot of light in the film industry!
Atul Mohan also anticipates a very prosperous day 1 for Annatthe because Rajinikanth toh bhagwaan hai South mein. However, he voiced his worry that I wonder how screen-sharing will be dealt with in the South since theatres will have to accommodate Annaatthe, Sooryavanshi and Eternals. Although he believes all three films can succeed tremendously, Atul said that Annaatthe would be the first choice in the South. Whether Sooryavanshi would be considered second best or even Eternals is yet unknown.
Three cheers for the very patient Sooryavanshi team
Finally, people praised both director Rohit Shetty and Reliance Entertainment for being so patient with the release of Sooryavanshi due to Covid-19 pandemic. For example, Taran Adarsh commented: I think patience will pay off in this case because I feel that Sooryavanshi has been conceptualized, made, and design specifically for the big screen audience.
These sentiments are affirmed by him when he goes on to discuss how it feels different than watching films online or watching TV because movie theaters provide a feeling that can’t be replicated anywhere else. He says these types of films appeal most to the public – probably because they’ve had little supply in recent years ever since Covid ravaged their sense of solace previously found there.
Atul Mohan said, He needs to follow through with this idea- this huge concept for a film – for much longer than anyone else would have done. They are fielding many offers right now to digitally release the movie and it is only because they are such strong believers in traditional theatrical distribution that they refuse all of them and insist on releasing the film theatrically. Girish Johar, likewise, proclaimed,The whole point was to do something different – not become another mindless follower. He has balls of steel! And as his fellow filmmaker I really want Sooryavanshi to do well; we need films like these which will make us proud.
Mumbai film exhibitor Anupam Rathi agreed when he said, the whole exhibition industry thanks these filmmakers for this heartfelt gesture. And while it might seem like a publicity stunt on the surface, you cannot underestimate the power of Hollywood marketing. To maximize profits from movies like Sooryavanshi, movie theaters typically have to show them dozens of times over the long run.
Mumbai cinema analyst Atul Mohan noted Rohit Shetty likes making films that are best enjoyed at cinemas because they’re noisy. You need a film as old-school à la Sooryavanshi to get people off their couches and into theaters again; It has megastars like Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif and Ajay Devgn. With leading Indian critic Rohit Gupta adding God forbid if Sooryavanshi were not just profitable but completely flopped in some dramatic fashion – then how could any new blockbuster ever hope to succeed?
