The long–awaited Aamir Khan starrer Laal Singh Chaddha finally makes its much–anticipated debut today. Although this remake of Tom Hanks’ Forrest Gump has been ensnared in the web of boycotting controversies in the weeks leading up to its release, the excitement of the viewers remains at a peak. Advait Chandan’s direction of Laal Singh Chaddha, however, will now be tested by the one question of the hour: can it charm its viewers?
Reports so far have shown that Laal Singh Chaddha has not had a particularly large amount of advance booking, in fact, it was even lower than Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2. The issue of screen sharing with Raksha Bandhan is thought to have been the main contributor to the lackluster pre-bookings. In national multiplexes, the rate of advance booking for Laal Singh Chaddha was only half of what it was for Kartik Aaryan’s Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and on par with Varun Dhawan’s Jug Jugg Jeeyo. With this poor start, the success of the movie will heavily rely on spot bookings and the positive word of mouth of the viewers. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh shared his opinion about the advance booking state of Laal Singh Chaddha, tweeting “STOP painting a rosy picture… Let’s get the facts right… The *advance bookings* of #LaalSinghChaddha and #RakshaBandhan are way BELOW EXPECTATIONS… Both dependent on [i] spot bookings / walk-in audience and [ii] word of mouth to put up strong totals on Day 1 [Thu].” It’s clear that this scenario has had an impact on the expectation of a successful opening for the film.
Reports up until this point have been suggestive of Laal Singh Chaddha having received a very low number of advance bookings, which is even lower than Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’s. Furthermore, the screen-sharing debacle has taken a major toll on the advance ticket sales of the movie. It has been stated that the rate of advance booking for Laal Singh Chaddha is merely half of what Kartik Aaryan’s Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 managed to gather, and on the same level as Varun Dhawan’s Jug Jugg Jeeyo in the prominent multiplex chains. Thus, it is indispensable that the movie gains ground through its spot bookings and the positive word of mouth of its viewers. Analyzing the dishearteningly small number of advance bookings, famous trade analyst Taran Adarsh said in a tweet, “It is futile to be optimistic about this situation… Let’s face the reality: the advance ticket sales of #LaalSinghChaddha and #RakshaBandhan are much lower than anticipated. To earn decent revenues on the first day of release, these movies must depend largely on [i] spot bookings and [ii] the reviews and feedbacks of the audience.”
With the unsatisfactory number of advance bookings, the outcome of Laal Singh Chaddha relies on two crucial aspects – spot bookings and the appreciation of its viewers. Clocking in a running time of nearly three hours, the Aamir Khan-starrer is in a rather tight spot, as it will be hard pressed to keep its audience from fidgeting. On the contrary, the unique theme and the long–awaited return of Aamir to the silver screens is likely to draw attention to the film. As it is a well-known fact that movies tend to experience a boost in their bookings 24 hours before release, it will be exciting to see how much of an impact Laal Singh Chaddha has made.
