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Join UsVishal Bhardwaj’s Rangoon releases on 24th February. Will the period drama be able to make it big at the box office? Film exhibitor and distributor Akshaye Rathi predicts:
How many screens will the film open to?
Rangoon will open to approximately 1800 screens across India (Watch this space for exact figures)
Do you think it deserved more screens?
Not really. This is not a film for the masses. It will not attract every kind of audience. It will do a good business in metro cities and to some extent in tier 2 cities. Keeping that in mind, I think it is a good strategy by Sajid Nadiadwala and Viacom 18 Motion Pictures to release it in this many screens.
What are your predictions for the film’s box office performance?
I think it will gross around Rs 5 crores on the first day, around Rs 20 crores on the opening weekend and might have a lifetime collection around Rs 35 crores, max 40. But we always pray for a film to do good business at the box office and surprises do happen in Bollywood. Several such surprise performers are The Lunchbox, Aashiqui 2, Bhoothnath Returns, The Dirty Picture— films which performed way beyond they were expected to. Who thought a Vidya Balan-Emraan Hashmi jodi will work wonders or Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor will create magic or Irrfan Khan and Nimrat Kaur? So, it’s very difficult to tell in advance, which film the audience will embrace with love.
Among Rangoon’s lead actors Saif Ali Khan, Shahid Kapoor and Kangana Ranaut— whose star power do you think will succeed in grabbing the attention of masses?
If Saif Ali Khan has Race and Love Aaj Kal, he also has a Phantom and Bullet Raja. If Kangana has a Queen and a Tanu Weds Manu: Returns, she also has a Revolver Rani, a Katti Batti and an Ungli. Similarly, if Shahid has films like Vivah and Jab We Met, he has a lot of films which did not do well at the box office. So, it is a little difficult to say, who will be able to attract viewers to theatres for Rangoon. To be very honest, the film does not have as big stars as Shah Rukh Khan, whose Dilwale also has a huge collection, or Aamir Khan, whose Talaash also grosses over 90 crores or Salman Khan. But Rangoon will surely have its own audience.
