Recap – Predictions for 2012-2013
Dabangg 2 – Salman Khan, Sonakshi Sinha – I was wrong and by some distance. I expected Dabangg 2 to fire but it basically huffed and puffed and failed to bring the house down
Prediction : 180-210 crores
Verdict : Superhit
Race 2 – Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, John Abraham – Bang ON! And yes even at 100 crores this was indeed average!
Prediction : 80-100 crores
Verdict : Average
Himmatwala – Ajay Devgn – Reading my post I saw a comment from GF hoping this would flop. And indeed his only wish of 2013 came true. Sajid Khan got it all wrong and so did I!
Prediction : 80-100 crores
Verdict : Average
Yeh Jaawani Hai Deewani – Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone – Well the predictions really start to look messy now. Not as messy as Roshans’ Krrish 3 collections though! This was indeed the biggest surprise of 2013.
Prediction : 90-110 crores
Verdict : Semi-Hit
Once Upon A Time in Mumbai 2 – Akshay Kumar, Imran Khan, Sonakshi Sinha – Another one I got all wrong – this one got butt kicked by Chennai Express
Prediction : 90-110 crores
Verdict : Semi-Hit
Satyagraha – Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor – I am getting bad at these now.
Prediction : 90-110 crores
Verdict : Semi-Hit
Chennai Express – Shahrukh Khan, Deepika Padukone – Well much like YJHD, this surprised a few but maybe not the ardent SRK fans. This one was for them and indeed SRK came back into the mix with this one.
Prediction : 110-130 crores
Verdict : Hit
Krrish 3 – Hrithik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra – Erm I believe if you take the top end of my prediction I am right. But if you take the Roshans’ numbers, I’m wrong. Believe what you may but this one was not the super grosser one expected it to be.
Prediction : 150-175 crores
Verdict : Superhit
Dhoom 3 – Aamir Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Katrina Kaif – Biggest film of the year and biggest grosser of the year. And is handsomely ahead of my collections prediction as the market grows.
Prediction : 190-210 crores
Verdict : Superhit
Predictions for 2014
Jai Ho – Salman Khan, Tabu, Daisy Shah
Positives – Salman is back! Salman is back! Salman is back!
Negatives – Sohail is back! Sohail is back! Sohail is back! Kidding aside, the attempt to make something more meaningful may work against Salman here.
Prediction : 140-160 crores
Verdict : Above average
Thupakki Remake – Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha
Positives – A.R. Murugados directed Ghajini and returns here.
Negatives – Is remakes of Southern Indian cinema no longer the “in” thing? And as much as Katrina is a lucky mascot, have the wings been clipped off Sonakshi’s run?
Prediction : < 100 crores
Verdict : Flop
P.K – Aamir Khan, Anushka Sharma
Positives – Raju Hirani + Aamir Khan = Boxoffice Gold
Negatives – It is hard to find one at this point. The only one is the expectations one has from the film. If they are too high, then you can be left disappointed.
Prediction : > 250 crores
Verdict : Blockbuster
Roy – Ranbir Kapoor, Arjun Rampal
Positives – Film is a love triangle and has action. Ranbir’s first major foray into action
Negatives – Much like the next film on the list, Jacqueline Fernandez? I’m struggling with this one – very unpredictable considering how differently Ranbir’s last two have faired
Prediction : <100 crores
Verdict : Below Average
Kick – Salman Khan
Positives – Yes you have guessed it – Salman Khan! And Eid release!
Negatives – A rather underwhelming female lead in Jacqueline Fernandez. And quite possibly another masala film that will promise much but deliver very little
Prediction : 150-170 crores
Verdict : Semi-Hit
Phantom – Saif Ali Khan, Katrina Kaif
Positives – Personally I think the pairing is interesting and the back drop of 26/11 attacks may provide something interesting
Negatives – Saif’s big films have failed in general in the midst of mild successes like Race 2 and Cocktail. This is a risky subject and the film is going against Singham 2
Prediction : 70-90 crores
Verdict : Flop
Singham 2 – Ajay Devgn
Positives – Singham was a success and Rohit Shetty is riding high after the success of Chennai Express. Releasing near a holiday will help
Negatives – Competition is a factor but my gut feel is this film will win the battle against Phantom but will still struggle
Prediction : 80-100 crores
Verdict : Below Average
Bang Bang – Hrithik Roshan, Katrina Kaif
Positives – Unlike Zindagi Na Milenge Dobara, this one has Roshan and Kaif minus the male bonding and being a remake of Knight & Day the film will hold some recall value. The USP should be the sizzling chemistry between the two leads
Negatives – Possibly this film might be a multiplex affair and the film it is remaking was not a huge success.
Prediction : 120-140 crores
Verdict : Hit
Happy New Year – Shahrukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan
Positives – Farah Khan returns to direct Shahrukh Khan and Deepika after the success of Om Shanti Om. One expects a grand film here given the cast. Quite possibly I would say this is the biggest film of the year
Negatives – Farah’s record has a glitch to it in Tees Maar Khan. And the film has been on and off for many years
Prediction : 220-240 crores
Verdict : SuperHit
Bombay Velvet – Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Naseeruddin Shah
Positives – Anurag Kashyap’s first really big film. This could be a surprise or possibly a mess. An interesting year for Ranbir Kapoor as this is the kind of risk that could be the making of him. And Anushka Sharma by default may have landed two of the main films of the year.
Negatives – A test of Anurag’s credentials in a different sense. Coming in Xmas, usually we have our blockbusters. This one comes with a stellar cast and broadly some critical expectations.
Prediction : > 100 crores
Verdict : SemiHit
