By: Keyur Seta
Farah Khan’s Happy New Year is all set to be one of those few films that can be described as box office hurricanes. Such films are labeled ‘blockbuster’ even before they release. The prediction of such commercial capers is very easy in today’s times. This is because even if its content fails to impress the audience, it succeeds big time in raking in the moolah. They can either be superhit or bumper hit. It is impossible for them to be called average, let alone flop.
So the question shouldn’t be whether Happy New Year will succeed? The question should be whether it will manage to establish new box office records by overtaking Dhoom 3 and/ or Kick? Will SRK magic work again after Channai Express? Let’s find out. This post only looks at the domestic collections.
According to me, Happy New Year will beat Kick but it will be very difficult for it to go pass Dhoom 3. The Aamir Khan starrer managed to pull audience to the theatres in way that is hardly seen before despite the film facing flak from a good number of audiences. The biggest reason for this can be attributed to Aamir, who played the main lead for the first time after 3 Idiots (2008). His double role surprise also paid dividends. Presence of a lot of commercial factors, including never-seen-before stunts, and a terrific publicity campaign also helped.
Kick became the first Salman Khan starrer to make it to the 200 crore club. It had all the ingredients necessary for a typical Salman film – action, comedy, romance and dance. Other impressive points like the performances of Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Randeep Hooda and some high octane action at foreign locations sealed it for Sajid Nadiadwala’s directorial debut.
Due to the presence of an ensemble cast, Happy New Year got the audience interested even before its first poster was out. And when the promos and other promotional material were released, the hype just kept soaring higher. A tremendous marketing campaign made things even brighter. So getting past Kick’s record of 215 crore will be possible for the SRK starrer.
However, I doubt it will have to power to generate enough collections to go past Dhoom 3. At the most, HNY will go near Dhoom 3 or equal it. Its chances to overtake the Aamir starrer don’t look high. But I am very confident that Aamir’s own P.K will beat Dhoom 3 at the box office. Let’s wait and watch!