Saaho’s Big Battle With Batla House, Mission Mangal Averted
This Republic Day, get ready for the clash of the titans.
Three major films,Nikhil Advani’s Batla House, new director Jagan Shakti’s Mission Mangal and the Prabhasstarrer Saaho which would release in four languages , were to release simultaneously on August 15.
But now Saaho, unarguably the biggest of the trio, has been postponed to August 30.
Nikhil Advani who directs Batla House,a real-life terror-drama, says the audience will choose what it likes. “Now it is the same situation as when Satyamev Jayate 2 and Gold were released simultaneously last year on August 15.It is a big holiday weekend. Big enough to accommodate two films.People will choose what they want to see.But if they like what’s being offered, they will choose that first.Batla House is a story about an encounter that supposedly went wrong. It’s about country and duty so makes sense to come on Independence Day.”
The very talented and young Sujeeth who directs Baahubali star Prabhas in Saaho says, “We’re coming on August 30.The two August 15 releases look interesting. Even I want to see what John Abraham and Akshay Kumar have done in Batla House and Mission Mangal.”
Trade guru Taran Adarsh welcomes the decision to avert the the three-pronged clash at the boxoffice. “Does the public have the time money or inclination to see three film on the same weekend? Three films means the screens and theatres get divided by three for each film.”
Trade analyst Amod Mehra feels it is suicidal for three films to release together. “Saaho is a very big film being released in four languages and nearly all the cinemas are already booked.The teaser too has generated great expectations. From the two remaining films Mission Mangal is not only bigger but also a perfect release for Independence Day. Batla House maybe just trying to generate some curiosity with free publicity and is likely to bow out of the race on August 15.”
Adds trade pundit Girish Johar, “Normally on a big holiday weekend two big films can easily settle down at the boxoffice, have their proper marketing and release with satisfactory showcasing at the cinemas. Three releases on August 15 would have been a problem of abundance.”
Johar now feels the Batla House and Mission Mangal need to work harder on the publicity. “They need to spend more to make the marketing buzz and create more noise to get audience’s attraction as well. These releases all feature big stars which are vying for audience attention. This is probably making each other scuttle for breathing space at the ticket windows. “
Johar welcomes the decision to take the Saaho forward. “The audiences get divided, the showcasing gets divided. Seeing the high ticket prices, there is no way that all three films would have been watched by the same movie-going audiences.This makes the competition more cut-throat .The weaker film will fall much faster at theboxoffice and the strongest film’s long run too will gets curtailed, as the repeat viewing goes down.”
Adds trade analyst Atul Mohan, “It’s not right to release three big releases on the same Friday.Saaho’spostponement is good news for all three releases. Business would have got divided undoubtedly.Do people today have money and time to watch three films in a week? The weakest would have definitely been impacted .And that’s an understatement.But here the best would have also been affected. I and glad sense prevails for the betterment of all and that one of the three films scheduled for August 15 has found a safer landing-place. A smart businessman is the one who doesn’t carry heavy luggage of ego on his shoulder.”
