Will The Controversies Boost Udta Punjab At The Boxoffice?
Abhishek Chaubey’s Udta Punjab finally comes to us this Friday accompanied by unreasonable hype and expectation.
According to trade experts ,all the hype surrounding Udta Punjab will give a tremendous boost to the opening of the film. However the film’s leakage on the internet is being seen as a big blow to the film’s boxofficepotential.
A marketing head of a leading multiplex chain says, “The online leakage has resulted in a huge dent in the opening collections. Anurag Kashyap’s appeal to audiences not to watch the film online until Saturday is futile. Youngsters are eager to see Udta Punjab.They will see it online.We expected an opening of 70-80 percent. It is now opened to around 50-55 percent occupancy.”
Says trade analyst Atul Mohan, “The curiosity surrounding Udta Punjab has only built up over the weeks. But unfortunately for the makers the film got leaked online and the response is very mixed. So after this it would be interesting to see how the film opens .Had it not come online the opening expected would have been one of the biggest of this year.”
Trade Pundit Amod Mehra feels the film will have a terrific weekend. “At least 5-7 crore rupees initially..Plus if the content is weak it will not crash next day and if the content is strong then the sky’s the limit.”
Opines film critic Raja Sen, “I think it’ll get a huge opening weekend, much more than it would normally have gotten. There has been so much talk of Udta Punjab — the cuts, the banned words etc — that curiosity is very high. I just hope the film is consumed as a film and not as whatever people expect it to be based on the hype and the news cycles.”
Relieved and rejuvenated producer Madhu Mantena says, “We fought a long and sleepless battle to get UdtaPunjab into theatres on time and we succeeded. Yes, the online leakage will affect our boxoffice. But finally even those who watch the pirated stuff on the internet would come to the theatres.We are sure of that.”
