2013 has been good for small to medium budget films this year, what with close to half a dozen of these entering the green zone and making decent profits. In terms of biggies, Race 2 and Special 26 have made money as well. However, a movie that indeed goes on to be real huge at the box office is still awaited. Even though Race 2 scraped past the 100 crore mark and Special 26 ended its run in the vicinity of 70 crores, one awaits a film that crosses the century mark rather comfortably and goes way past that in the long run.
Himmatwala could well turn out to be one such film.
The are a few factors going in it’s favour. Director Sajid Khan has shown good escalation in the box office fortunes of his films ever since the days of Heyy Babyy to Housefull 2 (which scored around 120 crores). Ajay Devgn has been on a roll with Son of Sardaar being the 100 crore success despite competition from Jab Tak Hai Jaan. Also, his Bol Bachchan and Singham had met this feat. The remake factor coupled with popular music should further help it’s cause. Last but not the least, there has been good marketing and promotion that has kept the film in news right from it’s inception.
This means that the film should take a good opening a the box office and an extensive release means that even 60%-70% opening at an all India level would be good enough for this co-production of UTV and Vashu Bhagnani to start raking in good money. As a result, one does see a weekend of over 40 crore pretty much on the cards, though if audiences at multiplexes catch fancy of the film as well, there could be more coming in.
Audience, industry and trade are expecting an entertaining movie in the form of Himmatwala and if the product is as good as the hype, there is a winner in the making.
