You're as good or bad as your last Friday. And the last three Fridays in Subhash Ghai's life -- YAADEIN, KISNA, BLACK AND WHITE -- didn't yield fruitful results. Now YUVVRAAJ takes the number of failures from 3 to 4.
On paper, the package [Ghai, Anil, Salman, Katrina, Zayed, Mithun, A.R. Rahman, Gulzar] looks monumental. It's a prized project. But YUVVRAAJ has punctured the hopes of the industry further. The film is a non-performer.
How times change! Until a few years ago, a Subhash Ghai film would ensure a big opening at the box-office. Recall the thunderous start of VIDHAATA, KARMA, RAM LAKHAN, SAUDAGAR and KHAL-NAYAK. HERO too picked up dramatically after 2/3 weeks and emerged a money spinner. But the brand Subhash Ghai has lost its sheen, post YAADEIN.
Let's go back to two months before YUVVRAAJ released, when the promos were unveiled. It's often said that the promos are the deciding factor these days. Unfortunately, the promos never created the required buzz for the film. They were thanda, to put it bluntly. The quality of promos never improved, if you ask my opinion.
Note another factor that went against the film. It's vital to pitch the film to the youth when you begin promotions. Most distributors agree that the 16 to 30 age group constitutes the cinema-going audience today. Look at how Karan Johar smartly marketed DOSTANA. The plexes were packed with the young junta, collegians especially, from Show 1 onwards. YUVVRAAJ suffered, in my individualistic opinion, because it couldn't lure the youth. Even the talkie promotions depicting the three brothers didn't cut ice with the family audiences.
It has been noticed time and again that a film works magic if it's rich in merits. Ghai's HERO had a tepid start almost everywhere, when released almost 25 years ago, but it picked up dramatically after 2/3 weeks. YUVVRAAJ lacks that power, the grip, the magnetism.
Everything boils down to rupaiya, paisa, aana today. The box-office performance is of paramount importance if there's big money involved, you can't afford to slip. The theatrical business of YUVVRAAJ has been a downer. In the international markets too, the film has been rejected big time. And the revenue generated from Satellite, Home Video and Audio rights wouldn't be enough to recover the costs.
Ghai has missed the bus, yet again!
