Last week’s releases – Ajay Devgn-Tabu starrer Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha and Janhvi Kapoor-starrer Ulajh – bombed miserably at the box office. The collections of both films will struggle to reach Rs. 10 crores lifetime. The exhibition sector, meanwhile, is struggling due to the low occupancies of these films and also of holdover releases. Many multiplexes have shut 1 or 2 screens, and the Multiplex Association of India was even compelled to celebrate Cinema Lovers Day once again in the coming weekend. As part of the celebrations, while tickets will be available for Rs. 99 on Friday, the tickets on Saturday and Sunday will be priced at Rs. 199.
We asked trade experts and exhibitors what went wrong with these two films. Trade veteran Taran Adarsh said, “Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha’s trailer itself didn’t excite the viewers. Making a love story is great but Neeraj Pandey’s forte has always been thrillers, be it A Wednesday (2008), Special 26 (2013), Baby (2015), etc. Ideally, he should stick to this genre. He’s a very fine storyteller but somewhere, this film just didn’t grip. Neither the drama nor the story worked. One incident is stretched and shown repeatedly.”
Girish Johar, producer and film business analyst, agreed saying, “Though the film has a huge star cast of Ajay Devgn, Tabu and have delivered fine performances, the film went wrong in the writing department. Neeraj Pandey couldn’t gauge what the present audience requires. Also, the film felt quite slow and repetitive. We were expecting that something would happen in the end, but the climax was nothing out of the box.”
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha opened at just Rs. 1.70 crores, sending shockwaves in the industry. Taran Adarsh admitted, “Everyone knew that it won’t open well but to have such a fate, no one would have ever imagined.”
He continued, “Neeraj Pandey is a superb storyteller while Ajay Devgn and Tabu are superb actors. Sadly, this just didn’t work. I don’t think any film in recent times has had such a disastrous fate at the box office. Akshay Kumar has also delivered back-to-back flops. But none of them met with such a fate. Neither did Maidaan.”
He further said, “Ajay Devgn is more of a mass star. Even underperforming films like Bholaa (2023) have taken a good start, especially in mass pockets. In the case of Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha, the mass pockets are blank! The day-wise trending was poor everywhere. So, I guess the film’s fate was sealed on the morning of its release. If you open at Rs. 1.60 crores or Rs. 1.70 crores, how much can you jump? Can you cross double digits on the second day? The makers might pat their backs if the film grows to some extent. But those are not the numbers that you would expect from a film like this.”
He also noted that it’s an expensive film, “All the actors in the film have charged their market price.”
Zero occupancy in cinemas
Kiritbhai T Vaghasia, who runs The Friday Cinema multiplex in Surat, revealed, “The collections were negligible. Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha is barely getting any audience. Ulajh is still managing to get some moviegoers but it’s not impressive at all.”
He continued, “People are not even enquiring about Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha. We played a night show on Friday and one show on Saturday and Sunday. But all these shows had just 10-15 patrons. Since Monday, not a single show of the film has played. I can’t even say the show got cancelled. Cancel toh tab hoga na jab koi ticket book karega. With this film, nobody is even enquiring, let alone buying the ticket.”
He also explained how he’s strategizing while playing shows in these tough times, “If Ulajh’s show is at 2:00 pm and Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha’s show is at 2:30 pm, we merge the audience of the two and play just one show. If 1 or 2 people would come to buy tickets of Ulajh, we would tell them that it won’t play due to no audience and that they are free to watch the other film which has sold 2 tickets already and will start in 30 minutes. Most of them are couples and don’t mind this offer as watching the film is secondary for them.”
Kiritbhai T Vaghasia also said that desperate times compelled him to take desperate measures. “For the first time since I started my cinema, I slashed the rates to Rs. 99 starting Tuesday, August 6. But it hasn’t helped much. Ulajh’s show, however, has got 12 viewers for the 1:45 pm show,” he said.
He also said, “On Monday, not a single night show in any screen was played, be it Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha, Ulajh or the Gujarati film Vaar Tahevaar. Hence, we shut our cinemas as early as 10:00 pm and went home.”
The scenario was similar in other cinemas as well. Shows getting cancelled due to no audience is common for both films.
What about Singham Again?
Ajay Devgn has some big films in the pipeline like Singham Again and Raid 2 next. Does the underperformance of Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha as well as Maidaan affect his future line-up?
Taran Adarsh disagreed saying, “Today, it’s all about entertainment. A distributor told me, ‘Iss film (Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha) mein entertainment kahan hai? Aaj kal, aam aadmi ko entertainment chahiye’. As a moviegoer, I don’t mind spending on a Singham Again or a Raid 2 or a Son Of Sardaar 2 than a film like Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha.”
He explained his point with an example, “Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha featured in hit films like Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978), Mr Natwarlal (1979), etc. Then Hrishikesh Mukherjee got them together in a film like Alaap (1977) and it was a non-opener! Its opening sent shockwaves in the industry. I remember asking Hrishi da about it. He replied, ‘Taran babu, Amit ka angry young man image hai. Kabhi kabhi actor ki image itni strong ho jaati hai ki audience usko wohi image mein dekhna chahti hai’!”
He continued, “Similarly, Ajay Devgn has a very massy image. You want to see him roar in Singham Again (than in a film like Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha).”
Girish Johar also believed that Ajay Devgn’s upcoming films are safe. “In fact, none of the actors will get affected,” he said. “Neeraj Pandey probably would have to work harder and smarter to get a more relevant script in tune with the audience’s taste.”
Views on Ulajh
Ulajh opened lower than Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha but did better than the latter on the third day. Taran Adarsh commented that it was too little, too late, “It was not the kind of jump you would expect. The trailer has to work and even if it doesn’t and the film has potential, it can still score. But the problem was that the film just did not have the potential. The second half was a mess.”
He also said, “On paper, we might have some great ideas. But when you translate it onto celluloid, it boomerangs. I am sure the narration would have been great and on paper, it would have sounded superb. But when it was translated onto celluloid, it just didn’t work.”
Girish Johar opined, “The writing went wrong with Ulajh as well. People couldn’t digest the world that they created. In Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha, there were fantastic performances by Ajay Devgn and Tabu. But in Ulajh, barring Gulshan Devaiah, I don’t think anybody stood out. Even Jahnvi Kapoor has not performed her best. She should now do roles that challenge her more. I am sure she has a long way ahead.”
Also Read: Ajay Devgn says the climax of Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha is his favourite scene
More Pages: Ulajh Box Office Collection , Ulajh Movie Review
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