Gadar 2 opened with a bang and is showing no signs of stopping. The first week's collections will be a little short of Rs. 300 crores. As per the trends, it is all set to have a strong second week as well. Everyone in the trade and industry is now waiting to see if the Sunny Deol-starrer manages to cross the collections of KGF - Chapter 2 (2022; Rs. 434.70 crores) and Pathaan (2023; Rs. 543.05 crores).
Trade veteran Taran Adarsh said, “The way it is trending, yes it can. But it’s way too early right now. Both Pathaan and KGF - Chapter 2 had trended very well. How Gadar 2 will fare in the second weekend will also decide where it’s headed. Gadar 2 is still quite far away from Pathaan. But I think the next target would be KGF - Chapter 2. Dangal’s collections (2016; Rs. 387.38 crores) will be crossed.”
Girish Johar, producer and film business analyst, agreed, “It has collected even Rs. 30 crores plus on a non-holiday, which is fantastic. Right now, it is sheer hysteria happening at the box office. It can go anywhere. It has all the ingredients of surpassing Pathaan and KGF - Chapter 2. But I would want to wait ideally till the second weekend.”
Trade analyst Atul Mohan remarked, “Agar ek picture mass centre mein chipak jaati hai na, fir kuch bhi ho sakta hai. Such films can achieve anything.”
Raj Bansal, the owner of Entertainment Paradise in Jaipur, smiled and replied, “All expectations are failing in front of Gadar 2. So, whatever we’ll predict, there are chances that yet again, we might get it wrong. I felt on Wednesday, it’ll drop since it enjoyed a five-day weekend of sorts. However, even on a non-holiday, it has earned more than Rs. 30 crores. Aisi film ko toh koi rok hi nahin sakta.”
Trade and industry collectively failed to gauge Gadar 2 tsunami
Interestingly, before the release of the film, everyone agreed that there’s a lot of excitement to watch Gadar 2 but no one was able to predict that it’ll open at Rs. 40.10 crores. How did everyone fail to realize the humongous craze for the film?
Taran Adarsh, whose prediction for day 1 collections came close at Rs. 35 crores, said, “We are sometimes out of touch with reality. I remember talking to an exhibitor who told me, ‘Sir, yeh Rs. 35 crore nahin, Rs. 40 crore karega.”
Atul Mohan said, “Two months before the release, exhibitors sounded quite excited about Gadar 2. So that undercurrent was there. We collectively failed to gauge it.”
Raj Bansal was humble enough to admit, “A week before the release, when you called me, the buzz was there but the bookings were not as strong. I predicted that it’ll open at Rs. 20-22 crores. I am in this trade for the last 45 years and yet I miserably failed in gauging the reality. It ended up doing Rs. 40 crores on the first day, almost double of what my prediction was. I have gone wrong by 10% and very rarely by 20%. But here, I was way off the mark.”
He added, “I should have realized since I had released Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001) and had seen the euphoria first hand. I thought that Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel are coming after a long time, and they might not have the same pull. Moreover, Amrish Puri, the USP of the first part, was missing. Anil Sharma is a good director, but I had my doubts if he’ll be able to meet up the expectations. Hence, everyone, including me, failed. Only Anil Sharma had full confidence in his film.”
Girish Johar explained, “I don’t think even Anil Sharma and Sunny Deol were expecting such craze. What I believe is that everyone failed to understand the nostalgia factor. Initially, everyone went due to the charm of the first part. In return, they got a mix of entertainment, nostalgia and big-screen fun. Paisa-vasool experience tha for viewers. Moreover, the mood of the nation was also patriotic due to Independence Day.”
He also revealed, “The trailer was not up to the mark for the film fraternity. They felt that the trailer was average. That is where we went wrong. The audience, on the other hand, connected with the trailer big time.”
Nevertheless, trade experts are happy with the film’s performance. Taran Adarsh went down memory lane, “When Bobby (1973) had released, people used to flock to theatres in Delhi from faraway locations to watch the Rishi Kapoor-starrer. This happened during Sholay (1975) as well. I had seen it with my own eyes in Mumbai. Viewers used to come from as far as Pune and Kolhapur and would sit outside the theatre. Poori raat baithe hote the. I had seen the film first-day first show and you should have seen the number of people inside and outside the theatre! I cannot describe it in words. It continued for weeks. Film advance mein hi full ho jaati thi. And now, Gadar 2 brings back memories of Bobby and Sholay for me.”
Taran Adarsh continued, “It’s a once-in-a-decade or once in two decades phenomenon. You can’t expect every film to have this kind of euphoria and craze. It is a prime example of a critic-proof film.” Describing his experience of watching Gadar 2, he stated, “I saw the film in Melbourne, Australia. During the hand pump scene, believe it or not, there were taalis and seetis! So, even overseas, it is doing fantastic.”
Girish Johar, in agreement, added, “I am happy to see metro audiences also thronging multiplexes to watch Gadar 2. That desi connect worked big time for the film.”
Taran Adarsh signed off by saying, “This won’t stop so soon. The audience has taken to this film. Gadar 2 and OMG 2 in the North and Jailer in the South have brought the Indian box office back.” He further said, “Look at the beauty of the box office. Jailer is a different film. Gadar 2 is a period film. OMG 2 is about sex education. And all three films are doing so well. The pre-pandemic phase is back.”
More Pages: Gadar 2 Box Office Collection , Gadar 2 Movie Review
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