Baby John’s box office clues: From weak marketing to the Pushpa 2 tsunami, trade analysts reveal why Varun Dhawan’s big gamble misfired 2 : Bollywood News
The last big film of 2024, baby johnopened below expectations at Rs. 11.25 crores on Christmas day, December 25. A normal drop was expected as Thursday, December 26, was a working day. But it dropped to Rs. 5.13 crores on its second day and when collections further plunged to Rs. 3.25 crores on December 27, baby john‘s fate was sealed. We spoke to experts to understand what went wrong with the film.
Baby John’s box office clues: From weak marketing to the Pushpa 2 tsunami, trade analysts reveal why Varun Dhawan’s big gamble misfired
Trade veteran Taran Adarsh said, “The industry feels that this particular genre works. But in this case, the audience rejected the film outright. Or else, it would have taken a huge opening since it was released on Christmas. Right until the New Year, people are in a celebratory mode and there are holidays galore. People somewhere also felt that Varun Dhawan didn’t live up to the expectations.”
Trade analyst Atul Mohan explained, “From the time it was announced, there was a lot of excitement as it had Varun Dhawan in an out-and-out masala movie and also because Atlee was associated with it. Hence, it was expected that it would have a good packaging. But after the trailer, it all went downhill. It’s not the fault of the movie. It’s a marketing failure.”
He explained, “The film’s fate is decided after the film is out. But before the release, the marketing team failed to excite the audience to get them to buy the tickets on the first day. It’s a masala film but the makers released romantic songs. The assets also showed Varun doing comedy. The city tours didn’t pay off. Bina meaning of producer pay the expenses, baby john is now taking baby steps at the box office instead of taking a leap on the release day. It’s so shocking that on a major holiday, the cinema halls were empty.”
Distributor and exhibitor Raj Bansal stated, “baby john never excited me. The music didn’t work; The heroine is from the South and is not known to the Hindi audience. Because the last few films of Varun didn’t do well, it affected the opening of this film despite the Christmas release. He is not as popular among the audience. He’s also lost the slot, that is, people don’t know if they should slot him as a lover boy, comic actor or an action hero.”
What shocked exhibitors is that baby john belongs to a mass-friendly genre and yet, hasn’t got the desired acceptance. Kiritbhai T Vaghasia, who runs The Friday Cinema multiplex in Surat, said, “I had 7 shows of baby john on the first day. I reduced two shows the next day and then I further reduced 2 shows. From the first day, there’s barely any collection.”
We spoke to him on Sunday evening when the 5:15 pm show of baby john was going on. He revealed, “There are only 30-22 people in the show. On the other hand, 75 tickets for Pushpa 2 have been sold for its 6:00 pm show. In fact, the maximum number of moviegoers for the show of baby john has not even crossed 40. And this is shocking as it’s a masala film featuring a famous actor and backed by a name like Atlee.” He added, “When a night show doesn’t work in my theatre, it’s clear that the film hasn’t been accepted.”
The Pushpa 2 gigantic wave
Pushpa 2 was expected to do well but it has gone beyond expectations. Although it was released three weeks ago, it affected baby john‘s prospects, according to experts. Taran Adarsh exulted, “The Pushpa 2 the wave has not subsided, and baby john is in the same space.”
He reminded that this is the second time that a well-made film of Varun has suffered due to release timing, “I came out of the screening of wolf (2022) and Varun asked me how I found the film. I replied that the film is fine and has a good concept, but the only problem is that the Drishyam 2 (2022) wave has caught on. He replied that they never expected Drishyam 2 to do so well, and they had no time to postpone wolfAlthough both wolf and Drishyam 2 belonged to diverse genres, wolf was completely overshadowed.”
Taran Adarsh revealed that he had asked baby john‘s team to release the film later. He said, “I spoke to Varun and producer Murad Khetani nearly 2 weeks before the release of baby john and had suggested them to postpone the release as the Pushpa 2 The wave was not going to come down very soon. However, December 25 is a big holiday in India and worldwide. Hence, they feel that the business will be optimum. Many in the industry assumed that Pushpa 2 wave would diminish by the time baby john Was released on Christmas.”
He added, “I also told them that for families and kids, Mufasa: The Lion King would be the first preference. The Lion King is a brand and children love it. The child in me also wanted to watch it, especially the Hindi version due to the voiceovers of Shah Rukh Khan and his two sons. Because of these two films, baby john “Didn’t enjoy a solo release as such.”
Raj Bansal agreed, “Pushpa 2 affected the film. If it had been released 2 weeks later, it would have opened better for sure. What happened now is that it managed a double-digit opening but then it fell down. We can’t even imagine what’ll happen on Monday. It’ll collect Rs. 1.50 crores.
Atul Mohan opined, “When the film has not generated craze or not made people feel that. this also Shakti hai hai Pushpa 2then it’s a bad sign. Most people have already seen Pushpa 23 weeks is a good enough time. Yet, due to weak and confusing projection, people preferred to see it again than baby johnThey feel it’s still value for money to see Pushpa 2 again.”
Kiritbhai T Vaghasia can vouch for it. He said,Pushpa 2 sab film who has eaten?Even today, it has a huge demand. Today, I met a person in my theater who came to watch the film for the fourth time!”
Taran Adarsh further stated, “Pushpa 2 had some great action pieces and so does baby johnBut you have to go one step forward. No one could foresee what there was in Pushpa 2 until it came out. We didn’t know that in the end, his feet and hands are tied and he’s wearing a saree. Yet, he fights. That was a novel effort. A lot of exhibitors told me that there is a lot of beauty,taaliyaan is playing,
He continued, “Hence, one needs to go one step forward. And if you don’t, people will complain’We have seen all this before.I have heard that marco‘s action is two steps ahead of Animals and killIt’s working big time, and the Hindi shows are increasing. This goes on to prove that word of mouth catches on. It works both ways – negative and positive.”
Atlee’s Animal comparison comes back to haunt him
At the trailer launch of baby john in Pune on December 9, Atlee made a big claim, “With Varun Dhawan, we are creating one more superstar. what Animals (2023) has done for Ranbir Kapoor sir, baby john Will do that to Varun Dhawan, by God’s blessings.”
Taran Adarsh thundered, “I am sure Atlee must have seen AnimalsThere’s no comparison in the first place, neither of the two films nor the two actors. Ranbir Kapoor is light years ahead of Varun Dhawan. Don’t even compare the two performances. I wonder what Atlee must be thinking that he decided to hype Varun’s performance in such a manner.”
Raj Bansal said, “He shouldn’t have said so. Had baby john been a success and if he had said it post-release, this statement would have made sense. Pre-release, it reeked of arrogance.”
Remake factor
Many feel that baby john didn’t interest many people as many had seen the original version, theri (2016), starring Thalapathy Vijay and directed by Atlee. Taran Adarsh said, “Murad bhai called me after I saw baby john to ask my thoughts about the film. I told him that I had seen theri in 2016 and that ever since, many such films have been seen by people. I agree that the packaging of baby john is superior, but the content is routine. It was seen time and again, including Simmba (2018).” He added,Satan and Drishyam 2 There were remakes and there were exceptions. But today, with the advent of digital platforms, you can access any film.”
Raj Bansal also said, “That’s a very big problem. And then when they feared that the film was gadbadthey got Salman Khan to do a cameo. Such special appearances can’t make a film run. Who died? minutes ke role for pictures look a little will come,
Taran Adarsh continued, “Atlee, as a brand, works only for selling the film on posters. But for the audience to come inside, the word of mouth is positive and it spreads on the first day itself. Hence, be it Atlee or Varun Dhawan, it doesn’t matter. The content matters. Hence, people should stop remakes. It’s so easily available. In these eight years, people have watched the original film and it is fresh in their minds. Also, Vijay is far more superior when compared to Varun Dhawan.”
Atul Mohan, however, disagreed, “By that logic, then Drishyam 2 Shouldn’t have worked either. The Malayalam original was widely seen by people in the lockdown. Also, if Vijay had such a huge fan following, then why hasn’t his single film worked in the Hindi market? He’s a superstar in the South but in Hindi, he hardly commands any fan following. I challenge a Hindi moviegoer to say that he has seen most films of Vijay,
He added, “I don’t think. theri has any craze. Even if people have seen it, they would still be open to see the remake, if it had interested them.”
Will Baby John affect Varun Dhawan’s line-up?
Varun Dhawan is the only young actor with the maximum number of films. His next release is Tulsi Kumari of Sunny Sanskritiwhich reunites him with Karan Johar and Shashank Khaitan. On this Taran Adarsh said, “It all depends from film to film although you are known by your last Friday.” His dedication has also worked in his favor as he said, “He is sincere in his work and has done well.”
Raj Bansal said, “The film (Tulsi Kumari of Sunny Sanskriti) would get affected. With baby johnhe went out of the way to promote the film. He worked hard. But promotions can boost your film to an extent; us aap pictures you can’t drive,
Atul Mohan agreed, “It does affect, especially when he has given his blood and sweat to a film. He aggressively did what the best he could do. Right now, he must be feeling disheartened. It’s a typical mass masala film and if it was a better product, it would have boosted his position in the industry. Sadly, it failed to open well and it’s the second day movie I am eating, I am gayi,
Varun Dhawan also has the biggie Border 2 in his kitty, among other films. On this, Atul Mohan said, “But baby john was the biggest of all. Also, with Border 2the credit for its success would go to Sunny Deol. Akhaye Khanna and others also didn’t benefit from border‘s (1997) super-success.”
Also Read: Due to poor collections, shows of Baby John replaced with Hindi version of Marco; Industry SHOCKED as PVR Inox Pictures manages to release Varun Dhawan-starrer in just 4 out of 275 single screens in CP Berar
More Pages: Baby John Box Office Collection , Baby John Movie Review
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