The festival of Diwali brings along a lot of cheer and like every business, even the film industry waits for a dhamaka with their festive releases. The past few months have not been great for Hindi movies and given the fact that none of the festive releases this year, be it Heropanti 2, Runway 34, or Laal Singh Chaddha, Rakshabandhan, have performed upto the mark. All eyes are now on the two Diwali releases — Ajay Devgn, Siddharth Malhotra and Rakul Preet starrer Thank God, and Akshay Kumar, Jacqueline Fernandes and Nushrratt Bharuccha starrer Ram Setu — to work their magic at the ticket windows.
If we look back at the performances of Bollywood’s Diwali release over the past decade, the collections have almost always been impressive. While Ra.One (2011) grossed about Rs 221 crore worldwide, Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012) collected Rs 235 crore. In the same year, Son of Sardaar grossed Rs 163 crore despite a clash. The following year, Krissh 3 shattered records with a worldwide gross collection of about Rs 384 crore, which was soon broken by Happy New Year next year as the film collected Rs 385 crore. In 2015, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo collected Rs 395 crore which has been the highest for a Diwali release. In 2016, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil clashed with Shivaay. While ADHM collected Rs 229 crore, Shivaay ended up with Rs 124 crore. Golmaal Again (2017) earned Rs 311 crore while Thugs of Hindostan (2018) amassed Rs 320 crore despite poor reviews. 2019 releases Housefull 4, Made In China and Saand Ki Aankh registered collections of Rs 280 crore, Rs 12.78 crore and Rs 23.67 crore respectively. Diwali in 2020 saw films clashing on OTT due to the pandemic but the following year when theatres reopened, Sooryavanshi brought back festive cheer with a collection of about Rs 295 crore worldwide.
This year, both Thank God and Ram Setu have had their share of controversies ahead of their release, but yet the kind of buzz that Diwali releases create every year has been amiss. Besides there are some promising regional films like Gandhada Gudi, Sardar, Padavettu and Har Har Mahadev vying for the audiences’ attention. Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam has also hit the screens this week and there is massive buzz around it already. Amidst all the noise, will Bollywood be able to revive its magic? Will Ram Setu and Thank God create a Diwali dhamaka at the box office?
In today’s #BigStory, we reached out to filmmakers and trade analysts to find out. Read on.
Thank God vs Ram Setu
While the advance bookings for Thank God and Ram Setu look neck-to-neck, trade circuit predicts the collections may not be that impressive as other Diwali releases. Film distributor and analyst Raj Bansal has his doubts. “There is no excitement around both the films and the audience have not been going to the theatres like they used to. The content of the films is a big factor. It’s always the family entertainment films that work on Diwali. So out of the two, I feel Thank God will take over Ram Setu,” he says.
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