As D Day approaches the question everybody wants answered is , which film will gets the bigger numbers. ‘Ae Dil HaiMushkil’ (ADHM) has no dearth of marquee names , from producer-director Karan Johar to Ranbir-Anushka—true, their last film together ‘Bombay Velvet’ sank without a trace but they have a collaborative and individual fan-following—to the iconic Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to, ahem, Fawad Khan who has a substantial female fan following.
‘Shivaay’, on the other hand, has only Ajay Devgn and no other known names. He also directs the film which is not necessarily a cause for celebration. His previous directorial outing ‘U Me Aur Hum’ sank without a trace. He looks positively ill at ease with newcomer Sayesha Saigal. But that’s not only Devgn’s problem.
Ranbir Kapoor too in ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ looks terribly awkward romancing and seducing Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, although they’ve been trying hard to convince us that they are mad for each other in the film.
It has repeatedly been noticed in the chequered history of the Indian box office that controversies don’t necessarily translate into footfalls. It is doubtful that more people would want to see ADHM just because the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) tried to stop it.
Trade analyst Amod Mehra said, “Diwali is a festive time when the entire family likes to be entertained. Of the two releases ‘Shivaay’ being an action film has an upper edge as far as the single screen goes.
However, in the multiplexes ADHM is bound to score better as it caters heavily to the youth and family audiences. Finally the film having better content will prove to be the winner.”
Another trade analyst, Atul Mohan, feels ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ will emerge victorious in this clash of the two big banner films. He reasons, “‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ is likely to score more at the multiplexes of major metros and ‘Shivaay’ will draw attention from the mass audiences who patronize single screens.
Both the films are releasing in approximately same number of screens, between 2800 to 3000 screens. Looking at the overall packaging of ADHM,Karan gives us Ranbir Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Anushka Sharma and blockbuster music.
The music of ‘Shivaay’ hasn’t picked up that well. And you have only one big name in the film i.e. Ajay Devgn. On paper, yes you can say that ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ has a definite edge over ‘Shivaay’. ADHM should open at around 15+ crores and ‘Shivaay’ around 10 crores.”
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