This Friday, on March 15, two Hindi movies are clashing at the box office. Adah Sharma's 'Bastar: The Naxal Story' and Sidharth Malhotra's 'Yodha' will lock horns. After their successful first collaboration, 'The Kerala Story', Vipul Amrutlal Shah and Sudipto Sen have joined hands for 'Bastar'. This time they promise to show the reality of Naxalites in the Bastar region. The trailer shows Naxalites attacking CRPF jawans and political figures, innocent being hanged, children being burnt and other atrocities. While 'Yodha' is an action thriller. It is about an aeroplane hijack where a soldier helps the passenger come out of the difficult situation and fight against the terrorist. Both movies are of different genres and have its own audiences. Which one will perform better on Day 1 at the box office? Here's what the trade experts have to say.
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Producer and film business expert, Girish Johar said that 'Yodha' got 3000 screens while 'Bastar' got 1500+ screens. He said, ''Though two movies are releasing this Friday, and both have different target audiences. Their marketing and promotions are also different. Yodha should open anywhere around Rs 7-8 crore. Box office is very dynamic. If it does well then it can earn around Rs 10-13 crore but if the audience doesn't like it, then it can be Rs 4-5 crore also. Rs 7-8 crore would be a fair start for Yodha.''
Talking about 'Bastar', Girish said, ''It has a specific target audience. I feel it should open to anywhere around Rs 2-3 crore. This is a decent enough range for the film.''
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When asked if 'Bastar' will set an example as 'The Kerala Story', to which he said, ''As a fellow fraternity, I want every film do well at the box office. Having said that Bastar is a completely different film. During the release of The Kerala Story, there was a different mood of the audience. In today's scenario, no matter whether the film is small or big, it can do anything at the box office provided audiences like it. I hope Bastar does even more than The Kerala Story.''
While film exhibitor, Lokendra Jain said that due to the forthcoming elections, films will not do well at the box office. He also said that people are bored of seeing similar kinds of films. ''Movies on air fights and all don't do well at the box office. The first-day collection of Yodha will be within Rs 4 crore'', he said.
For 'Bastar' also he had the same opinion. Jain added, ''The Kashmir Files, The Kerala Story and all are same kind of movies. I feel the day 1 collection of Bastar will be around Rs 1 crore.''
He continued, ''Producers are also not confident about it. It might see a growth in the second week due to the word of mouth but that's a different story. But I don't think so. As this is the time of elections, I don't feel it will get a boost.''
