The Prabhas starrer Radhe Shyam has turned out to be an epic dud in Hindi due to the price it was sold at, and its ripple effect is felt on other pan-India biggies.
RRR faces a similar situation as it is from director SS Rajamouli and is coming with mammoth pre-release business. Did Radhe Shyam sink RRR’s box office fortune with it?
Well, the answer is partly yes, but majorly no. We have mentioned the potential dent much before the release of Radhe Shyam. A ripple effect was bound to be felt as a section was waiting to write off the ‘Pan-India’ ambitious films after Radhe Shyam’s failure. And they got exactly what they wanted.
The local Bollywood movies have come out on top with back to back success of Gangubai Kathaiwadi and The Kashmir Files to add fuel to the fire. And coming up, we have a star hero movie Bachchan Pandey (starring Akshay Kumar).
So, while Radhe Shyam has had a slight effect, the Bollywood movies The Kashmir Files and Bachchan Pandey would have a bigger impact on RRR. The screens would be an issue for starters. RRR won’t be getting the widest release it would have expected previously. The opening expectations have already been reduced significantly. Furthermore, it would have to deal with a historical juggernaut, The Kashmir Files. RRR expected to be in its place.
Still, RRR is a biggie positioned as a mass emotional drama. These subjects have a terrific long run in Hindi when they connect to the audience. The real question now on everyone’s mind is, can two ‘historical hits’ run simultaneously?
The bottom-line is the double blow (Radhe Shyam and The Kashmir Files) has made RRR a word of mouth movie from a must-watch event film. It now has to deliver with content as the stars (Jr NTR and Ram Charan) don’t matter to the Hindi audience. RRR hits the big screens on March 25th.
