Prem Ratan Dhan Payo hopes for box office cheer on festive weekend

The Rajshri production is expected to open to packed houses over the four-day festive weekend; analysts peg opening day collections at Rs 35 cr

Rajshri’s Prem is back at the movie screens this Diwali with Sooraj Barjatya’s magnum opus Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (PRDP). The film, mounted at an estimated Rs 120 crore is a co-production by Rajshri and Fox Star Studios, and hopes to cash in on the family bonding that prevails during one of the biggest festivals of the nation, Diwali.

Releasing in more than 5,000 screens worldwide, this is one of the widest releases for a Salman Khan starrer. Khan is riding high on the success of two back-to-back hits – Kick (domestic net collection Rs 233 crore) last year and Bajrangi Bhaijaan (domestic net collection Rs 320 crore) earlier this year. Straying from the norm of releasing films on Friday, PRDP will hit screens on Thursday, November 12 to get a longer opening weekend. Given the four-day weekend, the film is expected to open to packed houses across the country, with Tamil (Mei Maranthaayo Anbe) and Telugu (Prema Leela) dubbed versions releasing in the South Indian markets as well.
 

Release date: November 12

Number of screens: 5000+ worldwide. International markets of UK, US, Middles East and Australia will have a day and date release

Budget: Rs 120 crore (approx.; does not include Khan’s fees since he will be claiming a percentage of the box office collections)

Satellite rights sold to Star India for an approximate Rs 50 crore through a deal between Khan and the network

Expected day one collections: Rs 35 crore (approx.)

Source: Industry estimates and Suniel Wadhwa

Suniel Wadhwa independant distributor and box office analyst says, “I’m going to go out on a limb and say I think we can predict with some degree of accuracy is going to do monster business. Combination of Rajshree Productions and Salman Khan is big bucks brand, having topped the combination at box office high-bar thrice in a row. So it seems like an easy bet for continuing that trend.”

The film is expected to add some much needed festive cheer at the movies after a lull in September and October with the sole hit being Pyaar Ka Punchanama 2. July was a blockbuster month for exhibition houses with Baahubali (Rs 110 crore for Hindi version) and Bajrangi Bhaijaan hitting the right notes with movie goers. However, after that, there has been no big hit with films like Phantom, Katti Batti and Shaandar failing to rake in the moolah as expected.

Khan has starred in three Rajshri productions – Maine Pyar Kiya (1989), Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994) and Hum Saath Saath Hai (1999). Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! had collected Rs 70 crore during its time, which when adjusted for inflation, today would amount  to Rs 355 crore. Maine Pyar Kiya was Khan’s first blockbuster while Hum Saath Saath Hai was among the highest earners of its release year.

Trade analysts peg the opening collections at Rs 35 crore, considering it is a holiday for schools and colleges and many offices.

Khan’s biggest opening till date has been Ek Tha Tiger (2012) at Rs 32.92 crore.

Apart from box office, the film has also got brand associations amounting to Rs 28-30 crore in media value. A total of 14 brands across products and services have associated with the movie in varying degrees from in-film branding to special range of products to promotional campaigns.

“Much like the promotional campaign for the movie, we kept the brand associations as targeted as possible. With a combination like Salman and Sooraj ji, we had a lot of brands vying to be part of the movie, but we felt that only brands that can integrate into the flavour of the film would benefit from an associastion,” says Shikha Kapur, chief marketing officer, Fox Star Studios.

Kapur adds that while the flavour at the movies has been edgy action films or coming of age films, PRDP has a distinct family positioning. “We have not marketed the film as something two three people can watch. No. It is a family oriented film. It has the DNA of any Barjatya film and we have made sure not to stray from that in the marketing. Having said that, we have used social media platforms like Twitter and apps like Dubsmash to engage with the audience, but the traction these activities have gotten is completely organic, and that is encouraging,” she adds.