2 weeks Ago
Filmmaker Mudassar Aziz is happy with the audience and critics' response to his film Khel Khel Mein (KKM), starring Akshay Kumar in the lead role. Despite its release alongside two major films— Stree 2 and Vedaa —KKM has soldiered on after underperforming initially. Also read : Khel Khel Mein movie review: Akshay Kumar is in terrific form in a smart laugh riot “My opinion would obviously be one of emotional attachment with KKM.
So I will take an objective standpoint and say films like Kantara (2022) and Pushpa: The Rise (2021), when they started out, actually did box office numbers across a stretch of a number of days,” says Aziz contrasting this with films that performed well on OTT platforms and then continued to succeed in theatres, such as Laapataa Ladies . Aziz notes that the theatrical business is changing, observing, “When I see theatrical business, I see that there has been a change.” A post shared by Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) Aziz says he would be "dishonest" if he says that its box office performance doesn't affect him, but he has found a bright side to look on.
"It would be wrong to say it doesn't shake you in the beginning. Slowly what seeps in is the fact that your acid test is coming from the reactions," he admits, adding, "Numbers can be governed by several factors. In some cases you will realise in the past that some films have landed up getting a great weekend, maybe only because of one song and then the film has found no legs.
Or in another case, you may find that a film has got a great opening weekend because of a controversy. So I think in this ever changing dynamic of how films at the box office are faring, if the mettle of the film gets accepted, you find your way around that." When asked if the film's box office clash had an impact, Aziz responds with a touch of irony: “My take away is a bit mixed.
We have become a society which is very quick to judge. I'm including myself in it. In this case, what happens as a filmmaker is that you feel if your principal star has not had the best outings at the box office, is it better that we allow them a holiday weekend to perform? So what if it's a clash?” The director elaborates on the evolving audience behaviour, highlighting that OTT viewers "are willing to give legs" to a film without being swayed by box office numbers.
"They are not affected by the hoopla of who is putting out what figures on day three or four," he explains. He, however, adds that while he is pleased that discussions around KKM are now focusing on its content rather than its box office performance, he points out that the primary concern for many remains the film's box office success. "The unfortunate part is that even though a section of the audience and the trade is finally talking about the content of KKM and not the collections, it all boils down to people saying what's the box office business," he ends.
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