First week collection for Akshay starer Singh is Kinng (Review) has come to 28 crore which is more than Shahrukh’s Om Shanti Om and is a opening record . It might end up as bigger grosser then OSO .Considering it is not a Diwali release this is great achievement from Akshay and his team.
Question is who is bigger star of bollywood is it Don SRK or Kinng Akshay ? I am not asking for number one because as long as Amitabh is present there can be no dispute. So let’s compare Akshay and SRK and in terms of hits Akshay has given more hits then Shahrukh in last few years with Phir Hera Pheri and Bhagam Bhag in 2006 , Namastey London , Heyy Baby , Bhool Bhulaiyya and Welcome in 2007 compared to SRK’s 2 Don in 2006 and OSO and Chak De in 2007.
My personal choice is Akshay as he can carry comedy and action better then SRK and his comedy doesn’t ridicule anyone (remember Manoj Kumar in OSO ) . Akshay has worked with lesser known directors barring Tashan (which anyway was flop of the year) and unknown actresses . On the contrary SRK works with bigger directors,bigger banners , proven actresses with overly friendly media .It is hard to differentiate is SRK a marketing manager or actor or a big manipulator as it is hard to digest how media can laud OSO and demean Singh is Kinng as both movies were masala movies so one critic should either laud both or demean both unless they are being paid by SRK.
BCCI has gagged Shahrukh for promoting Om Shanti Om and has asked him not to attend matches . This happened because of an interview with Ramiz Raja where he talked about the movie.
Well we have been getting lot of hits lately (thanks to all the readers !!!) but today I found something interesting there are people who are actually copying pasting the content from our site without putting a line or two to give credit for what we are doing . I would love if people quote us but copying pasting the content is something I was not expecting.
I am sure everyone who has seen OSO must have observed how Manoj Kumar was made fun of , though there was nothing new in the joke being played as everyone must have heard off those jokes on Manoj Kumar .
I think SRK went a step ahead by making Manoj Kumar look silly by beating him , with Manoj Kumar making a serious note of the whole issue and threatening to sue SRK , looks like better sense has prevailed as SRK has said sorry .
Yes trust me Salman is a lead actor in Om Shanti Om , now you will ask me why is it so ? Well if Saawariya can promote Salman as lead actor with 5 minute (4 minute in middle and 1 minute in the end) of scene presence then in Om Shanti Om where Salman has dance for 3 minute (I guess!!) can also promote it as lead actor . In fact OSO can easliy add all 31 actor / actress who have dance for the item number as there lead by the same logic and join Guiness Book of world record for most number of actor /actress in a movie .
As Shekar Suman put it in one of his comments Farah & SRK has been more kind to Salman in Om Shanti Om then SLB in Saawariya , no wonder he left Saawariya in between during its premier or may be he was totally bored like many of us either way poor Salman !!
Yesterday went to see movie Saawariya , I wouldn’t comment on Saawariya movie as there is nothing much to comment except for the fact that .. it is horrible .
Theater I went to is 20 minute drive from my place and hardly plays hindi movie so it was nice to see it playing hindi movies. What was amazing was the queue outside Om Shanti Om screen , and hardly any presence outside and inside Saawariya . Saawariya was not even running full house in the first week itself and line outside Om Shanti Om Screen is the biggest I have seen anywhere in US . Kudos for Sony Pictures and Eros in marketing it so beautifully , it is another matter that SLB let Sony and everyone down.
Mumbai Mirror and Buzz18 has published the review for Saawariya & Om Shanti Om . Mumbai Mirror has given 3/5 for Om Shanti Om and 2/5 for Saawariya whereas Buzz18 has given 4/5 for Om Shanti Om and 3/5 for Saawariya.
On expected line Om Shanti Om is total masala movie with SRK hogging the limelight as Buzz18 put it “is 98.35 per cent of the film!” , “you have to leave your brains out” and “Hit! Hit! Hit! The masses will love it; the classes will love it too! The NRIs will gobble it up and froth over it and the youth, even though they may not get certain references to the Bollywood of yesteryears and even the line “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn”, will love it! SRK is King.” Mumbai mirror summed Om shanti Om by saying “clearly, a better musical to catch this big-ticket weekend, though it’s not quite the greatest weekend ever.”
Saawariya I thought will be critically acclaimed if not masses acclaimed is looking a loser on review front or may be SRK well oiled PR worked his charm on the critics also . Buzz18 has shorter review of the two film it reviewed and I quote “story of Saawariya has nothing much to offer” , ” it drags horribly” but finally it has some nice words “We’d recommend you watch the film” . Mumbai Mirror is critical to the point of criticizing the movie and hardly has any good word for the movie. and ends with “Saawariya is not even vaguely poignant, touching or weepy. It misses you almost entirely. ”
Looks like Om Shanti Om has delivered on this promise of masala movie and Saawariya has failed to deliver on his promise of a great movie .
Just in case if you don’t know , Om Shanti Om and Saawariya is being played in lot of theaters in NewYork & New Jersey area , check out fandango.com . Where one can give zipcode and see the theater listings by movie.
Hello Marketing Team of Om Shanti Om and Saawariya , it is great to see that you are coming with your respective films , we know both are directed by two great directors , both have put lot of effort in coming up with the movies but please stop over hyping the movie we are really getting bored of this high pitch and overly visible marketing .
There is hardly a channel or website where we don’t see every 10 minute something from either film be it in the form of SRK giving interview on how he came up with his six pack abs , Farah boasting of her friendship with SRK , Ranbir being so excited about the movie , Sanjay Leela Bhansali thinking about Sonam - Ranbir pair and the promise Sonam holds blah blah blah .
Current state of marketing reminds me of election with no one leaving a stone unturn by stating how good they are and how bad other is and marketing reaching a feverish pitch. Note we are a big country with lot of serious issues so give all journalist a break , marketing a break, give us a break, leave some space for other news. We would have anyway seen both the movies with a percent of this hype.
Sometimes I think what it will be like on the day of release will there be special buses from our home to cinema theater.
With both the movie going for high pitch marketing battle , it is tempting to compare the marketing economics of both the movies ,so here are the stats (source economictimes) :
Both have crossed 35 Crore each for marketing and there are still 2 weeks to go.
Distribution right of OSO sold to EROS for 75 crore .
OSO has merchandising deal with shopper stop worth 6-7 crore.
Saawariya has merchandising deal with future group worth 10 crore.
Saawariya has marked 25 crore for marketing .
With so much at stake for bollywood as Sharukh said “failure is not an option”.
