Tamasha is the solo release of the week and it couldn’t have been better timed. Prem Ratan Dhan Payo is seeing the end of its run and hence is not a formidable competition. Spectre hasn’t found the kind of appreciation that would warrant a challenging second weekend. The week ahead arrives Hate Story 3 which has a set audience for itself that is different from those who wish to catch Tamasha. The week after that is open with no notable release. This lends a three week window for the Imtiaz Ali film to make merry.
All of this brings to the all important point around the eventual content. Insider reports state that Tamasha is one of the finer films from Imtiaz Ali and hence there has been no ‘thrusting down your throat’ marketing and promotional push, so that it is the story (and not the pre-release campaign) that speaks for itself. There have been instances in the past when an overdose of information around the films ends up revealing way too much around what a film is all about. In case of Tamasha, a mystery element has been kept intact so that audiences explore the film.
One such example is Ranbir Kapoor’s own Barfi! which opened on 8.5 crore, only to grow strength from strength, and eventually enter the 100 crore club. Same was the case with Deepika Padukone’s Cocktail which had a fine start (11 crore) and then turned into a Superhit. Now with Tamasha, the expectations are on the similar lines where the film opens fine (in the vicinity of 10 crore) and anything over and above turns out to be a bonus as far as Day One is concerned.
Producer Sajid Nadiadwala, who is used to delivering biggies (his own Kick took a record opening), won’t have much to worry about due to three open weeks ahead, which would give ample space for the love story to find its audience and perform. It all eventually boils down to the content and once that clicks, sky could be the limit for Tamasha.
Joginder Tuteja tweets @tutejajoginder
