The Varun Dhawan-starrer *Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai* had a decent weekend, surprising the trade and industry as it has held well over the weekdays.
The comic caper earned Rs. 23.15 crores in three days, with Monday collections at Rs. 3.28 crores. The film jumped on Tuesday due to the discounted offer, collecting Rs. 3.83 crores. Thus, its five-day collections are Rs. 30.26 crores.
Source spoke to trade experts who expressed surprise over this performance.
Trade veteran Taran Adarsh said, “It shows that there’s an acceptance for the film. Of course, people may say that almost everyday, there have been some offers since the release day. But there have been instances where offers were made available and yet people didn’t turn up in the theaters. As everyone knows, taking a family to a cinema hall is a big task. So, I feel that getting the footfalls and maintaining a steady run from Friday to Tuesday is a big achievement.”
Trade analyst Atul Mohan commented, “If the film has held in the weekdays, it means that there’s something that audiences must have liked it.
The family audiences must have realized that it’s a timepass entertainer. When you go to watch a David Dhawan film, you know that you don’t have to use your brains or find any logic. You are well aware that you’ll be exiting the theatre feeling happy. This is not a serious, investigative cinema jisme aapko dimaag lagana hai. There are some people jo har cheez mein apna dimaag lagane ki koshish karte hai. But cinema is not always meant to be intelligent; its primary purpose should be to entertain.”
Akshaye Rathi noted, “The marketing hype, momentum, Varun Dhawan’s stardom, to whatever extent it exists, and David Dhawan’s nostalgia helped the film get a decent weekend.
After that, the audience’s discovery of the film happened in a very appropriate manner. This film is clearly not made for an urban mindset audience. This is a massy film made for the tier-2 and tier-3 audiences, for the single-screens. Basically, it’s for the aam aadmi of India. That’s the audience that took over from the film from Monday.”
He continued, “Whether we like it or not, but that’s the audience that goes to those theatres where the average ticket price is significantly lower.
What we are witnessing may not be the best indication of the footfalls that are coming because of the ticket price. But it’s actually found a certain equilibrium at the tier-2 and tier-3 towns.”
Trade experts open up on *Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai*’s strong hold in weekdays: “It shows that there’s an acceptance for the film…full marks to Varun Dhawan, Ramesh Taurani”
Taran Adarsh added, “I’ll give full marks to producer Ramesh Taurani and Varun Dhawan.
Varun has been promoting non-stop and Ramesh Taurani is ensuring that people get to see the film, albeit at minimal rates. And he’s only doing it because there’s an acceptance. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have continued with this practice. There have been instances where filmmakers have offered tickets for heavy discounts and yet, people haven’t turned up!”
Weekend 2 predictions
*Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai* is expected to collect around Rs. 35-36 crores in its lifetime and now it remains to be seen if it can cross Rs. 50 crore in its lifetime.
Also, a good hold in the weekdays usually indicates that the second weekend trend will be strong.
But Taran Adarsh remarked, “It has found its feet for sure, but it all depends on the programming.
So many films are releasing this week, not just in Hindi but also in other languages. So, the shows will be reduced for the holdover titles. I hope it retains the prime shows and manages to get the desired footfalls.”
Atul Mohan, in agreement, said, “It looks difficult as 4 films are releasing this week.
3 of them are periodic flicks. *Governor* is set in 1990. *Main Vaapas Aaunga* is a partition drama while *Bharat Bhagya Vidhata* is based on the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks of 2008. It comprises some great performers like Manoj Bajpayee, Diljit Dosanjh and Kangana Ranaut respectively. Meanwhile, *Haunted – Echoes Of The Past* is a horror which has always had its charm. Moreover, *Backrooms* and *Disclosure Day* will also arrive in cinemas this week, while *Obsession* continues to do well.”
He added, “So, it’s a crowded week.
Nevertheless, wherever *Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai* has a good acceptance, those properties will retain maximum shows. Had the film been bad, theatres would have ruthlessly reduced its showcasing by now.”
Akshaye Rathi exulted, “There are multiple films that are releasing on June 12.
How much it dents the business of *Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai*, we’ll only find it out in the next couple of days.”
