The final blockbuster film of 2024, Baby John, grossed a lower than expected Rs 112.5 crore on Christmas Day, December 25. As Thursday, December 26, was a working day, the usual drop was expected. But on the second day, the revenue dipped to Rs 5.13 crore and on December 27, it further plummeted to Rs 3.25 crore, sealing Baby John's fate. We spoke to experts to find out what went wrong with the film.
Industry veteran Taran Adarsh said, "The industry believes that this particular genre will do well. But in this case, the audience flatly rejected the film. Otherwise, it would have had a big opening as it was released on Christmas. With the New Year approaching, people get into a festive mood and there are a lot of holidays. Somewhere, people felt that Varun Dhawan was not living up to their expectations. "
Industry analyst Atul Mohan said, "From the time this film was announced, there was a lot of excitement as Varun Dhawan was starring in an out-and-out masala film and Atlee was also involved in it. Hence, there was an expectation that the packaging would be well-packaged. But after the trailer, things went wrong. It's not the film's fault. It's a marketing mistake."
He said, "The fate of a film is decided when it is released. But before the release, the marketing team failed to excite the audience enough to buy tickets on the first day. Though it is a masala film, the makers have released romantic songs. The asset also featured Varun in a comedy. City Sightseeing didn't pay off. Baby John producer. Baby John is currently taking small steps at the box office instead of a big leap on its release date. It's quite a shock to see cinema halls empty on a big holiday. "
Distributor and cinema operator Raj Bansal said, "I was never excited about Baby John. The music didn't work. The heroine is from the South and is unknown to the Hindi audience. Varun's last few films didn't do so well at the box office, which affected the release of this one even though it was released on Christmas. He's not that popular with the audience. He's also lost his time slot, which means people don't know whether to categorize him as a lover boy, a comedian or an action hero."
What shocked cinema owners was that Baby John didn't get the desired reception despite being in a mass-market genre. Kiritbhai T. Vagathia, who runs The Friday Cinema, a multiplex cinema in Surat, said, "We screened Baby John seven times on the opening day." The next day, I cancelled two shows, and two more after that. I barely earned anything from day one.”
We spoke to him on Sunday evening, when the screening of Baby John began at 5.15pm. He revealed, “Only 22 people out of 30 are showing for this show. Meanwhile, 75 tickets have been sold for the 6pm show of Pushpa 2. In fact, the audience for the ‘Baby John’ show was not more than 40 people at most.” "It's a masala film with well-known actors and names like Atlee, so this is shocking," he said, adding, "If the evening show is not being shown in my theatre, it is clear that the film was not well received."
Pushpa 2's Huge Wave
Pushpa 2 was expected to do well, but it has exceeded expectations. Despite being released three weeks ago, experts point out that it has adversely affected Baby John's future. Taran Adarsh cheered, "The Pushpa 2 wave is yet to die down and the same is true for Baby John."
Recalling that this is the second time that a well-made Varun film has suffered due to its release timing, he said, "I'm not sure if it will be a good film, but I think it will be a good one. I replied that the film is good, the concept is good, the only problem is that the wave of Drishyam 2 (2022) is gaining momentum. He replied that he did not expect Drishyam 2 to do so well and there was no time to postpone Bhediya. Both Bhediya and Drishyam belonged to two different genres but Bhediya was completely in the shadows.
Taran Adarsh revealed that he had asked the Baby John team to release the film later. He said, "Around two weeks before the release of Baby John, I spoke to Varun and producer Murad Hehtani and suggested postponing the release as the Pushpa 2 craze was not going to die down anytime soon. However, December 25 is a major holiday not only in India but across the world. Hence, they believe that business would run optimally. Many in the industry felt that if Baby John was released on Christmas, the Pushpa 2 craze would die down."
He further said, "For families and children, Mufasa: The Lion King would be the first choice." The Lion King is a brand and kids love it. The kid in me also wanted to see the Hindi version especially because of Shah Rukh Khan and his two sons dubbing. Because of these two films, Baby John didn't get much of a solo release."
Raj Bansal agreed, "Pushpa 2 influenced this film." If it had come out two weeks later, it would have definitely had a better start. Now what happened is that it got a double-digit start but then it tumbled. I can't even imagine what will happen on Monday. The total gross will be Rs 150 crore."
Atul Mohan said, "If the film doesn't create hype or people feel that Pushpa 2 is not for them, then it's a bad sign." Most people have already seen Pushpa 2. Three weeks is a good enough period. But due to a weak and confusing projection, people wanted to see him again and not Baby John. They still think Pushpa 2 is worth watching again."
Kiritbhai T Vaghasia can confirm this. He says, "Pushpa 2 is not a very good film. Even today, the demand is still huge. I met someone in a cinema today who is watching the film for the fourth time!"
Tarun Adarsh adds, "Pushpa 2 had some great action scenes and so did Baby John. But we need to go a step further. Nobody could have predicted what was going to happen in Pushpa 2 until it was released. Little did we know that he would be tied up and wear a sari. And yet he fights. It was a novel achievement. Many exhibitors told me, 'You better not concentrate on the work.'"
He continued, "So you have to take a step forward. Otherwise people will complain, "Yeh sab toh humne pehle dekh liya hai." I hear Marcos Action is way ahead of Animal and Kill. It is doing well and Hindi shows are becoming more and more popular. This proves that word of mouth works. It works in both directions, negative and positive."
Atlee-Animal comparisons bear a vengeance
At the trailer launch of Baby John in Pune on December 9, Atlee made a grand claim that "with Varun Dhawan, we are creating another superstar." What Animal (2023) did for Ranbir Kapoor sir, God bless Baby John will do for Varun Dhawan."
Taran Adarsh said, "Atlee must have seen Animal. There is absolutely no comparison between the two films and the two actors. Ranbir Kapoor is light years ahead of Varun Dhawan. Don't even compare the two performances. What was Atlee thinking when he decided to hype Varun's performance so much?"
Raj Bansal said, "He shouldn't have said that. This statement would have made sense if Baby John had been successful and he had said it after its release. Before the publication, it reeked of arrogance. ”
Remake element
Many feel that they were not very interested in Baby John because they had seen the original Theri (2016) starring Thalapathy Vijay and directed by Atlee. Taran Adarsh said, “After watching Baby John, Murad bhai called me and asked my opinion on the film. I told him that I had seen Theri in 2016. Since then, people have been able to watch a lot of such films. I think the packaging of Baby John is better, but the content is ordinary. "We've seen that many times, including Simmba (2018)," he adds, "Shaitaaan and Drishyam 2 were remakes and were exceptions. But today, with the advent of digital platforms, any film is accessible."
Raj Bansal also adds, "This is a huge problem. And when we were worried that the film would be terrible, we hired Salman Khan for a cameo. Such a special appearance doesn't make a film. All it takes is one minute to play a role and it's a normal film."
Tarun Adarsh continues, "Atlee as a brand is only interested in selling films through posters. But to attract audience, word of mouth is positive and spreads from day one. So it doesn't matter if it's Atlee or Varun Dhawan. It's the content that matters. Hence, people should stop making remakes. It's so easily available. For the last eight years, people have been watching the original film, which is still fresh in their memory. Also, Vijay is far better than Varun Dhawan.
But Atul Mohan disagreed. "By that logic, Drishyam 2 should not have been a success either." The original Malayalam version was watched by many people during the lockdown. If Vijay has such a large fanbase, why did his only film not succeed in the Hindi market? He is a superstar in the South, but has almost no fanbase in Hindi. I appeal to Hindi film buffs to say they have seen most of Vijay's films."
He further added, "I don't think Theri is trending now. Even if people have seen the film, they will be happy to watch the remake if they are interested."
Will Baby John affect Varun Dhawan's casting? Varun Dhawan is the only young actor who has appeared in the most number of films. His next film is Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari, in which he will team up again with Karan Johar and Shashank Khaitan. Director Taran Adarsh said, "It all depends on the work, but he knows his way around very well, like last Friday," and added, "He is sincere in his work and does a good job." End. "
Raj Bansal said, "The film (Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari) will be affected." With Baby John, we put a lot of effort into promoting the film. He worked really hard. However, promotion can strengthen a film to some extent. We made a film ourselves that nobody wanted to make.”
Atul Mohan agreed: “He did his best in a positive way. He must be feeling disheartened now. This is a typical mass masala film and a better product would have strengthened its position in the industry. Unfortunately, it did not get off to a good start and the film is not as successful anymore. ”
Director Varun Dhawan also has the blockbuster Border 2 in his repertoire. Atul Mohan said, “But Baby John was the greatest of them all. And the credit for the success of Border 2 goes to Sunny Deol. Akaye Khanna and others also did not get to benefit from the massive success of Border (1997).”
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