“Can you imagine a crow on a poster bringing audiences into theatres on the very first day?”, I remember Ram Gopal Varma telling this to me over a call with a hearty laugh on Saturday morning, the day after his horror film Phoonk released to a good response in theaters. A small budget film where a crow stole the limelight in the publicity material with child actor Ahsaas Channa playing a kid possessed/traumatised, this one had managed to score 1.35 crore on its first day on limited release.
The film had hardly managed good showcasing for itself. Akshay Kumar’s Singh Is King was doing superhit business already, Ranbir Kapoor’s Bachna Ae Haseeno from the week before was a hit as well and Salman Khan’s God Tussi Great Ho – though a flop – had still seen some screens and shows reserved for itself. On the day of its release too there was a crowd of folks gathering as Mallika Sherawat’s Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam along with anthology affair Mumbai Meri Jaan (Madhavan, Kay Kay Menon) had released as well.
There were a lot of options and yet Phoonk not just managed a good opening for itself but also ended up having a lifetime of around 10 crores, hence turning out to be a successful affair for Ram Gopal Varma who was reeling with flops like Contract, Darling, Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag, Nishabd, Darna Zaroori Hai and Shiva (new), with just Sarkar Raj managing good business.
Now 18 years down the line, horror genre has shown once again that it has the capability to surprise every now and then. Not that it’s the safest bet; after all many horror movies have been bad flops and disasters as well. However, ‘unpredictable’ is the right term of it, as it can just pop up a surprise when you least see it coming.
That’s what has happened with Vikram Bhatt’s Haunted 3D: Ghosts Of The Past. The film arrived with near to negligible promotion and marketing. It didn’t even get a proper release with negligible showcasing at the national chains till the morning of arrival and even at other theatres, it just seemed like a token release. Practically no one in the media or the industry was talking about it, and even the leading man (Mimoh Chakraborty) was nowhere to be seen. No interviews, no press conferences, no special screenings, no red carpet premieres, no standees in theaters, no advertisements, no media space – no one even knew that the film was coming.
Except for those who actually matter – the audience!
Somehow, and in some ways, those at the interiors who are undeterred by what’s being said in the social media or what’s covered in mainstream media, saw the word Haunted with just the devil on the physical posters plastered on the walls and decided to give the film a dekko. There were many other new releases and much better hyped films that came alongside the same Friday. However they chose this horror film over everything else.
The first day collections were 2.67 crores, the second day grew to 3.84 crores and the momentum continued well into Sunday as well, hence resulting in weekend of over 10 crores. That’s bigger and double of all other new releases that have arrived. The showcasing for the film too got better and better with every passing day as the national chains joined the party as well. Indications are that the trend will continue well into the weekdays as well. A 20 crores lifetime will make the film a clean success and by the look of things, it’s reaching there.
I am soon getting into a call with Vikram Bhatt. I imagine him saying this with a heart laughter as well – “Can you imagine a devil on a poster bringing audiences into theatres on the very first day?”
