Ranbir Kapoor's Besharam which hits the screens today has got a release almost as widespread as Shah Rukh Khan's Chennai Express earlier this year with nearly 3,500 to 3,700 screens in the domestic market and 500 to 550 screens overseas. The movie stars Kapoor's real life parents Rishi and Neetu Kapoor as well. The film is produced by Movie Temple and distributed (worldwide) by Reliance Entertainment Ltd.
Ranbir Kapoor is the box office favourite as of now considering that his previous films Barfi! (2012) and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (YJHD, 2013) both crossed the Rs 100 crore figure. According to trade analysts, the movie has potential to make up to Rs 150 crores if the storyline lives up to the expectations.
“Besharam has an advantage of National Holiday and extended weekend of 5 days as this will be Ranbhir Kapoor 2nd film after Wake Up Sid releasing on Gandhi Jayanthi in 2009 which opened with 4.25 crore on day one. Now after 4 years the market has grown leaps and bounds so Besharam should fetch at least 5 times of Wake Up Sid for day 1,” says independent distributor and trade analyst Suniel Wadhwa.
Besharam has been made at an estimated cost of Rs 80 crore including prints and publicity of around Rs 18 crore. The film's satellite rights have been bought by Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited to be premiered on its new Hindi movie channel &pictures. According to media estimates, the film has been sold for Rs 30 crore with a link to the performance at the box office (similar to Chennai Express).
Being set in the north India, the film is expected to strike a cord with the MP, UP, Bihar, Delhi, Punjab and Haryana region. In fact, the movie is being released in as many as 1000 screens in the region. Shaaminder Malik, Independent exhibitor and trade analyst for North India reveals, “The film is expected to well in the North considering the story line. Also, there are no major releases before or after the launch of Besharam, so that and the extended weekend will help a lot.”
The movie is expected to do well at single screens and multiplexes both. Gautam Dutta, COO PVR Ltd says, “We, at PVR, have witnessed a lot of hype for the movie Besharam which is being released in approximately 80% of our screens at PAN India level. With millions of hits across the websites for the trailer already, the film feels a guaranteed hit amongst the movie lovers.”
However, some factions of the fraternity are skeptical about the movie's leading lady and music. The music hasn't really picked up and trade pundits feel that the choice of heroine could be a dampner in the movie. Wadhwa is optimistic and says, “An important challenge is music of the film which is weak. But it could be an important ingredient as all songs look situational and audience will enjoy them as par of the flow of the film.”
The movie revolves around Babli (played by Ranbir), a car mechanic who also steals cars to help with an orphanage. He is chased cop couple Chulbul Chautala (Rishi Kapoor) and Bulbul Chautala (Neetu Kapoor). The movie is directed by Abhinav Kashyap (of the Dabangg fame) and has Pallavi Sharada as Babli's love interest.
Besharam is set in the northern cities of Chandigarh and Delhi and hence has a very heavy North India and semi-urban skew. The movie has also been strategically marketed accordingly as well. It's on ground promotions and city tours were handled by the public relations agency Spice's arm Spice Bhasha.
Prabhat Choudhary, head at Spice says, “Considering this is Ranbir's massiest film till date, it is obvious that it has a stronger Tier 2 and Tier 3 skew than his earlier releases. So we focussed on tapping into cities like Patna, Raipur and Jalandhar for his city tours. The response we got from these cities has been very good and encouraging and the people have appreciated the effort Ranbir and the team took to reach out to them.”
Besharam has also been marketed extensively on television with appearances on shows like Comedy Nights With Kapil, Kaun Banega Crorepati and Jhalak Dikhlaa Jaa to name a few. On most of the occasions, the mother-father-son trio made an appearance, driving the fact home that this is the first movie featuring the 'whole family' together.
The movie also had interesting campaigns on the digital medium using Facebook and Twitter to engage the audiences.
