Trade experts feel that Stree 2 would open at Rs. 35-40 crores while Vedaa and Khel Khel Mein would open in single digits

The mega clash between Stree 2, Vedaa and Khel Khel Mein will take place tomorrow. We spoke to trade experts and exhibitors about it and all of them unanimously stated that Stree 2 would be miles ahead of the rest of the two films.Trade analyst Atul Mohan said, “The excitement for Stree 2 is increasing day by day. Anything can happen now on the first day.” On the opening day predictions, he said “A start of Rs. 30-35 crores is quite possible.”Trade veteran Taran Adarsh stated, “Stree 2 would open at Rs. 35-40 crores. There’s madness going on. No one is going to get it (opening day number) right. All the pre-release predictions would go for a toss, in a positive way! Stree 2 is going to surprise as well as shock a lot of people. It’ll surprise because it's good news for the industry that the business is growing. And it’ll shock because it is not a multi-starrer and faces two A-lister heroes. Yet, the film would take a flying start.”Girish Johar, producer and film business analyst, said, “Stree 2 is all set to take a fantastic start. The advance booking is very good and it’ll have the biggest start for a film in 2024. If it matches the expectations, it can probably be the top 2 or top 3 films released on Independence Day, nearing Ek Tha Tiger and Singham Returns. Both clocked Rs. 30 crore plus. Stree 2’s opening can be in this range.”Vishek Chauhan said, “Stree 2 is facing capacity issues. Had the other two films not come out on August 15, Stree 2 would have opened at Rs. 40 crores plus. Now it’ll open at around Rs. 30 crores.” He also remarked, “The demand for Stree 2 is at par with any biggie.”Distributor and exhibitor Raj Bansal, however, predicted, “Stree 2 would open at Rs. 27-28 crores.” As for Vedaa and Khel Khel Mein, he said, “Khel Khel Mein would open at around Rs. 3.50-4 crores. Vedaa would have an opening of around Rs. 6-7 crores.”Girish Johar explained, “Khel Khel Mein has a limited target audience as it’s an urban, niche kind of film. Hence, it’ll rely on word of mouth. On the positive side, it has an ensemble cast and is looking glamorous and colourful. But at the end of the day, the first choice would be Stree 2. Vedaa, meanwhile, has a wider target audience. It is an action film. Hence, the support of tier 2 and tier 3 cities will be very critical. Luckily, all three films have different genres.”On the opening day numbers, he predicted, “It’ll be a tough fight between the two. Khel Khel Mein should have an opening of around Rs. 5-6 crores. Vedaa will open at around Rs. 7 crore or maybe higher.”Atul Mohan opined, “Half of the screens have been allotted to Stree 2. Now, both films will have to struggle with the balance number of screens. This would also affect the box office numbers. Both films would also open at single digits.”Why the clash, ask expertsEveryone unanimously said that Stree 2 should have been a solo release. Had that happened, they believe it would have been one of the biggest openers of Hindi cinema.Atul Mohan said, “Without competition, its collections would have got such a boost.” Girish Johar agreed, “Stree 2, without competition, could have gone over Rs. 40 crores. The competition has dented both these films, but it also didn’t let Stree 2 have that upsurge.”Taran Adarsh said, “As a solo release, it would have had more screens and more shows, resulting in a humongous number.” Raj Bansal, “It would have had a bigger opening by 15-20%. During the clash, the weaker films get affected the most. As for the stronger films, unki showcasing mein gadbad ho jaati hai.”Vishek Chauhan thundered, “Do you not have confidence in your product? Kya aapko lagta hai ki aapki film chutti ke sahare ke bina chalega hi nahin? Most of the films that worked this year didn’t come on holidays, be it Deadpool & Wolverine, Kalki 2898 AD etc. There’s no difference between holiday and non-holiday releases. Picture apni demand khud create karti hai.”He continued, “There was hardly any release in April and May. Even July had few releases. What is it about August 15 that three films had to be released on the same day? If the releases were spaced out, it would have benefited everyone. Even September hardly has any release. What was the urgency of releasing it on Independence Day? They don’t think about exhibitors. Agar exhibitor mar jaayega, toh aap kiske liye film banayenge? Would you release it on OTT? They anyway don’t take films until you release them in cinemas.”Taran Adarsh revealed, “I was talking to several exhibitors. I asked them about the clash. One of them said, ‘Clash? Kaunsa clash’! It's one-way traffic and all roads lead to Stree 2.”When asked how much would be the opening of Vedaa and Khel Khel Mein, he sighed, “Kya hi kahe ab? It’s so important that one makes a film with passion but when you are about to release, think about the economics. I agree it’s an extended holiday period. But you should be clear with the advance booking what the audience is inclined towards.”He added, “If you get a solo digit opening on a normal day, it is understandable. But August 15 is a compulsory all-India holiday. On such a day, you should at least get at least Rs. 10 crores. They could have come after a week. But then, every producer is right in their own way. We live in a democracy. Who am I to dictate? I can only give advice, which will obviously fall on deaf ears!”Atul Mohan also pointed out, “One of these two films should have moved. Or they should have not announced August 15 as the release. Because nowadays, even if you move, it leads to negativity. Hence, once they announced the date, they should have asked themselves –are they ready to come with such an opposition?”To concludeThe experts hope that the two long holiday weekends and positive word of mouth translate into healthy box office numbers for Vedaa and Khel Khel Mein. Girish Johar said, “Stree 2 would take a thunderous start. But that doesn’t mean Vedaa and Khel Khel Mein stand no chance. There is a long holiday period. They can always catch up if word of mouth is positive. But if any of these two films get thumbs down, toh woh film saaf ho jaayegi.”Atul Mohan stated, “The advantage is that it's releasing on a holiday. Isliye, dono ko accha number mil jaayega. 15 August is a major holiday. Moreover, August 16 is a partial holiday while Raksha Bandhan falls on Monday. Hence, the weekend is big.”Also Read: Stree 2 distributor asks for ALL shows in single screens; Exhibitors ANGRY over Stree 2, Vedaa and Khel Khel Mein’s three-way clash

The mega clash between Stree 2, Vedaa and Khel Khel Mein will take place tomorrow. We spoke to trade experts and exhibitors about it and all of them unanimously stated that Stree 2 would be miles ahead of the rest of the two films. Trade experts feel that Stree 2 would open at Rs.

35-40 crores while Vedaa and Khel Khel Mein would open in single digits Trade analyst Atul Mohan said, “The excitement for Stree 2 is increasing day by day. Anything can happen now on the first day.” On the opening day predictions, he said “A start of Rs.

30-35 crores is quite possible.” Trade veteran Taran Adarsh stated, “ Stree 2 would open at Rs. 35-40 crores.

There’s madness going on. No one is going to get it (opening day number) right. All the pre-release predictions would go for a toss, in a positive way! Stree 2 is going to surprise as well as shock a lot of people.

It’ll surprise because it's good news for the industry that the business is growing. And it’ll shock because it is not a multi-starrer and faces two A-lister heroes. Yet, the film would take a flying start.

” Girish Johar, producer and film business analyst, said, “ Stree 2 is all set to take a fantastic start. The advance booking is very good and it’ll have the biggest start for a film in 2024. If it matches the expectations, it can probably be the top 2 or top 3 films released on Independence Day, nearing Ek Tha Tiger and Singham Returns .

Both clocked Rs. 30 crore plus. Stree 2 ’s opening can be in this .