Rohit Dhawan’s forthcoming directorial feature film ‘Shehzada’ starring Kartik Aaryan in the lead role is all geared up to release in theatres this Friday on 17th February. The film was previously scheduled for a theatrical release a week earlier on 10th Feb but was postponed apparently because of Pathaan’s box-office dominance.
But as far as the box-office prospects of ‘Shehzada’ are concerned, things look a bit tricky for Kartik Aaryan’s first film as a producer. Because on the same day, the eagerly anticipated Marvel superhero flick ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ will also be released.
The Ant-Man sequel has dominated ‘Shehzada’ in terms of the overall buzz amongst Indian audiences and as per some reports, the film’s advance ticket sales from major multiplex chains in India were higher than the latter until yesterday.
Moreover, the overall buzz for both these movies can be ascertained from the fact that ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ has generated a massive 182.4k interests on popular ticketing portal BookMyShow compared to Shehzada’s 39k interests as of now.
Does this mean that Kartik Aaryan and the makers of ‘Shehzada’ should worry about the film’s commercial performance. Would ‘Shehzada’ be able to recover its costs and breakeven after its theatrical release?
As per a trade analyst, Shehzada has already earned Rs.40 crore from the OTT rights sold to Netflix, Rs.10 crore from its satellite rights sale, Rs.10 crore from its music rights sale, and another Rs.5 crore from its overseas rights sale. The total comes out to be Rs.65 crores. This is against Shehzada’s total budget of Rs.85 crores which includes cost of production and advertising and publicity costs. So, ‘Shehzada’ would need to make Rs.40 crores at the box-office for the film to break-even.
So, the question is: Can Kartik Aaryan’s film ‘Shehzada’ cross the break-even point and then become a hit? The answer would depend on how well-made the film is and, more importantly, how well it is received by the audiences? Considering the box-office performance of Kartik Aaryan’s last theatrical release ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’, which grossed more than Rs. 250 crores globally, it seems likely that ‘Shehzada’ has the potential to surpass its break-even point. However, the verdict will be out after its release this Friday.