Box Office Predictions for Munna Michael

Box Office Predictions for Munna Michael: Director Sabbir Khan and actor Tiger Shroff have become a popular pairing for the masses. They have done two masala films together, Heropanti and Baaghi, and both films were box office hits. Now, they come together for the third time, with Munna Michael.

The Hindi film industry is currently going through a very rough phase. Big films one after another have been falling like a pack of cards, whether it’s the post-IPL release (Half Girlfriend), the Eid release with the country’s biggest star Salman Khan (Tubelight), or the recent release with two popular stars as well (Jagga Jasoos). It could be the Baahubali 2 effect, where the Indian audience wants to make sure they get their monies worth for each and every film they see…in a big way!

When it comes to desi entertainers/masala films with action, Munna Michael is the first film since Raees to hold appeal for the audience in smaller centres. However, there a couple of hiccups for Munna Michael….

I had alluded last week in my prediction for Jagga Jasoos that a director/actor pairing will eventually misfire, which is exactly what happened with that film. Munna Michael seems to be that misfire for Sabbir Khan and Tiger Shroff. The buzz seems to be missing this time! Besides, how many times that can this director-actor pairing keep releasing a similar type action/masala film before the audience gets bored of it?

Let’s break down all of the points. Firstly, the lead heroine. Shraddha Kapoor’s presence contributed greatly to the buzz of Baaghi. This time around, the lead heroine Nidhhi Agerwal does look attractive, but she doesn’t carry that vibe of being a top star. Her appeal seems to be less than Kriti Sanon as well (Heropanti), making this possibly the weakest heroine for the three films of the Tiger-Sabbir pairing.

Secondly, the music of the film hasn’t really picked up either. Music tends to be an important factor for films that appeal to the masses/smaller centres who primarily seek entertainment more than anything else.

The third important part I feel that will really hinder the film’s prospects is rejection from the multiplex/class audience. The IMDB ratings (tends to be voted by classier audience) for Heropanti is 5.4/10, while Baaghi’s was even lower at 5.2/10, both ratings being just average. The buzz for Munna Michael is lower than Baaghi, and if this trend continues with the ratings, Munna Michael may be considered an outright bad film by the class audience rather than average (which the above two films were rated).

What this means is that the audience in smaller centres will have to save the film. However, films based on dance in recent times have been known to have their collections drop first in single screens rather than multiplexes, such as Happy New Year and ABCD 2.

Tiger Shroff’s last film, A Flying Jatt, also faced rejection at the box office, even though that was promoted with action as well. Perhaps, the audience may be losing interest in Tiger doing action.

Overall, things look difficult for Munna Michael!

The film will open on a good note due to the fact that it’s the film action desi film to hold appeal for smaller centres since Raees and due to the Sabbir/Tiger combination. However, I feel that collections will start to dwindle from there. The WOM (Word of Mouth) in smaller centres will be mixed, whereas it will tilt towards the negative in cities/multiplexes. Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who is generally well-liked by the city/multiplex audience, won’t be able to save the film with this section of the audience either as his role is geared more towards the small centres this time, proof being that sequence in the trailer where he is seen dancing on the Gandi Baat song from R…Rajkumar.

Not many remember that before this trilogy of films with Tiger Shroff, Sabbir Khan directed the Akshay-Kareena starrer Kambakkht Ishq, which released in 2009. That film garnered negativity for its content but got the “Average” tag at the box office because of it’s huge opening. It seems Munna Michael will be his first film since Kambakkht Ishq to face rejection from the audience.

My Box Office Predictions for Munna Michael:

• Opening Day: 7 crore nett
• Opening Weekend: 23 crore nett
• Lifetime Collections: 45 crore nett
• Overall Box Office Verdict: Flop

The article has been written by Bobby Sidhu who is a box office enthusiast from Canada. You can follow him on Twitter https://twitter.com/srkat14.

Disclaimer: The views expressed by the writer do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of Bollywood Arena. If you also want to write for us, send your articles on editor@bollyarena.net.