Major versus Prithviraj: Why are there more takers for the contemporary hero?

In spite of the intense push that producers Yash Raj Films and leading man Akshay Kumar have been giving to their prestigious historical Samrat Prithviraj the advance-booking numbers for the film are shockingly low.

Bluntly put, there seems to an abysmally low interest in director Chandraprakash Dwivedi’s big-screen spectacle.  “We don’t know what it is. Perhaps it is because of Akshay Kumar’s last film Bachchan Pandey and Yash Raj’s last release  Jayeshbhai Jordaar, both have serious underperformed. Maybe the combined setback of the two (producer and leading man) has affected the advance booking of  Samrat Prithviraj. We are hoping that the ticket sales would pick up once the film opens on Friday,” says personnel from a leading multiplex chain.

In Hyderabad and the rest of Andhra Pradesh, there are reports of brisk ticket sales for the Adivi Sesh starrer Major which chronicles the life and heroism of  Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan who perished battling terrorists at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai on 9/11/2008. Perhaps it is the reasonable price of tickets that makes Major the first choice of moviegoers in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and also in other pockets of South and North India.Adivi Sesh has personally gone from theatres to multiplex chains to ensure that ticket prices do not come in the way of viewers’ attendance.

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Says Sesh, “One of the reasons why many films have not been doing well is the prohibitive pricing of tickets. For Major I wanted to make sure that tickets are affordable to every individual family and community which would like to see it.  I didn’t want anyone to say, ‘Arrey  nahin bhai. Itne paise main kaun jayega film dekhne.’ Not for my film. I’ve ensured the ticket pricing is under control.” As for the competition at the box office this Friday, Sesh says, “Every film has its own destiny. Also, Samrat Prithviraj is  a very different entity as  compared with Major. One is contemporary history, the other goes way back in time. I wish both films would do well.”

Says Suman Sinha, a major film exhibitor in Bihar. “Major is looking like the cinema that the audience wants. It is about a true-life hero and one who died saving lives on night we Indians will never forget. On the other hand, the mythical valour of Prithviraj Chauhan is also of great interest to audience. There is also Manushi Chillar who is making her debut and Sanjay Dutt who is big hit as a villain after KFG. So, I wouldn’t be in a hurry to write off Samrat Prithviraj.”

Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha.

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