With Brahmastra ending Bollywood’s dry spell at the Box Office, it seems to have cracked the cheat-sheet of doing numbers in post-pandemic times. How & why did it work? Read the article that analyses the possible reasons.

With Laal Singh Chaddha, a much anticipated and big release doing a lifetime business of approx. Rs.60 crores at the Indian Box-Office, the future of Bollywood became a question. Prior to Laal Singh Chaddha, countless films fared the same fate, finding a tough time to even break-even with their budgets.

Another much anticipated release was the Ranbir-Alia starrer ‘Brahmastra’ helmed by Ayan Mukherjee and produced by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions. Ayan Mukherjee comes back to screen after 10 whole years! His last film Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani released in 2012 and was a blockbuster hit. Since then, he has been working on Brahmastra and it finally is releasing after being in production for about 4 years since 2018.

The riskiest genre for any ‘Made-In-India’ film is adventure-fantasy or superhero sci-fi. Indian superhero films and fantasy projects have never received the Marvel like craze or appreciation. Ayan Mukherjee risked it all with his ambition of making a sci-fi fantasy superhero movie in the backdrop of Indian Mythology. A decade of work and that too in a genre which has burnt down many. However, Ayan has been pretty successful. Even if he hasn’t hit it out of the park with the film and nor is the film excellent, it is still a great attempt and a decent watch. And also, it is doing pretty well at the ticket window.

Without getting more in the debate of good or bad, let’s concentrate on numbers. As per reports, the opening day worldwide collection of Brahmastra was Rs. 75 crores (gross). The three-day worldwide collection of the film stands at Rs. 225 crores (gross). If the trend and predictions are to be believed, it is to do a minimum lifetime business of Rs. 500 crores (gross).

The film due to its extravagant star cast, high value SFX and VFX, high marketing cost and multiple production delays totalled at a budget of Rs. 410 crores making it one of the most expensive Bollywood films. While this is a pretty high budget to recover, especially in the post-pandemic era, Brahmastra will be able to easily break-even. Adding up the revenue from Music, Satellite and Digital Rights, it will leave the producers some profits too.

However, the real question is- What is it that Brahmastra did right and the countless Bollywood films that released post-pandemic including 83, Samrat Prithviraj, Shamshera, Laal Singh Chaddha etc. failed to do? Here’s what in my opinion worked well with Brahmastra.

Release as a PAN India Film
Since Bahubali, Dharma Productions now has strong roots in the South Movie Industry as well. It made Brahmastra in 4 languages leveraging big south stars for dubbing. Also, Telegu super-star Nagarjuna plays a pivotal role in the film. This integration and inclusion played a big factor in the performance.

The brand value of Ranbir-Alia
Ever since their dating days, the duo has been one of the most talked-of couple. They have been making even more noise ever since their Wedding in April and then the announcement of their baby just 2 months later in June. They never left the prime-time news. Not only this, Alia has been giving fantastic performances back-to-back and has established herself as the top Bollywood Actress as well as a top Heroine. Ranbir too has a massive fan following and can drive a huge audience to the theatres for him.

Marketing
Brahmastra’s marketing efforts have been commendable. Teaser to the Poster, Poster Launch, Teaser Launch, Trailer Launch, Gradual release of Songs & Music Vidoes, on point Digital Marketing as well as the old school tactics. The makers did it all and left no stone unturned to make headlines.

Original Concept
A wave of south remakes and adaptations have bitten Bollywood. Cuttputli, Good Luck Jerry, HIT, Nikamma, Jersey etc. are some of the films that are remakes of popular South Indian films. Whereas inter-alia, Laal Singh Chaddha, DoBaara are adaptations of international movies. Amidst this wave, Brahmastra stands out being an Original Concept. Though a lot of inspiration has been drawn from Hollywood superhero and fantasy films like Marvel, Harry Potter, Twilight etc., the blending of Indian Mythology with a superhero concept is a first for Indian Cinema.

Big Screen Experience
The VFX and Special Effects of Brahmastra are top-notch and of international standards making it an out and out big screen experience. The film has been released in 3D and IMAX formats as well for the best audience experience. Audience these days prefer logicless but cinematic movies for the cinema outing and are reserving the mellow and mindful content for a OTT watch. The success of South Indian movies like Pushpa, RRR and Hollywood Movies like Top Gun Maverick and Marvel releases proves this change in preference. Brahmastra is exactly able to deliver this on the audience’s plate – a grand big-screen spectacle that can be enjoyed with family. Not only SFX and VFX, this film also has great songs shot against beautiful locations making the film all the more enjoyable.

That’s my take on why Brahmastra is doing a decent business at the box-office. What’s your review of Brahmastra? Let me know in the comments.
Note: Box-office collection numbers and budgets are as per the data on www.boxofficeindia.com and as posted by Dharma Productions on social media platforms. Please note, for ease of comparison of the box-office numbers against the budget, gross numbers have been taken into account. Usually, the Net Collection, which is calculated after deducting the exhibitor’s share and taxes, is shared by the Producer and Distributor. Furthermore, other revenue streams i.e., Satellite, Digital and Music have been ignored.