In the weeks leading up to the release of Simran , all of Kangana Ranaut’s promotional interviews made social media buzz. However, the furore was the result of unfavourable reasons: every interview mentioned her soured past relationships with Aditya Pancholi and Hrithik Roshan. Weeks earlier, Ranaut had been in the news when editor/writer Apurva Asrani took to Facebook to air his grievance about sharing writing credits for Simran ’s screenplay with her. The net result is that Asrani has been credited for screenplay and dialogues while Ranaut has received mention for additional story and dialogues. While little was actually said about the upcoming film during these interviews, people were polarised. Folks were either camp Kangana – calling her fierce, a beacon for feminism, fearless, etc. On the other hand, there were those (like Sona Mohapatra and her open letter) who called out the actor for using her personal life to promote the film.
The hullabaloo hasn’t quite subsided – with recent comparisons drawn between Ranaut’s modified and Asrani’s original script – but for all the drama it caused, Simran has fared below average at the box office. A week in theatres and the film has made a piddly Rs 11.63 crore net. Lucknow Central, which released simultaneously, faced a similar fate, clocking in at Rs 9.29 crore net. Both films add salt to the wounds that are 2017’s low box office earnings.
Hits and misses
Farhan Akhtar’s film comes right after the debacle that was Qaidi Band . In an interview with The Hindu , the actor said that he first came to know of the Yash Raj film after its trailer was released. Obviously, by then it was too late to do anything. Instead we got two films about a band in a jail. Lucknow Central couldn’t rely only on Akhtar’s stardom to lure audiences. “People didn’t go to see Qaidi Band because they knew that the film is bad,” says Girish Johar a trade and business analyst. “They also knew [both the film’s are] similar. It gave them a reason to skip it.”
According to trade experts, Simran failed because of its content. The audience couldn’t reconcile with how easy it is for her character to successfully rob banks. “With Queen , there was a connect with the coming-of-age for an Indian girl. It was relatable to a lot of Indians,” says Shailesh Kapoor of Ormax Media, a firm specialising in media insights. “With Simran , the story was out of India with a character that was not relatable.” Even then, the former opened at only Rs 1.70 core net compared Ranaut’s latest which scored Rs 2.43 crore in its first day. “Her films have relied on word of mouth, feedback and reviews,” says Kapoor. “And female stars don’t get a big opening. It’s limited to four to five [male] stars and everyone else is relying on content,” says Kapoor. But 2017 has proved that not even a big name is enough of a lasso for the audience. Case in point, Salman Khan’s Tubelight and Shah Rukh Khan’s Jab Harry Met Sejal . Now Ranaut is no Khan yet certainly her acting has been praised, with almost all her performances being lauded save for the rare disasters like Rajjo (2013) which suffered huge losses after making a paltry Rs 87.25 lakh of lifetime earnings. Then there are her successes like her debut role as Simran in Gangster (2006), Rani in Queen (2014) or Tanu and Datto in Tanu Weds Manu Returns (2015). But the last three films before Simran , i.e. Rangoon , Katti Batti and I Love NY have tanked at the box office.
Mass appeal
Sreedhar Pillai, a trade analyst says Simran was far superior of the two releases last week. The film found an audience, however limited only in multiplexes, mostly in north India. “She is definitely popular [in the South] because of her previous films with Madhavan,” he says talking about regional restrictions. “Such kind of films [like Simran ] only run in Chennai and a few suburbs, not going beyond that.” Tanu Weds Manu brought Ranaut mass appeal but her fanbase has been restricted to metropolitan cities and the tier II areas in the North. Plus, Pillai laments that our film industry is quite male dominated. “A [double digit] opening only comes to big stars,” he says. “If you piggyback [with their films] you have the chance to penetrate the smallest and most remote of markets.”
Ranaut has deliberately steered clear of playing second fiddle unlike her peers in the industry. Yes, Priyanka Chopra did 7 Khoon Maaf (2011) and Mary Kom (2014) but she’s also done films like Don 2 with Shah Rukh Khan. Sonakshi Sinha may have done Noor (2017) but she also co-starred with Salman Khan in Dabangg (2010) and its sequel. Deepika Padukone did Piku (2015) but she acted alongside Shah Rukh Khan in Om Shanti Om (2008) and Chennai Express (2014).
Star power
While Ranaut has a few multi-cast commercial comedies in her kitty, like Double Dhamaal (2007) and Rascals (2011), her trajectory has seen a marked shift after Krrish 3 (2013) with Hrithik Roshan. “These are the choices she’s making. She refused to play the second lead in Sultan ,” says Kapoor. “But her performance [in Simran ] has been appreciated and there’s a definite sense of the quality she brings to the acting. Unless, you’re as big as Salman then you can’t rely on a big opening.” Box office analysts will argue that the actor needs a mass hit to make an impact. Ranaut now has Manikarnika — The Queen of Jhansi coming up early next year. The big budgeted period film based on the Indian freedom fighter has been written by K.V. Vijayendra Prasad, father of S. S. Rajamouli who has penned the Baahubali films. Although, news reports this week have indicated that Manikarnika ’s budgets had been recently reduced after Simran ’s dismal collections. “Hers is not a typical career graph that we’re used to seeing with female stars,” says Kapoor adding that the upcoming biopic could possibly define Ranaut’s career because of its scale and the sense of expectations from a solo film.
Besides, Bollywood has been seeing a spate of biopics, Mary Kom (2014), Aligarh (2015), M.S. Dhoni The Untold Story (2016), Neerja (2016) and others. Manikarnika could just establish her stardom in the industry if it works well. But when it comes to her current track record, Kapoor concludes that a decade or two down the line, if we are to look back at Bollywood in 2017, Ranaut won’t stand out. “Will it be a legacy she left behind? I think she needs a few more successes to add to the list [for that].”
