Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil
‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ and ‘Shivaay’ hit the screens last week amidst a lot of controversy and festivities. While both the Bollywood movies received mixed reviews at the Box Office, Karan Johar directed love story won the battle at the ticket windows. ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ collected Rs 13.30 crore on its opening day and went on to make an impressive Rs 66.38 crore at the end of five-day-long weekend. ‘Shivaay’, on the other hand, made Rs 10.24 crore on Day One and went on to collect Rs 45.91 crore at the end of four days, fifth day figures being still awaited. Trade suggests that ‘Shivaay’ has received a lot of positive word of mouth and may record some positive numbers in the days to come.
Post the festivities of Diwali, Karan Johar visited several theatres across the city to gauge the reaction to ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’. The filmmaker apparently interacted with fans and was happy to pose for selfies with the pouring crowds. It is expected that ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ will make it to the Rs 100 crore club by the end of this week, while ‘Shivaay’ may have to do longer business for the same!
The USP of ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ were its celebs and cinema world’s top stars, Ranbir Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Anushka Sharma, Fawad Khan, and Shah Rukh Khan in a cameo. That the film is directed by Karan Johar was an added advantage, as the writer-director-producer returned to silver screen wielding the megaphone after four years, last one being ‘Bombay Talkies’ and ‘Student of The Year’ in 2012. Between 2012 and 2016, Johar had produced 11 movies but didn’t direct any. There were also controversies about casting Pakistani celebrity Fawad Khan in the film, which backfired on KJo just before the release. This could have worked in favour of ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ to an extent as the Bollywood movie stayed in the news for long. Hence people would have queued up to catch the movie first day first show.
As for ‘Shivaay’, it was mainly publicised on the fact that it was Ajay Devgn’s first directorial venture. Starring Ajay Devgn, Sayyeshaa Saigal and Erika Kaar amongst other celebrities, both ‘Shivaay’ and ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ were also caught in a web of controversies, thanks to a certain Mr Kamaal R Khan, aka KRK. Having gone through a huge rollercoaster ride, the Box Office verdict is finally out, and it seems to be favouring ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ against ‘Shivaay’ for the time being.
