As an NRI audience - I found the film targeted too much at Indians living in India. I think they are more likely to want to see tourists attractions in Egypt and England. Not to mention Jana Gana Mana being sung by foreigners (for no apparent reason with tears in their eyes). Of course, Johar is trying to set a balance within the 2 audiences and I find some bits extremely awkward. As for NRI movies being out of vogue - could you be more wrong sknath? Lagaan beat Gadar overall because of overseas collections - otherwise Indians will just fall for anything that sings praises about India no matter how badly it is made; Gadar. Lagaan is considered a far more important film in the international arena than Gadar could ever have dreamed. So I guess the NRI audience isn't quite out of vogue. If it ever happens, I suppose we'll be reverting back those Jeetendra, Sridevi, flowers and matkas and loud gawdy costume days:) God forbid!!

Sunny, the Malays will go absolutely crazy about K3G. I'm so sure of it. It's just their kind of film. As for the average white, they enjoy rubbish like Scream, American Pie, Road Trip - so I don't really care if they like the K3G genre. It wasn't targeted at them anyway. The average white isn't exactly a film connoisseur.

Hmmmm I dont think I can go by the TARAN-ADARSH style of branding...as for Openings...even Mohabbatein and Mission Kashmir had record openings...You mustnt forget in this film there are 3 mega stars (Big B, Shahrukh and Hrithik)..Having been released on a weekend, It is all the more apt that there will be a huge opening. BUt the sustaining point of a film is to keep on having the same crowd week after week ...which makes it a Hit....aka Kaho Na Pyar Hai,...or DTPH...or DDLJ...

In that context I am gratified that ppl will trash this film !

It is most unlikely people will trash this film....... they did not trash mohabettein even though it wasnt even in the league of ddlj or dtph... and this film is much better than mohabettein..... it will surely hold its own..

[quote="filmibuff"][/quote]
Abey Filmi lagta hai tereko abhi Bambai ke tapori bhasa mein bolna padega...Yeh Phillum mein DUM nahi hai... Thanda pad jayega... ( if you understand what I mean)..

Someone here mentioned abt Lagaan being popular amongst NRI-s. Well its but obvious, It was a GOOD FILM ! Very realistic, and of cos, greating acting by Aamir Khan. It even clicked in India, cos of the fact that it was a novel Idea. Now why wont K3G repeat the feat of LAGAAN ? Because the story is hackneyed. Come on folks...the filmi junta has grown tired of watching the same old stuff...

As for fascination of foreign locales..If Yaadein couldnt help its cause, I doubt if K3G can do it ! I'll stick with the songs of K3G ..FB..a hit in India, is not what trade pundits call it..a hit in India is what the Junta call it !

well argue karne se to accha hai ki hum wait kare aur dekhe ki film kya kar sakti hai...... kyu na ham 2-3 hafte intezar karein or dekhe kiski baat mein dum hai otherwise this thread cna go on with each one trying to prove their point cos our point of view doesnt match....... so waqt ke haathon mein chodte hai isko and then we cna come and argue after 3 weeks......

The film will be big with NRI's and Indians alike. We know the film is ill-informed about our lifestyle but we frankly don't care or not improtant enough to Indian film makers. Admit it maybe 80% of us will end up watching the film or buying the forthcoming DVD edition.

Sunny among those 80% who will watch the film will be me, when I land in India later this month ! With me will be my German friend also ... As for the NRI lifestyle SUNNY does it hurt you when they depicty Desi gals as semi to complete sluts in films ? (Yaadein, Aa Ab Laut chale, ABCD etc. ?)

First of all, as far as commercial success is concerned, 'Gadar' is a far, far greater success than 'Lagaan' is. And yes, even after including overseas collections the former statement is true. The reasons why 'Lagaan' is considered a more important film internationally are, for one the fact that it is a far superior film than Gadar. Secondly, the popular and some critical acclaim that Lagaan has gotten from the various festivals it has been viewed at and not due to its success with the NRI populace. As a matter of fact, Lagaan has so far been a commercially losing proposition in the overseas territory. These losses are inspite of very good collections, due to the high price at which the overseas rights were sold. Sony pictures, the overseas distributors of Lagaan, have themselves, made press statements to that effect. Also, it is due to the losses incurred on distributing 'Lagaan' and 'Mission Kashmir', that Sony backed out of their verbal commitment to release 'Asoka' and 'K3G' overseas (that is how unprofessionally Bollywood functions). Shah Rukh himself, has had to release Asoka overseas, while Karan Johar has turned to uncle Yash Chopra to handle the release of 'K3G'. Still it must be said, that inspite of major drops in collections from the NRI market, it still remains a very important market and shall remain so for a long time to come.

There is one thing to keep in mind though. If, and that's a BIG 'IF', Lagaan were to get nominated at the 'Oscars', it should probably rake in quite a fair amount from it's DVD sales. Which might make the equation for Sony to come out in the positive.



Edited By Sanjay on Dec. 16 2001 at 05:18

I would like to add one more point that, K3G was timed for release with the end of Ramadhan, which will give it a boost. However the actual success of this film will be judged when a second Blockbuster releases. As someone has pointed out that it would be better of we wait for 2-3 weeks before we argue abt the success of this film.
Please make note also of the attrition rate of the film. A film which brings vivid memories of such hype happens to be HSSH, release 2 years back. It was hyped beyond proportions and it didnt surprise anyone when the film came a cropper !

Can't argue with that logic. It is far too early to accurately predict the commercial success of 'K3G'. The cost of making the film with the cost of marketing it, being as high as they are, will require weeks of housefull shows for it to turn a profit. Therefore this early euphoria over the great initials that the film has garnered, can in no way accurately be an indicator of the final profits or losses. It is only when the 3rd week advance booking counters open, that some kind of judgement can be made regarding the success or non success of the film. With all the hoopla and hype created by the media and marketing machinery of the Johar's & Chopra's combined, is it at all a surprise that the film would get a record opening?

LAGAAN FAILURE OVERSEAS WAS DUT TO SAME REASONS AS ASOKA BOTH FILM WERE EXPECTING HUGE CROSSOVER AUDIENCES GORES AND KALES A LIKE MARKETING WAS ON A SCALE NEVER SEEN HERE BEFORE (WELL WHO REMBERS THE BIG POSTERS OF SHAAN OUTSIDE HEATHROW AIRPORT)...SONY AND SHA RUKH WENT WELL OVER BUDGET WITH MARKETING TRYING TO AIM THERE MOVIE AT THE CROSS OVER AUDIENCE BUT THIS DID NOT HAPPEN WHICH IS WHY THE FILMS ALTHOUGH HIGHEST EARNERS IN OVERSEAS WERE NOT PROFITABLE OVERSEAS....

I've already seen the movie twice!!
It's class, simply one of the best films i've ever seen!!
For those who are dissing the movie, just watch it and if you don't like it then shut up!!! Don't try to be critics

Mate a film is just a film, you should never take ANY movies to heart, cause that it not its purpose. Its there to entertain. Sure many Indian films show NRI's as drug, sex, parent hating, bias, fast cars, big castles, rich sterotypes. But this has been going on since the 1950's and I don't think bollywood will ever change.

It is no different to how Hollywood cinema treat African-American's/South American's or how the British Cinema treats the German's or the working class.

Lagaan - a failure?? Have you been asleep all this while? Check out Variety's report of Lagaan's standing. It's one of the highest for a Hindi film as far as I know. Over here in Singapore, Lagaan played for several months while Gadar hardly survived a week. I can't imagine anyone getting excited over a Sunny Deol film anyway:) By the way Sanjay, where did you get your information about the total worldwide box office collections for Lagaan abd Gadar?

No one is debating the high box office collections of Lagaan overseas. But the fact remains that inspite of record collections, the movie has been a losing proposition so far in the overseas territory due to its exceptionally high selling price for the overseas territory.

My source for this info, amongst other sources is Sony Television India, who are the overseas distributors for Lagaan. They have in a couple of press statements made remarks to the effect that they have suffered substantial losses with Lagaan. And that coupled with the losses incurred with Mission Kashmir was the primary reason why they backed out of distributing 'Asoka' & 'K3G' overseas.



Edited By Sanjay on Dec. 24 2001 at 21:52