The 'Power' Of 'Emotionally' Connecting

For those who have watched AE DIL HAI MUSHKIL ('ADHM') & SHIVAAY, you may relate to this - - - there is an 'AYAAN' in each of us - - - there is a 'SHIVAAY' in each of us!

During the most sought-after box office weekend, which is Diwali, Fox Star Studios released AE DIL HAI MUSHKIL ('ADHM') domestically on 3,000 screens (1900 multiplex screens and 1100 single screens) and on 1,000 screens across 65 countries internationally. SHIVAAY released on over 3,000 screens domestically and on 485 screens across 60 countries internationally.

Says Apoorva Mehta, CEO Dharma Productions, 'Between Fox and Dharma, we ensured that all the film's communication, integrations, and partnerships revolved around our core positioning of celebrating Diwali with AE DIL HAI MUSHKIL.'

Says Jayantilal Gada, Chairman, Pen India, 'There was stupendous growth in domestic box office collections for SHIVAAY on Monday, after Diwali. We are delighted with the overall box office collections!!'

Both the films consciously aimed at targeting different segments of audiences and also intended at 'emotionally-connecting'. Even the cost of each of the films was around Rs 100 crore, which includes production and marketing costs.

ADHM successfully targeted the multiplex and international audiences. Meghna Gulzar's tweet clearly summarizes the emotional connect, 'What a tight walk ADHM is! So fragile and yet so consuming…You had me at 'dard tha?' @karanjohar!!'

Beyond doubt, Karan Johar is a creative maverick and well ahead of our times. The performances of Ranbir, Anushka, and Aishwarya were commendable. There is so much depth in the film's screenplay, dialogues, and in the lyrics of most of the film's songs. For anyone who has been through the journey of love, friendship, and maybe even a breakup, ADHM is a must-watch film.

An innovative marketing idea was to see 'Ae Dil Ki Facebook' - the first ever association that Facebook has done in India with any film. Also the Radio Mirchi innovation saw Ranbir and Anushka wish Diwali to 30 cities of India.

SHIVAAY successfully targeted the single-screen audiences and also appealed to children. Satish Kaushik's four-year old daughter, Vanshika loved watching the film!

SHIVAAY was mounted as an adventurous family entertainer, with thrilling action sequences at a much larger scale than ever seen before. The film's official trailer, which was released three months ago, received rave reviews. Ajay Devgn appears to be a natural actor and he continues to have a very strong appeal with his fans. One can only comprehend the effort that Ajay put into creating the film's special effects. Some of the film's scenes are truly remarkable and worth watching.

In terms of branding, the names of both the films were very impacting. Thereby conveying an effective message about the genre of the film. Both the film's title music tracks also worked out very well.

For ADHM, the music rights were placed with Sony Music at a price of almost Rs 20 crore, which is a record in itself. Four of the film's songs are part of the top charts of Apple Music.

For SHIVAAY, the music rights were placed with T-Series for Rs 5 crore. The film's music was well promoted on MTunes since Pen India is a stakeholder in the music channel and in the film.

From a television-marketing standpoint, The Kapil Sharma Show strongly endorsed/promoted both the films. The content in these episodes was impressive and entertaining.

First twelve days domestic net box office collection for ADHM is at almost Rs 100 crore and for SHIVAAY it is slightly over Rs 80 crore.

ADHM earned an impressive gross box office of Rs 67 crore from overseas and considerable tax rebates from the UK & Austria.

SHIVAAY earned approximately Rs 8 crore for the overseas theatrical territory.

The satellite rights of both films were also placed at approximately Rs 45 crore.

ADHM placed its Digital Rights with Amazon - Prime Video India on a non-exclusive basis for the India territory and on an exclusive basis for the overseas territory. The digital rights are estimated to have been around Rs 10 crore.

The digital rights of SHIVAAY were placed with a private entity for Rs 10 crore.

Overall, ADHM is profitable and SHIVAAY is on its way to profitability!