Anurag Kashyap’s Dobaaraa, starring Taapsee Pannu, has not done too well at the box office. As per film trade analyst Taran Adarsh, the movie only collected Rs 72 lakhs at the box office. Another analyst, Sumit Kadel, noted that the film was off to a “disastrous” start, with many halls showing only 2-3% occupancy and several early shows getting cancelled due to no audience.
Prior to the film’s release, Kashyap and Pannu had jokingly asked audiences to boycott their upcoming film, speaking of the general trends of cancel culture in the film industry and how big budget projects like Laal Singh Chaddha and Raksha Bandhan have fallen prey to it.
The 49-year-old director told Pinkvilla “I am used to it. It affects those who’s films do over Rs. 100 crore. My films have not even gone beyond Rs. 32 crore. For me, it is nothing new. I have been boycotted since the time Twitter started. Ask me questions that affect me”, when speaking of boycott trends on social media.
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Pannu, 35, added “I feel out of place when even biggies are being boycotted. Who wouldn’t want to be in the league of Aamir Khan and Akshay Kumar? Please boycott us too. Don’t leave us.”
Audiences took the challenge to heart, with one individual posting a clip of the interview and promising to put Dobara in the same league as Aamir Khan’s Forrest Gump remake.
As more people jumped onto the bandwagon, #boycottDobaaraa began trending on social media.
Despite Dobaara making a weak opening, there’s still hope that the weekend will see fortunes turn. Amid the internet furore over Pannu’s comments, it is easy to miss Kashyap’s inputs where the director has also noted that his favourite cricketer is Geoffrey Boycott and when someone mentions the word, he feels there’s really going to be some good batting up ahead. The man who made Gangs of Wasseypur holds out the same hope for Dobaaraa.
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The director also questioned whether those who are eager to boycott movies now ever really went to theatres to watch them in the first place.
The Dobaaraa team is keeping their chins up after the weak opening as well. Pannu shared a post, saying “The immense love we are getting from our pre releasing screenings have made us realise we miss the joy of making a GOOD FILM in the garb on box office success.”
Adarsh has noted that while Pannu’s recent venture hasn’t been a success, the movie has still fared better than her last outing as Indian cricketer Mithali Raj in Srijit Mukherji’s Shabaash Mithu.
The biographical sports drama had opened to a meagre Rs 40 lakhs on day one at the box office.
Dobaaraaa is a remake of the Spanish movie Mirage and deals with time travel. While the film has thus far fared poorly at the box office, reviews have been positive somewhat, giving the Kashyap project a chance to turn the tides against the boycotters.
