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Vidya Balan hopes for a 2011 re-run

Actress hopes to repeat history and break ‘first Friday’ jinx with Begum Jaan, five years after No One Killed Jessica

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Pic: Rick Roy
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Traditionally, films that release in the first weekend of the year have had a poor record at the box-office. Most films adventurous enough to release at that time over the years have seen bad runs.

Not on January 7, 2011, though. That’s when No One Killed Jessica, starring Vidya Balan released. The gritty drama turned out to be a surprise success at the BO. Come 2017, Vidya would be hoping history repeats itself for her next, Begum Jaan, expected to release on January 6.

On its release, NOKJ didn’t just open well but also went on to gain a lot from word-of-mouth and eventually amass around Rs 30 crore. It would prove to be a one-off phenomenon. Players (2012) and Mr Joe B Carvalho (2014), turned out to be mega-disasters. In 2015 and 2016, all major filmmakers stayed away from the first Friday of the year. In 2013, Table No 21 did well, though purely on ROI (return on investment) basis.

“There are reasons other than superstitions or the jinx factor,” says a filmmaker, adding “Typically, a very big film arrives on the Christmas weekend. That traditionally spills over to the next year and hence there are no major screens available for the new films. Not that audiences do not watch films, but then they have their options in place to watch Ranveer Singh’s Bajirao Mastani (2015), Aamir Khan’s PK (2014) and Dhoom:3 (2013), Salman Khan’s Dabangg 2 (2012) and Shah Rukh Khan’s Don 2 (2011) in the spillover year.”

This translates into the fact that Vidya Balan would be practically competing with Aamir Khan’s Dangal (December 23, 2016) which would be in the running by the time Begum Jaan arrives.

“Well, that would indeed make things interesting,” our source comments, “When NOKJ had released in 2011, the film had practically arrived solo with no competition in sight since 2010 Christmas releases Tees Maar Khan and Toonpur Ka Superhero had already ended their run in a jiffy. Hence, there was no competition for the film and audiences were waiting for an entertainer to arrive. Guess audiences are in for a treat this time around, since soon after Dangal comes Vidya’s Begum Jaan, which belongs to an altogether different genre.” Another home run for VB?

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