Alia Bhatt's Raazi crosses Rs 100-crore mark: Here are the norms broken by the film

On Sunday (May 27), Raazi hit a century at the box office, clocking about Rs 102.50 cr at the Indian box office. Unanimous praise by the critics and cine-goers alike ensured that this screen adaptation of Harinder Sikka’s novel Calling Sehmat not only opened with big numbers but also sustained over the weeks.

What makes this achievement noteworthy is that the Alia Bhatt-starrer is a first in many aspects. Junglee Pictures and Dharma Productions’ maiden collaboration is the first heroine-centric non-franchise film and the first movie to be directed by a woman to cross the magical Rs 100-cr mark during the non-festive period. Besides Alia’s moving performance as Sehmat, the rest of the cast, too, has been appreciated for their acting prowess. The espionage thriller, also featuring Vicky Kaushal,  has garnered acclaim in all departments of filmmaking — right from production values to cinematography, music and tight editing.

Veteran distributor and tradesmith Amod Mehra feels it is a breakthrough film. He says, “It has shattered old long-held beliefs that heroine-oriented movies should be made on small budgets as they don’t do much business. Alia now joins Deepika at the number one position.”

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh points out that the Meghna Gulzar directorial has pushed the envelope in many aspects. “While it rides on Alia’s star power, Raazi is a purely content-driven film. It doesn’t have any commercial trappings like an item song. Meghna has kept it real,” he points out. 

While it’s oft-repeated that ‘content is king’, the trade also sees the movie’s success as an eye-opener and a trendsetter. Earlier, though woman-oriented subjects have been attempted, they didn’t have big budgets, despite having an A-list star. The trade is optimistic that this may inspire other filmmakers to explore women-centric subjects and hike up the budgets for them.

Calling this success a great achievement for producers and industry, Taran says, “This gives confidence to people that they can make a story and achieve the numbers. Everyone looks at content, but it also has to be profitable to make the next film. After taking those steps with Talvar, Meghna has taken a giant leap with this film. When a movie like Raazi does well at the BO, it shows that good films will work despite no commercial gimmicks.”

Mehra calls it ‘the modern-day Ghajini’, after the latter, became the first Bollywood film to cross the Rs 100-cr mark at the box office. “Raazi has trashed the notions of what will work and what won’t. It’s a trendsetter and even in its third week, it is the audience’s first choice in theatres and will do a lot more in the coming days,” he concludes.