Vicky Kaushal‘s ‘Chhaava‘ has been doing exceptionally well at the box office. The film has become Vicky’s biggest hit so far. It also stars Rashmika mandanna and Akshaye Khanna. While Vicky has played the role of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj. While the film is soaked in our history and culture, the significant box office response has been a huge encouragement for the industry. 2025 has begun on an encouraging note with the success of ‘Chhaava’. Does this re-instate the fact that only films built on such a large canvas or those which are larger-than-life are working at the box office? ETimes discusses with some trade experts.
Larger-than-life visually!
It’s usually the larger-than-life visual appeal of such movies which make people rush to cinema halls to see movies and not wait for the time it releases on OTT. Trade expert Taran Adarsh says, “The audience has really come back to theatres in a very big way. And somewhere down the line, this is, this is our cinema, this is our story. I think, you know, certain films are meant to be enjoyed on the big screen only. And I genuinely believe that the charm of the big screen can never fade.”
Trade expert Girish Wankhede further elaborates it and adds, “‘Chhaava’ is super successful after Pushpa 2 only because people come to cinemas only when it is larger than life, spectacular, which is a film which offers them not only engaging story but something they can celebrate with their friends and families. Now, film watching is more of a group and community work where they go with their friends and families on the weekends because individually they opt for OTT and content-driven films. To celebrate larger-than-life cinema, they usually go in groups and that’s why there are always an average group booking of 3-4 tickets, which is only because this cinema of larger-than-life characters and then there is the segment of history, spectacular things, great music, great performances, and a lot of mouth-grows, people flock to cinemas only because they won’t be able to enjoy that spectacular experience which they find in bigger screens at their homes.”
Producer and trade expert Girish Johar says, “‘Chhaava’ brings them lot of positive to the industry. The audiences want to watch big scale movies and Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Rashmika – the performances are outstanding, which created the urgency to need watch the film on a big screen rather than wait for two-three months delay in watching the film on OTT. The story was presented in a very intriguing and entertaining manner and the results are for everyone to see.”
Big IDEA is what counts
Exhibitor-Distributor Akshaye Rathi opines that it’s the big idea that works usually. He says, “For film fans, for big numbers, what really matters more than the big scale in production values is the big idea, the big intrinsic value, right? While ‘Chhaava’ is doing phenomenally well, not too long ago, we had Stree 2. Now, in terms of production values in scale, there was not too much that was happening in the film. It was not like a ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ or a ‘Bahabali‘ or ‘RRR’ in terms of size and scale. But in terms of its potential appeal in the context of the syntax of storytelling, it just appealed to the widest audience possible. Similarly, if you go back and look at ‘Animal’ right? If you actually watch the film, frame to frame and observe this, there are hardly any big frames, wide angle shots.”
Taran Adarsh also echoes a similar sentiment and says that ‘Chhaava’ worked because it’s our hero’s story. “‘Chhaava’ is a historical, but it is our story, our country’s story, one of our hero’s story. People need to watch these films as we need to encourage these kinds of stories. Because there are so many heroes in our country that, you know, I don’t understand why we make films on different subjects when we can make films on, on our heroes,” he says.
Rooted in culture and reach to the masses
A while ago, Naga Wamsi passed a comment that Bollywood movies are not working because they are just making movies for people from Juhu to Bandra. What one notices is that the movies which have worked are the movies which have actually connected to people, not just in big cities like Mumbai and Delhi but also small towns and two-tier, three-tier centres. Be it ‘Stree 2’, ‘Pushpa 2’ or now ‘Chhaava’.
Wankhede adds, “If Pushpa works everywhere, it means it has some value which a rural guy can connect with. The same thing applies for ‘Stree 2’, the film is like a folk lore and connects to the B and C towns. It is not a purely urban film. It is a typical Indian film which has got its root everywhere. Cities are also made by the people who are coming from the villages. So, we have a great opportunity where we can work on Indian themes, our rooted themes, our heroes who are larger than life, but still have an affiliation or a connect with the rural masses. The way Vicky has been able to connect to everybody, the way Pushpa has been.”
Akshaye adds, “If I have to really put a word to it, and get a little technical, I’ll call it intellectual accessibility of the audience. To how wide and deep an audience, is it intellectually accessible or emotionally accessible. So you can make a film at serious scale. And some of the biggest Hollywood films, like say, ‘Interstellar’. But does that appeal to a guy in Jhansi or Akola? In ‘Chhaava’, if you see even the war sequences are less. But people are connecting to the last 30 minutes of the film where the lead is just tied and tortured. So, that is connecting to people emotionally or intellectually, which is what works.”
He added, “For these sort of numbers to happen, there’s no blockbuster of this size and scale that has just been a multiplex hit, right? For these sort of numbers, you need the entire country, tier one, two, three, multiplexes, single screens, everyone to start chipping in. And that’s when these numbers happen. In a best case scenario for a blockbuster film, the contribution of the multiplexes is not more than 30 to 40%. In the case of films like Pushpa, it comes down to being as less as 20, 22% for National chains.”
Wankhede concludes, “Cities are also made by the people who are coming from the villages. So, we have a great opportunity where we can work on Indian themes, our rooted themes, our heroes who are larger than life, but still have an affiliation or a connect with the rural masses. The way Vicky has been able to connect to everybody, the way Pushpa has been. And similar to that, all the super hit films, still we get along with Dangal as one of the biggest films in our history, only because it has everything from rural to inspiration to urban to everything. That’s why Dangal is still the biggest film and Pushpa 2 is the second biggest film.”
Right Budget
While a movie may be getting those big numbers, it’s also the budget which really counts. A movie may end up collecting Rs 300 crores but if the budget is exceeding that, it will not make any profit. A right budgeting along with the content is the key. In terms of the return on investment as well, ‘Chhaava’ is profitable. Adarsh says, “It boils down to the content as well as the budget. Content comes first and then the budget comes in, where you need to make it a very controlled within your budget film so that, you know, even if it’s accepted, you can recover the money. Otherwise there are many instances where the producers have barely recovered any, the cost of production and, you know, they have gone into losses, though the film has been appreciated because it’s a high cost. So I think that needs to be controlled also.”
Girish Johar says, “I’m pretty much sure that the producers have recovered all their investments and cost as well. I’m pretty confident that the way the film is behaving, they have recovered all their investments and it’s a win-win situation for them.”
