The battle of the Box Office: Pagglait, Saina, The Silence & 7 Kadam

A  death-defining rom-com, a sports biopic, a murder mystery, and a father-son drama…The box office this Friday revels in diversity.

Paglaitt and Saina both feature a female hero as their protagonist.  While Saniya Malhotra(Dangal, Ludo, Badhaai Ho) plays a  newly-widowed wife trapped in a tragedy that she cannot comprehend or process, in Saina Parineeti  Chopra, in her third release within a month, is absolutely brilliant as badminton champ  Saina Nehwal.

While Saina opens in movie theatres in the midst of the growing pandemic, Pagglait will go straight on Netflix.

However, box office figures will be comparable, since the digital performance has a razor-sharp Box office barometer attached to its releases. Netflix would know exactly the number of people who watch Pagglait on March 26 when it opens. Having seen the film I know the response would be pretty much overwhelming.

Saina, on the other hand, would have to battle all odds, not just in the badminton court but in the movie theatres. Would the story of  Saina Nehwal be interesting enough to pull audiences back to theatres? It all depends on how convincing  Parineeti’s  Nehwal act is. It is nigh impossible for an actor to play a living person convincingly, especially one who is in the limelight. Sushant Singh Rajput pulled it off in Dhoni The Untold Story. Parineeti’s gamely acting has to be measured in a  balanced perspective.

The Silence: Can You Hear  It is Aban Bharucha Deohans's (eminent cinematographer Kiran Deohans wife)  ’s directorial debut.  In  January another female director Renuka Shahane made her favourable directorial debut with Tribhanga: Tedhi Medhi Crazy. The Silence is a murder mystery with National award winner Manoj Bajpai investigating a gruesome murder. This one will stream from March 26 on Zee5. No previews as the producers don’t want to give away the mystery.

Finally, there is  7 Kadam, from Eros Now. It’s a feature film that has weirdly been split into a 4-part series by the producers. Directed by Mohit Jha it features the talented duo Ronit Roy and  Amit Sadh as a father and son battling over games of football. May the best man win.

And let's not forget Adam Wingard's Godzilla vs.  KingKong which is a global blockbuster even before release. It is the kind of spectacular visual experience that can drag the audience back into theatres. Covid be damned.