This year’s grand Diwali release, Ramayana, will neither arrive on the day of the festival nor on the lucrative post-Diwali holiday. Instead, the makers have decided to bring the much-awaited epic to cinemas on Thursday, November 5, that is, will release three days before the Festival of Lights. The decision has surprised the trade and industry. After all, the days leading up to Diwali are traditionally considered dull for the movie business. Audiences are busy with last-minute preparations, shopping and festivities, resulting in reduced footfalls. Even on Diwali, collections tend to dip significantly during the evening hours due to Lakshmi Puja.
Moreover, times have changed. Today, a film can face considerable negativity if its opening collections fall short of expectations, even when the numbers are affected by the pre-Diwali period. This was evident in the case of Krrish 3 (2013). The Hrithik Roshan-starrer was released on Friday, November 1, while Diwali fell on Sunday, November 3. As expected, its collections over the first three days were good but not extraordinary. It was only on Monday, November 4, that the business went to another level, making it clear that the film was heading towards massive success. A similar pattern was witnessed with Housefull 4 (2019), which also released two days before Diwali. The Akshay Kumar-starrer saw a significant jump in collections from its fourth day, once the festive period was over.
This explains why a trend emerged with Happy New Year (2014), when filmmakers increasingly began targeting the day after Diwali for their big-ticket releases. The strategy allowed films to capitalize on the lucrative holiday and register extraordinary opening-day collections. Besides Happy New Year, films like Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (2015), Golmaal Again (2017) and Thugs Of Hindostan (2018) benefited immensely from the post-Diwali holiday.
And now, the makers of Ramayana have decided to go against the prevailing trend by arriving well before the festival. Interestingly, the advance booking trends indicate that a bumper opening is assured. But is the pre-Diwali period necessarily a disadvantage for a film carrying extraordinary buzz? Bollywood Hungama went back in time to examine several films that released in the days leading up to Diwali and still emerged as major successes.
Past pre-Diwali hits
One of the biggest examples is Amitabh Bachchan's Mard (1985). Just like Ramayana, it arrived four days before Diwali. That year, the festival was celebrated on Tuesday, November 12, while the Manmohan Desai entertainer had a grand release on Friday, November 8. Yet, the film managed to attract audiences in huge numbers right from its opening day.
Trade veteran Taran Adarsh told Bollywood Hungama, “I remember the craze for Mard. It was unimaginable, that too from the first day of release. It had Amitabh Bachchan and Manmohan Desai coming together. It couldn’t have gotten bigger than that, in those days.”
In 1992, Ajay Devgn's Jigar released on Friday, October 23, while Diwali fell on Sunday, October 25. A year later, Shah Rukh Khan's Baazigar arrived on Friday, November 12, just a day before Diwali, which was celebrated on Saturday, November 13. Both films went on to become hits.
The 1995 Diwali season witnessed the release of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. The Shah Rukh Khan-Kajol romantic drama arrived on Friday, October 20, while Diwali was celebrated on Monday, October 23 (though, as per information on the internet, a section of the population celebrated it on Tuesday, October 25). Its initial collections were not extraordinary, but the film gathered tremendous momentum as the festive holidays began. Ultimately, it emerged as the biggest hit of 1995 and went on to create history.
Raj Bansal, who released Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge in Rajasthan, however, told us, “Though DDLJ released a few days before Diwali, it did huge business since the day of its release. Mard was an action film and front-loaded and hence, it probably had a greater advantage.”
A year later, Sunny Deol's Ghatak released on Friday, November 8, 1996, while Diwali fell on Sunday, November 10. Despite arriving before the festival, the action entertainer opened strongly and went on to become one of the year's biggest successes.
In 1998, Bollywood witnessed one of the biggest Diwali clashes of the decade when Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Bade Miyan Chote Miyan arrived together on Friday, October 16. Diwali fell on Tuesday, October 20, making it a situation similar to Mard and Ramayana. Interestingly, the pre-Diwali effect was hardly visible in their opening performances. Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, starring Amitabh Bachchan and Govinda, registered the biggest opening of 1998, while Shah Rukh Khan's Kuch Kuch Hota Hai also opened well. Both films enjoyed encouraging opening weekends, demonstrating that strong audience interest can overcome the traditional pre-Diwali slowdown.
Another interesting example is Hum Saath Saath Hain (1999). The Salman Khan-starrer arrived on Friday, November 5, while Diwali fell on Sunday, November 7. The Sooraj Barjatya directorial was released on a grand scale. However, the pre-Diwali period did affect its initial collections, which were below their full potential, even though it registered the third-biggest opening of 1999. But once the festive period was over, the film witnessed a substantial jump in business. The collections went from strength to strength, and Hum Saath Saath Hain ultimately emerged as the biggest hit of the year.
To conclude
The pre-Diwali effect is certainly real, and history has repeatedly demonstrated that even some of the biggest films can witness relatively subdued collections before the festival. However, history also shows that films carrying extraordinary buzz and strong audience interest can overcome this challenge.
This is what makes Ramayana's release strategy particularly fascinating. The film is arriving with unprecedented expectations, immense curiosity and the advantage of being one of the most eagerly awaited spectacles in Indian cinema.
As per trade estimates, Ramayana is looking at an opening of Rs. 60-70 crores, which would make it one of the biggest Hindi openers of all time. If a film can open to such a massive figure before Diwali, one can only imagine the box office numbers it could generate from Monday, November 9, especially if the content clicks big time.
Pre-Diwali successes in the last 41 years
1985
Diwali on Tuesday, November 12
Mard released on November 8
1992
Diwali on Sunday, October 25
Ajay Devgn's Jigar released on October 23
1993
Diwali on Saturday, November 13
Baazigar released on November 12
1995
Diwali on Monday, October 23 or Tuesday, October 24
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge released on October 20
1996
Diwali on Monday, November 11
Ghatak released on November 8
1998
Diwali on Tuesday, October 20
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Bade Miyan Chote Miyan released on October 16
1999
Diwali on Monday, November 8
Hum Saath Saath Hain released on November 5
2006
Diwali on Saturday, October 21
Don released on October 20
2013
Diwali on Sunday, November 3
Krrish released on November 1
2016
Diwali on Sunday, October 30
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Shivaay released on October 28
2019
Diwali on Sunday, October 27
Housefull 4 released on October 25
More Pages: Ramayana - Part I Box Office Collection , Ramayana - Part I Movie Review
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