Trade analyst Atul Mohan stated, “In the spotlight this week is the release of Ranbir Kapoor’s ‘Animal,’ boasting a runtime of 3 hours and 22 minutes. Concerns arise regarding potential impacts on show frequency due to extended ad durations. ‘Animal’s’ A certificate and initial reactions hint at possible hesitations among family audiences also. But despite all this, ‘Animal’ is all set to become the highest opener for Ranbir in the range around 35-40 crore.”
While historic Hindi cinema featured celebrated lengthy films like ‘Mughal-E-Azam’ (3 hours 8 minutes), ‘Sholay’ (3 hours 18 minutes), and ‘Lagaan’ (3 hours 44 minutes), along with ‘Hum Aapke Hai Koun!’ and others, times have evolved, reshaping audience preferences in entertainment consumption. In an era where shorter formats gain traction, it remains to be seen how ‘Animal’s’ duration influences its reception at the box office.
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While Mohan expresses concern over the duration of ‘Animal,’ Girish Wankhede has a different take on it. He said, “The length will never make much of a difference because if the film is good, people will come, and they will enjoy it. Now it is not a new practice to have a film with a length of more than three and a half hours. Recently, ‘The Killers of the Flower Moon’ and even ‘Openheimer’ and ‘Napoleon,’ these are bigger films, and they are doing well. In the early olden days, from ‘Mera Naam Joker,’ which used to have two intervals to films of Raj Kapoor and even Sooraj Barjatya. They used to be with a bigger length. So if the film has that much intensity and engagement for the audience, people will not complain. If the length is more than three hours, still people in this time also will enjoy it because it has a certain star potential. It has got huge star value, performers, performers, and then even the film has got great excitement because of it still. So I think it should not be any hindrance. Yes, the number of shows will decrease because of the length of the film, but as we are opening the film at 9 AM show now, some of the multiplexes are even starting the shows as early as 8 AM, and it won’t be surprising if we are Saturday and Sunday with the demand if we do the shows in the night as well. So it was one opportunity which we could not escape because of the length of the film. It’s an opportunity in disguise, so we should make the most of it.”
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