Box Office: Varun Dhawan’s October HEAVILY Dependent On Word of Mouth Publicity

Next week will see the release of Shoojit Sircar’s October, which stars Varun Dhawan and Banita Sandhu in lead. The theatrical trailer of the film was launched around a month back and despite finding appreciation on the social media, the trailer has failed to create the desired excitement among the movie going audience.

The 2 and a half minute long theatrical trailer failed to give any idea about the plot of the film, thereby confusing the audience.

Too add on to the woes, even the music of the film didn’t create the desired impact. The music album of the film is devoid of a single chart-buster, an area where Dhawan’s last not so commercial outing, Badlapur, had an upper hand.

Prior to the release of Badlapur, songs like Jee Kar Da and Jeena Jeena were instant chartbusters, however that isn’t the case with October. Previous Shoojit Sircar films like Piku, Madras Café, Vicky Donor where meant for the multiplex audience, however based on the promotional material, the appeal of October seems to be lower than his previous works.

On the face of it, the subject of the film seems to be extremely dry and appeasing mainly towards the high-end multiplexes in Mumbai, and Delhi. While Varun Dhawan’s strength so far has been children and family audience, this film seems to be more appealing towards the youth who prefer to watch international cinema.

The only pre-release benefit which October has right now are the controlled costs and Varun Dhawan’s presence. Unlike most of the Varun Dhawan film that are front loaded as far as the biz is concerned, the outcome of October heavily depends on the word of mouth. Varun Dhawan’s association with the project will grab some eyeballs and get a certain amount of audience in the cinema hall, however a double digit opening currently looks out of picture.