The upcoming Eid ul Fitr has lately witnessed a lot of confusion, in terms of which movies will be releasing on the occasion. Three movies were supposed to release on the day – Wrong No.2, Chhalawa, and Maula Jutt. Then Maula Jutt bowed out of the Eid race with no announcement of when the film would release and we still don’t know when it finally would. Seeing the spot being vacated by Maula Jutt, there were rumors of Baaji filling in the spot and preponing its release to clash with Wrong No.2 and Chhalawa.
However, nothing concrete came out of those rumors. And now with Eid barely two weeks away from us, both Chhalawa and Wrong No.2 are the only movies remaining in the race. So, the question that is to be asked is – will their Eid gamble pay off?
Will Wajahat Rauf and Yasir Nawaz’s release date gamble pay off?
We already talked about the prospect of Hollywood releases outshining the local releases from a box office perspective. With the Bollywood ban in place and a giant movie like Maula Jutt not releasing on its first announced Eid date, the effects are bound to be felt on the performances of Chhalawa and Wrong No.2.
We reached out to the directors of the two movies, Wajahat Rauf and Yasir Nawaz, to get their statements about this clash that was avoided.
“It was a conscious decision to release it with Maula Jutt.” Said Wajahat Rauf about his film Chhalawa. “Our movies have different genres and with no Bollywood films releasing, it gives us a more open ground to perform. But the pressure to fill the cinemas is there. So, fingers crossed.”
Yasir Nawaz said, “All the three movies that were announced to be released had different genres. Wrong No.2 is pure comedy, Chhalawa is a rom-com, and Maula Jutt is an action film. The audience would have watched what they preferred out of the three.” On the topic of the clash with Maula Jutt, Yasir maintained the stand that they were not bothered about the clash. “We are very confident about our film and have full faith in our product. Whether Maula Jutt comes or Baaji comes, we are not bothered. Every film will earn as per the hard work the team has put in it.” However, Yasir did say that it would be better for the filmmakers to announce release dates that they feel confident in, instead of shuffling them around at the last minute as it creates confusion.
What’s with the lack of buzz about Wrong No.2 and Chhalawa?
Being the only two local releases on the Eid, the pressure to perform is high for both the movies. With no support from any Bollywood release to contribute to the footfalls as well one of the most anticipated Pakistani films ever yet again delaying its release, it becomes important for both Wrong No.2 and Chhalawa to create strong buzz to attract the audience.
With the majority of the promotions to be held during the month of Ramzan, doesn’t it cause problems for the movies to promote the movies?
“Yes, the month of Ramzan does affect how we plan our promotional strategies,” said Wajahat Rauf. “My last two films were non-Eid releases and it is a bit difficult to promote films during Ramzan. But we are doing the best we can and the buzz is already strong for our movie.”
Yasir Nawaz, on the other hand, had a more detailed plan on Wrong No.2’s promotions. “My last two films were also Eid ul Fitr releases so we know how to navigate the month of Ramzan for our promotions. There was a conscious decision of starting our promotions after the 15th Roza as by then everyone is settled into the routine of the month and it becomes easier to do things. We will soon embark on the Punjab leg of the promotions and are already doing our share of Ramzan special transmissions for promotions so all is sorted on our end.”
Both the teams of the film are confident that their movies have strong enough buzz for them to win this gamble. All eyes are definitely on Chhalawa and Wrong No.2 now and it remains to be seen how well they can do with open ground on a big holiday occasion like Eid ul Fitr.
