Postponing 'Shehzada' For 'Pathaan' Was a Wrong Move, Here's Why -

Kartik Aaryan's Shehzada has failed at the box office, and how. The film couldn't even deliver a double-digit total on any day of the opening weekend. Shehzada was in the making during the pandemic and shifted multiple times as per the circumstances. With COVID-19 and all, it was okay to shift the film, but somewhere it killed the buzz of the film.Shehzada was slated for a post-Diwali release in 2022, which might have been a better date as both Diwali releases tanked at the box office. But the makers chose 10th February 2023 as a new release date, considering that it's a family film and a youth-driven romance that will escalate better on Valentine's Day week. However, nobody knew about Pathaan's hysteria then. Nobody knew that Besharam Rang would become a national topic for the next few weeks and that Pathaan would make it so huge at the office. We are all so happy to see such enormous numbers now.The Pathaan's cyclone was not that dangerous in its third week, but still, Shehzada's makers decided to shift the film by a week. That was a huge mistake, and the numbers are proving it. Shehzada, being a family entertainer, was eyeing to cash in on the Valentine's period as Kartik Aaryan and Kriti Sanon enjoy a good fan following amongst youth. Letting that period go away took the entire film away from the audiences.Let's see the numbers to concretize the statement. Pathaan had already done most of its bizz in the first two weeks, and that was natural for a front-loaded action film. Pathaan collected around 27 crore nett in its third week and about 45 crore nett in the third week. Now, that's similar to what Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantamania collected against Shehzada. But the problem here is that Shehzada had to battle two films at a time, whereas on February 10, it would have only had Pathaan to divide the audience. Moreover, the peak period of Valentine's Day and college festivities was over, so the major chunk of Shehzada's audience was already locked away.Shehzada minted 20 crore nett in the opening weekend, which is too low. There are several reasons behind this, such as the South Remake, average trailers and songs, and low buzz, but above all, constant postponements caused it the most harm. You can't run away from a biggie like this and clash with another biggie. Shehzada opted to get sandwiched between Ant-Man 3 and Selfiee by giving away its two-week free run. As they always say, there are only 52 Fridays in a year, so clashes are inevitable. Running away from a blockbuster hit in its third week cannot take you anywhere. Shehzada proved it right.