TALAASH – Postponement Analysis
By now it is really not news that the much-anticipated Aamir Khan-Kareena Kapoor-Rani Mukherji starrer Talaash has witnessed a sudden and unpleasantly surprising five-month delay. The Internet is buzzing with disappointment and rumors of possible reasons of such a long delay. Here, I attempt to make sense of what is inevitably going to be a chaotic situation now. I shall discuss possible reasons and effects of this move. Finally, we have to ask ourselves the question: Was this delay a part of good judgement or a serious error that can cost dearly?
Back-story
Talaash is an eagerly-anticipated film starring Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Rani Mukherji in the lead roles. From what has been reported by reliable sources, Aamir plays the role of a senior police officer investigating the strange and dark death of a famous film star. On his journey, as he is is “Talaash” of the truth, he meets different people of seemingly impossible connections all tied down to one bizarre and scary secret.
Initially expected for a much earlier release, Talaash got pushed back to June 1, 2012 as the supposed start of the blockbuster season.
Reasons for delay
Perhaps the most controversial and hotly-debated question on the Internet film kingdom: WHY? Why Aamir? Internet has been filled with all sorts of possibilities, predictions, guesses etc. as to why Aamir made such a move, that too completely out of the blue. Some of these reasons are out of genuine interest, others are something of a way of deriding the film. Here’s a look.
A generally accepted version is that Talaash is simply not ready for release. That is, there is still some post-production needed. A strangely strong rumor is that the editing has not gone well. It seems Aamir is unhappy with the final cut of the film and insisted on re-editing. Others say that its just Aamir’s perfectionism; he wants the film to be absolutely perfect in all respects, and he found something lacking. Hence he delayed. Another well-known rumor is that re-shoots will happen so as to re-do some scenes that didn’t go that great initially. That is quite possible considering that a sudden 5-month delay just for post-production is … a little odd, to say the least.
Now, the other camp is deriding Talaash. The strongest taunt has come in the form of Kahaani. Kahaani is also a thriller, and basically involves the search of a missing husband – a “talaash”. This has become something of a standing joke. Many are now commenting that Kahaani has unexpected similarities to Talaash. Hence Aamir, being worried, pushed back the release so as to make significant changes to the film.
Another taunt has come over the “intrusiveness” of Aamir. Many have commented that much like how Aamir (some say forcibly) took over from Amol Gupte in Taare Zameen Par, he is intruding into Reema Kagti’s direction and is interfering in her creative process. Basically, they say that Aamir is wanting to take much more credit for the film than is due – either a co-direction or perhaps complete expulsion of Kagti. This taunt has not received much coverage; in fact, understandably this became quite unpopular with the Aamir fans who gunned it down, causing the usual and ugly inter-fan Internet wars.
As stated, both of these are basically rumors. Assuredly Aamir will clear this matter up. Time will tell, however, as to what happens to this film. Officially, the reason is due to his TV show which got unexpectedly delayed due to a fire on the sets. This is poor on Aamir’s part. He should not forget the fact that whatever he gets today is because of his films. His TV show is always second to his films, as without the films he won’t get a TV show. While the reason may be valid the decision is rather disappointing and illogical.
Possible effects of delay
Aamir Khan has not had a commercial biggie since 3 Idiots released in 2009. Now that Talaash reaches theaters in November, this means a three-year wait for a commercial Aamir Khan film. Aamir, as is obvious, is a huge superstar with a dedicated and rabid fanbase; besides, his thinking man image and generally good quality of films makes him a favorite of the people to see, though perhaps not somebody to be a fanatic over. Kareena Kapoor is just off a career-high and looks to expand her impressive commercial performance, though some of her success is questionable piggy-backing on the biggest male superstars. Rani Mukherji returns after the widely praised No One Killed Jessica, and looks to repeat an excellent performance with equal box office success.
All of this sounds very delicious to hear, and it truly is. So after all this, how exactly will this delay affect the film?
Expectations are always “terrible and yet beautiful”. A double-edged sword, expectations can make a film soar to great heights and also crush it down to the deepest levels of cinematic failure. Its a dangerous game to play, and one that can potentially make or break all those involved with the film. There is the saying “Too much of anything is never good” and that applies here too. Ra.One is a standing example of this.
So why this talk of expectations? Because there are expectations from Talaash. And not just some expectations, the expectations are GIGANTIC. People, be it fans or non-fans, are waiting with bated breath to see what next Aamir gives us, how well he surprises us. How will Aamir entertain or enlighten us this time? All these questions invariably build up to a high level of excitement. And a delay automatically means that there will be much more time to get excited. Which means higher expectations. Expectations are necessary but there is always the point of saturation. Super-saturation can be very bad for any film as it makes the process of meeting those expectations very high.
People are most justified to have very high expectations from Talaash. After all, its coming after three long years. People will think, what film can make Aamir work for three years? (most don’t remember Dhobi Ghaat unfortunately) That sort of a thought will automatically make people think of cinematic greatness, which means sky-high expectations. And that means all the more possibility of failure. Besides, Aamir is a marketing genius; his marketing itself is enough to whip up a storm. Couple it with all the above factors and you get a hurricane.
So this puts the film-makers at an epic cross-roads. Talaash may end up satisfying the high expectations, in which case it will bamboozle records and eat up the box office, going down in history as a huge cinematic success. Then again, Talaash can fail these expectations, however slightly, and the film will be trashed, trampled, destroyed and gutted to the extremes of failure, considered a disaster throughout. This may sound fanciful and grand but unfortunately it is the way of things. And my statements come only by seeing the sort of expectations this film is carrying. It is very very dangerous now, a situation which can go either way – one to eternal glory and the other to eternal doom. Its perilous and completely Aamir’s call.
What happens after this?
Its very difficult to foresee the future right now. The biggest problem for Talaash is the fact that its marketing has already begun. Its first poster came out some time back, and its official trailer released on January 25, 2012; it has already hit 2.4 million views on YouTube. A November release effectively means a nine-month marketing campaign, which will be the same as Ra.One. This will hold true even if Talaash is not promoted fro some time now, because the first trailer and poster are already out there. This is an unfortunate thing for Aamir, as he will now have to temper his promotions a bit or forget about promoting this film for the next 2-3 months – highly unlikely, in any case. More promotions goes back to the expectations logic.
Some people have a fear that Talaash may get further postponed after this. If this happens, it will be a disaster for Aamir. It will openly expose extreme under-confidence in the film and pile up on the currently-modest budget, so much so that recovery and the economics will go haywire. Besides this, he will not be able to get any sort of prime release date; even smaller films like Paan Singh Tomar are doing well. It shows that we should never underestimate any film, which most probably means that Talaash is lucky to have moved out of its June 1, 2012 release as Shanghai would have been something to cope with.
But the alternative is worse. November is packed with big films and potential blockbusters, much like Hollywood May-June. Talaash will suffer from this. He will have to face off against Son of Sardar, Yash Chopra’s Untitled Project (no, it is not London Ishq), Khiladi 786 and a host of others. December may also turn out to be packed. That leaves little room for Talaash, which means that he may have to further postpone. And as I already stated, further postponement is certainly not an option.
All in all, it looks grim for Talaash at the moment. Aamir did a mistake moving from the previous slot, and he may have to burden unforeseeable problems. He now really needs to ensure a film that will click big time with the audiences, as the audiences have much to choose from but not too much time. Aamir will do well to remember this fact.
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2 
0Koi hai? :/
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0 0Shhhh
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0 1@Suprabh – lol
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1 1u just analyzed after effects on talaash. here is wat it may do to others.
1. rowdy rathore has a 10% advantage in collections
2. shahid’s kunal kohli film has a15-20% advantage (overlapping urban metro audiences with talash unlike rowdy)
3. ek that tiger becomes even more awaited release of a huge star ( saif akshay and hrithik are not in that category, srk’s ra1 and don 2 had disappointed and aamir has not had a film in 3 years)
4. srk’s november release with katrina yashraj has its run limited to two weeks and the possibilities of ‘quality’ affecting ‘trending’ reduce.
5. akshay’s joke of a film with himesh gets totally screwed.
6. dabangg 2 may be affceted by 2-3% but if it breaks all records as expected despite releasing within 45 days of srk and aamir’s films then salman becomes the rajnikant of bollywood clearly. -
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0 1@danish lol
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0 0@rahul – ye seriously lol that ya sarcastically??? i mean LOL tha ya LOLa?
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1 1@danish
What??? Stupid predictions.
Seriously, get a life. Its not that Salman will ever become even 1% of Rajnikanth. Copies can never become equal or better than the original.
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1 0@JTW
Sorry to say, but no matter how hard you try, you can’t be objective! Before giving my take on Talaash delay, I’d first like to respond to some points in your article:
- ”Talaash is simply not ready for release”
I think it could be true, not only due to re-shooting of some scenes, but also considering that Aamir took off time in between shooting of Talaash to release his other productions Dhobi Ghat and Delhi Belly, while Excel was also busy with ZNMD & Don 2. If anyone cares to remember earliest reports about this Reema Kagti’s next, it was clearly mentioned in them that Kareena Kapoor was struggling to give dates for this film. Aamir was keen to have her in this film, while was also not wanting to leave an Aamir Khan film for any other rival actress. She was in a fix and reportedly her dates for this film were clashing with other films like EMAET. It is quite possible that they also delayed this film a bit to allow her to manage this film alongwith other films she was already committed to.
All these factors must have come together to influence delay of this film both during its making and now.- ”Many are now commenting that Kahaani has unexpected similarities to Talaash.”
This is the biggest JOKE I ever heard!
Obviously every suspense film involves some kind of ”search”! So Bidya Bagchi searching for husband is similar to search for a murderer in Talaash?! Kuch bhi? Nobody knows the actual story of Talaash!Its makers have kept it strictly under wraps. Yet since last few months, I’ve been seeing people either comparing it to some South film or different Hollywood films, American TV shows and even Excel’s own Karthik Calling Karthik! Now latest one is that it had ”similar” story to Kahani!!
How bizarre can people get? Nobody knows a thing about this film, till a few months ago even its official title was not known yet they all keep talking as if they co-wrote it with Reema & Zoya!
I tell you, the man who spread this ”Talaash delayed due to Kahani” rumour on Twitter is the same guy who called it a rehash of Karthik Calling Karthik when he first saw its teaser! Cheeky guy @cilemasnob keeps taking digs at all big stars’ films, particularly the Khans and their fans! And you guys believe him!
And please! This is AAMIR KHAN we’re talking about! Why would he or any Khan get afraid of a Vidya Balan film?! Even if Talaash was similar to Kahani (let’s assume for a while), or inferior in quality, still it would do way better than Kahani at the box office given its star cast and the two big production houses behind it!
- ”Aamir is wanting to take much more credit for the film than is due”
Only SRK fans would say that!
No one else ever said so. And please! He’s been in this industry for more than 20 years now and his name alone is enough to get attention for any project! There’s no need for him to ”steal” or ”take away” any credit from a newcomer or flop director!
Rang De Basanti became a phenomenon of sorts, all stars rejected it, no one wanted to finance it. But only Aamir Khan saw potential in it and even partly financed it himself! If he’s so hungry for taking credit then why didn’t he try to take credit for RDB even though he sensed its potential? Why didn’t he take any ”credit” as director for Lagaan? Or DCH?!
This whole ”theory” of Aamir ”taking credit” is RUBBISH! And you must remember that Amole Gupte controversy happened when Aamir had banned media, blasted several leading publications for indulging in yellow journalism (that famous Tehelka interview) and even sued some leading film magazines (for using his image to promote their awards).
That was when certain sections of media started writing the worst and most crooked of stuff for him and his family. They not only accused him of taking credit from Amole but even wrote trash about his family, including some reports that both his kids were mentally retarded! So the validity of stuff from that time is questionable!Amole Gupte may have voiced misgivings then, but during his interviews to NDTV and Indian Express around release of SKD, he said the issue between him and Aamir was blown out of proportion by media.
Credit issue is baseless when Aamir had far better films in his career before, which he did with new or unsuccessful directors, and he could have easily taken over, but he did not!
Funny thing is that throughout his career he was being accused of ghost-directing his films, but when he actually directed a film they alleged he had merely taken over! Ha!
Today, Delhi Belly is going to be shown at Harvard. Aamir was producing it, he could have ”taken credit” and ”declared himself” director, no? [If he decided to stick with the film and didn't shelve it, then it means he did see some potential in it, so why didn't he take over DB?]
As for Talaash, please! Aamir Khan is co-producing that film! Like his previous projects (both as actor and producer) he has every right to spend as much time as he wants to or involve himself as much as he deems fit! He and Ritesh have said to TOI that in January Talaash was delayed because Reema Kagti herself felt she needed more time to work on it. And he’s clarified many times that he loved Reema’s script and is absolutely fine with her work. All interviews of Aamir and Reema are there online, where they’ve clarified several times that there was no clash or ”interference”!
But as usual people have to come up with BS ”reports” about Aamir’s ”taking credit” or ”interfering”!
Aamir is involved and works extra hard on every detail which is why his products have acquired reputation of ”quality” and have a certain edge over others. And considering the high level of expectations from him as well as the trust audience has in him, it is natural that he would be involved in all aspects to ensure he lives up to that trust!
As far as interference is concerned, his colleagues only say it’s made up by media and even AR Rahman has praised Aamir for his involvement.Inteference rumours start coming up the moment he signs a film. It’s trash nothing else.
- ”He should not forget the fact that whatever he gets today is because of his films. His TV show is always second to his films, as without the films he won’t get a TV show. While the reason may be valid the decision is rather disappointing and illogical.”
I agree with the first two sentences. And I personally feel he should not have taken up the TV show at all, at this stage of his career when he’s doing very well as an actor. TV show can be done later also, at any stage of life.
It is the ”taking up of TV show” which seems an illogical decision. But not its delay. What can Aamir do if the show’s sets were completely destroyed due to fire? How’s he at fault? The fire delayed the show further, STAR didn’t agree to let him launch the show till IPL was over – so show got still more delayed and clashed with Talaash.
It is not a routine chat show and he’s doing several different things for it. Maybe he could not have managed all that along with promotions for Talaash. Also, he’s said the show is for social issues and real Indians, so I think it would dilute the essence of the show if it came around his film. People would’ve then accused him of milking social causes to get publicity for his film!! [We know many are quick to do that! ]
Finally, everyone knows that Aamir keeps some gap between his projects and never comes with 2-3 different things around same time. There was 4 month gap between JTYJN and Ghajini – his projects as producer and actor and 5 month gap between his productions DG and DB last year.
There is NO WAY he would have come with TV show and film at same time.
He could not delay TV show further due to STAR TV struggling to find slots for his show later. So he delayed the film instead.
It’s disappointing and probably a lack of foresight. Or biting more than one can chew. It makes no sense to take TV show and a film around same time if one can’t manage it!- ON EXPECTATIONS:
It’s two ways actually. Majority of audience in real life is still not aware of Talaash (because it was kept away from limelight, no title was there & poster/teaser also came only online not on TV & its stars are also not talking much about it to due to non-disclosure contract).
Among the ones who ARE aware – several people have lost interest due to endless waiting and delays. While the rest might be having increased expectations or curiosity over it.
But it’s true that this film will be judged & scrutinised in a big way due to the big names involved, too many delays, Aamir’s past commercial films’ standards etc. There’ll be either bouquets or bigtime backlash ala The Rising if people found the film unworthy of the wait.- ”The biggest problem for Talaash is the fact that its marketing has already begun. ”
LOL! I don’t understand why you bring Ra One analogies so soon! Easy does it!
The marketing campaign has NOT YET BEGUN! Period!
The teaser is only online. It has NEVER been shown on TV. Nor was it shown in some cricket matches the way RA One teaser was shown during World Cup and IPL last year! Ra One poster was put up as full page front cover on New Year’s day in India’s leading daily Times of India. But Talaash poster was never published in a newspaper that too, full page one!!
Talaash team never had any official launch events for the film or its teaser.Common people know little about Talaash. Media rarely reported about it, its stars or makers are mostly tight-lipped about it due to non-disclosure contract. All buzz or winning polls is ONLY ONLINE. Not in real life. In real life, it’s only in recent months that people have begun to know that there’s an Aamir film called Talaash. It did lag behind in a survey (of reach of unreleased & unpromoted films) conducted by Ormax media among movie-goers in theatres earlier this year!
All record views, polls it’s won are online only and online viewers don’t constitute the ENTIRE audience a film has to cater to! TV and print media are still the top platforms to create buzz for a film. Merely posting link to Youtube video on Aamir’s & Ritesh’s FB & Twitter does NOT mean marketing campaign has started!!
Now even Shanghai is being called a threat for Talaash?! Control your excitement dear! It is Shanghai which is lucky to have been relieved from Talaash. Last year, an A rated Delhi Belly made mincemeat of Amitabh Bachchan’s BHTB just on Aamir Khan’s name! Don’t forget that! Talaash is a mainstream film and has both Aamir Khan Productions AND Aamir Khan in it! There’s no reason for it to be under pressure or threat from a flick like Shanghai!
Just because he’s delayed his film, doesn’t mean that you keep throwing around all sorts of bizarre conclusions!
And yeah, Aamir in any case, will not promote this film right after his TV show. He promotes his film exactly 2 months before its release date. He’s never started marketing campaign 4-5 months in advance! TV show has got to do nothing with Talaash promotions. Talaash’s final release date will determine commencement of its promotion.- ”But the alternative is worse. November is packed with big films and potential blockbusters”
Hehe!
If it is indeed worse for Talaash, then why is SRK camp feeling the heat & worried about this film releasing just 2 weeks after it?!
Let me tell you again, that it’s only the 3 KHAN films in this period which are potential blockbusters. Aamir’s only real competition would be the SRK/YRF film and Dabangg 2.
Other films have to fear more due to the 3 Khans’ films. It’s worst for them. Not for Aamir.
Aamir has been able to give successful films in the past with many other big films releasing around the same period as his film – Ghatak-Raja Hindustani in 1996, Dil-Ghayal in 1990, Lagaan-Gadar in 2001, Fanaa & Phir Hera Pheri had only 1 or 2 week gap in 2006, Welcome & TZP in 2007, RNBDJ-Ghajini in 2008 etc.
It’s not a new situation for him. Also, all films are big and even the films locked earlier for release will stand to lose a bit with a biggie like Talaash eating into some of their business. We have seen how even underperformers of the Khans do way better than hits of some other stars!
Finally, RELAX and don’t think much about the November-December date. It is only probable and Aamir or Excel have NOT confirmed it yet! So no use jumping to comparisons already.Release dates of all films have shuffled in this year (like Agneepath was not supposed to come on Republic Day but it did and now RR will release earlier etc.), so no one knows which film will shift release dates! Talaash is complete almost. Whereas some other films announced for that time have either not even begun shooting or have just started shooting recently. Here things are changing every few months, so let’s wait & watch before making theories & predictions.
Too much delay does not augur well for Aamir and has indeed put him in a sticky situation. Let’s see what happens.
Finally, postponing it to next year won’t affect it much if it indeed gets postponed. If it’s well marketed and liked then it will do well. Otherwise, even Aamir knows what he will go through now, will be worse than what he had to go through during ”The Rising” time. -
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1 0Sorry for the damn lengthy comment!
I ended up doing analysis of your analysis! As for my personal take on Aamir or his ways, this is what I honestly think:
- Aamir is now clearly more interested in production than acting.
He’s got lot of success as producer and probably wishes to expand his production house by trying his hand at TV shows as well. He has in past, already produced many ad campaigns apart from films.
Now he seems to like it best when his family members (Mansoor, Nuzhat, Kiran, Imran, Faisal etc.) all work with him together in an AKP project.
He was always interested in other aspects of cinema, not acting (which is something he confessed even in his interviews post QSQT).
My gut feel is that he will cut down on his acting assignments even more after he’s done with the 2-3 films he has on hand now and will concentrate only on production or direction or writing (reportedly also co-writing a film to be produced by his own AKP which will be directed by him).- He’s more inclined to spend time with his family now. He’s admitted how is father’s sudden demise affected him & he also feared losing his mother & other close family members. He also feels guilty of not giving enough time to his newborn son Azad. In between his films, he has taken off months/weeks to spend time with his newborn son Azad, organise Imran’s wedding, arrange for his mother to live with him, taken off months to spend time with Junaid & Ira etc. – which also have some role to play in his projects’ delays.
So he seems to be cutting down his work or delays projects in case a family engagement comes up.Acting or position as star etc. are not his priorities now (if they were, then he’d have made the most of post 3I momentum instead of taking breaks or taken up TV show later, not now!). I don’t see him concentrating on acting much after D3 or that Raju Hirani film. It’s filmmaker and family man now. That’s what I feel.
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0 0Suraj you totally failed reading one important thing: I am NOT giving MY analysis exactly. I assimilated information as to what reasons PEOPLE on the Net are giving. They are not mine. Read properly please
. In the end, your long comment came to waste. I am just showing what people are saying; there is no question of fans etc. which only danish takes up all the time
. I’m a very big fan of Aamir, but only a fool would not be disappointed with the sort of delays and all stuff going around this film. What points I raised about expectations are my analysis, and I do think they are accurate. Its not a question of just which Khan’s film is releasing; in the end, if too many biggies come together it will EAT UP each other’s business. I don’t endorse the “If I can’t win, I won’t let anybody else win” mentality, and releasing in a jam-packed month is exactly that.Hope you understand my analysis better now.
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1 1@danish salman ke 4 saal rajnikant ke 25 saal se compare kar raha hai LOL
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1 14 Saal ? Just 2 years .. Dabangg came in 2010 only.
And in real sense Aamir is Rajini kant of bollywood. Rajini kant is name of great following and 1 huge hit in 3 years .. this model is followed by Aamir, not Salman.
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0 0Pls dear friend ,dont compare Rajnikant with Sallu , Ranjikant is superb ,Sallu is 0%of rajni
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0 0@yakuza …89 aur 94 bhi jod diya..uske baare mai toh woh bolega hi
MPK was his debut movie, so no question of fan following and HAHK was a madhuri’s show …phir bhi sallu fans ke liye jod dete hain
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