Trade Talk: Will Shehzada be the next blockbuster after Pathaan?

Shehzada is crucial for Kartik Aaryan, director Rohit Dhawan and the Hindi film industry, not necessarily in that order. Kartik’s last film Bhool Bhulaiya 2 propelled him to stardom. Shehzada should consolidate his stardom.
As for Rohit Dhawan, neither of his directorial ventures so far, Desi Boyz or Dishoom, could crack the box office code in spite of trying hard.Shehzada sees Rohit doing a David Dhawan. Baby-swapping, palatial intrigue, courtship over the economic line (Kartik and Kriti Sanon will remind you of Amitabh Bachchan and Zeenat Aman’s aap-kahan-main-kahan romance in Lawaaris), roguish parental figures (Paresh Rawal as Kartik’s imposter father is a hoot, every bit comparable with Murali Sharma in the original Telugu Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo).
There is a bit of everything in this traditional old-fashioned thaali, from gaali to taali. Menu, rab da vaasta!
Says producer and trade analyst Girish Johar, “Kartik is riding very high on the super-success of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and his successful pairing with Kriti Sanon. Shehzada is poised to take a good-ish start at the box office. Though the shift in its release date did take me by surprise, as now it is clashing with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which is a big Hollywood release. We all thrive for a clean week at the box office. So from a no-opposition weekend it has now come in to a direct opposition release week. Still, Kartik fans, his charisma and his affinity to the audiences will help the film take a 7-8 crore start at the box office. It’s a family comedy entertainer, which will have a good weekend at the cinemas.”
Trade analyst Atul Mohan is more cautious in his enthusiasm. “Shehzada was initially anticipated to be a promising film, but as promotional materials began to be released, both the audience and the trade felt that something was missing. The trailer failed to impress, the songs did not gain much traction, and the biggest mistake made by the makers was to postpone the movie's release. This move demonstrated a lack of confidence in the product and its ability to perform well in the market. Furthermore, scheduling the movie to clash with Ant-Man was also a poor decision as it caused a significant difference in the advance ticket sales of the two films. Furthermore, director Rohit Dhawan's track record has also not been particularly impressive, which puts more pressure on the film's star, Kartik Aaryan and the quality of the remake. The original film had achieved a cult status, which will be challenging to match. It remains to be seen whether Shehzada will be able to overcome these challenges and achieve success at the box office."
Maharashtra’s leading distributor Akshaye Rathi feels, “The box office potential of Shehzada depends on the traction it generates on release. It is a word-of-mouth project, and it is coming with a Hollywood franchise (Ant-Man) which has its own following. And next week we have Dharma Productions’ Selfiee coming up with stars like Akshay Kumar and Emraan Hashmi, which will get an audience. Whether it bites into the collections of Shehzada or not, it will definitely affect its showcasing. It is important that Shehzada gets a solid word-of-mouth recommendation. Going by current trends the first day’s collection of Shehzada should be 7-8 crores.”