Icor Films is considered to be the richest and most successful banner in Nepal. This is a banner that pours money into the making. ‘Mero Euta Saathi chha’ and ‘Intu Mintu London’ prove this. Even in the new film of this banner ‘Jackie: I’m Twenty One’, which was released on Baisakh 21, there is no ‘compromise’ in the making. However, this film has not been able to save the reputation of Icore Films.
The film, which created a good hype before its release, also had to struggle to raise one-third of the investment from the domestic market. According to the box office data of the Film Development Board, the film has collected a total of 42 Lakhs gross in five days of screening (from Thursday to Monday). Compared to the investment of ‘Jackie’, this figure is a ‘disaster’. It looks like the film will barely collect 50 lakhs in the first week.
Multiplexes are cutting down on movie shows every day. Looking at the number of shows provided by Nepal’s largest multiplex chain QFX for Wednesday (tomorrow), it seems that the film will have to struggle even to last a week in the theaters. It clearly means that the audience has not shown any interest in watching the film. On the other hand, even in the fourth week, the film ‘Jari’ has a good attendance of the audience.
As the business of the film has deteriorated, the directors and actors have started appealing to the media. On Monday, director Renshaw Bantawa Rai, actor Dheeraj Magar and actress Jasita Gurung gave some interviews on YouTube and criticized the film for not doing well. In some interviews, Dheeraj and Jasita even shed tears. Some people have started calling it a film fund.
Besides, there is a gambit of selling tears to run the film. Even before, many heroes and heroines have shed tears before the media to ’emotionally blackmail’ the audience, either before or after the screening of the film. Dheeraj and Jasita also adopted this strategy to run the film or they got emotional remembering the hard work they put into the film, they must know that.
One of the reasons why the film could not attract a large audience to the theater is considered to be mixed ‘word of mouth’. Those who are deeply interested in dance have preferred the film. However, other viewers have commented that the film is weak in its story due to emphasis on dance only. The film team has also changed the climax. However, the number of people watching the movie in the theater has not increased.
Even though the reviews are not good, some people believe that the audience may have lost interest in the film. Because even though the audience who goes to the hall through the reviews is small, there is a congregation. Bad reviews have prevented those viewers from spending money. However, there are many examples of Nepali films that did not receive good reviews and made good money. ‘Jackie’ has broken the record at the box office.
