Batla House vs Mission Mangal – A box office clash none would cringe about

It looks like John Abraham is set for another clash with Akshay Kumar on the occasion of Independence Day 2019. Popular film critic cum trade analyst Taran Adarsh, in a recent tweet, has confirmed that the much touted biopic on the famous Mangalyaan Mission, starring Akshay Kumar and produced by R Balki, will release on the occasion of Independence Day in 2019. Following is the official tweet :

For those unaware, the much talked about biopic, directed by Jagan Shakti, and starring Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Sharman Joshi, Kirti Kulhari, Taapsee Pannu, Sonakshi Sinha and Nithya Menon in principal roles, is based on the legendary mission to Mars undertaken by ISRO, which was successful in its very first attempt, and was also equally cost effective.

This is the second movie that will focus around ISRO’s massive success in cost effective space missions, the first one being the already mentioned ‘Rocketry’, a trilingual biopic starring R Madhavan as S Nambi Narayanan, the man behind the cryogenic engine techniques that have now made India a household name in space missions.

For the first time in years, this is a box office clash that no one will fuss or cringe about. On one hand we have a movie depicting India’s true capability, on the other a movie exposing the dirty game of minority appeasement that had sullied India’s image in 2008 post Batla House encounter?

This is also not the first time Akshay Kumar and John Abraham’s films have clashed against each other.  Only this year, on Independence Day, their films clashed against each other, as Akshay Kumar starrer ‘Gold’ and John Abraham starrer ‘Satyamev Jayate’ released on the same day. Akshay Kumar had barely managed to survive the disappointment of ‘Padman’s’ average business, while John Abraham was riding high on the surprise success of his bold effort on Pokhran nuclear tests, ‘Parmanu’, directed by Abhishek Sharma. 

On the other hand, while ‘Gold’ was a semi fictional tribute to India’s first Olympic gold as a free nation at London Olympics 1948, ‘Satyamev Jayate’ was an out and out masala entertainer, involving John as a vigilante who meets an equally strong headed cop in the form of Manoj Bajpayee.

Yet, neither of the films failed as both mesmerized the audience with their entertaining power and rich content, and emerged as box office hits. Also, both earned amounts that gave them a place in the Top 5 Bollywood movies of 2018 in terms of massive opening day collections, as the two movies collected Rs. 25 crores and Rs. 20.8 crores respectively. While Gold amassed Rs. 151 crores worldwide, Satyamev Jayate wasn’t far behind, earning Rs. 115 crores approximately.

To be honest, this is truly the golden age of Bollywood the cinema buffs were yearning for a long time. For the first time, we are witnessing a mass rejection of rubbish in the name of entertainment, while content oriented films are having a heyday at the box office. As such, this upcoming clash is only a sweet icing on the cake.