Clashes of films at the box office don’t always affect their collection and can also be beneficial at times.  

Independence Day releases Satyameva Jayate and Gold have jointly collected around Rs 40 crore at the box office. 

Trade analyst Amod Mehra said: “Clashes are inevitable and no one benefits from big clashes. But in the case of Satyameva Jayate and Gold, both are of different genres. Besides Satyameva Jayate is a medium-budget film which has done exceptionally well in single screens and better than Gold in some north India pockets. Gold is a bigger and costlier film and revolves around sports and Independence. If the genre is different, clashes don’t affect but if two superstars clash on the same day, then there is a problem.”

Both the films are expected to see a drop in collection on Thursday and Friday, both working days, but are expecting a sharp spike in business this weekend. 

An industry insider said: “Normally the drop is about 30 per cent during weekdays but it also depends on the film and we have seen in the case of Sanju the film continued to garner big numbers on working days as well.”

He added: “We have about 250 films releasing every year and we have only 52 weeks. Release date clashes are inevitable. Ensuring a free run for movies, even those with good content, is becoming difficult. There is only a week’s gap between (Shah Rukh Khan’s) Zero and (Ranveer Singh’s) Simmba, which could affect the businesses of the two.”

Trade analyst Girish Johar said: “There used to be an issue in the days of single screen theatres but multiplexes have an average of 14 shows a day, so audiences get exhausted faster. With new films coming every Friday, it is beneficial and if the film is good, a new release will not matter for the audiences. They will still watch the film. Sanju being an example.’’
The next big clash would be Hrithik Roshan’s Super 30  and Kangana Ranaut’s Manikarnika on January 26, 2019. Johar said: “There are three films, including Cheat India, slated for release on Republic Day. They are different  and a public holiday can easily absorb two films. Clashes are slowly going to be a regular phenomenon and not something to discuss about in the trade.”