Q. You mentioned that films in Russia were a bigger hit than what Dangal was in China. Which is the biggest Indian film in Russia and how much did it gross and how many films are bigger than Dangal in China?

L.L. Anand

A. There are a few films released in Russia that are bigger than Dangal in China. The Russian business was counted in admits in the days Hindi films released there. Awara is the biggest film there which got 6.5 crore admissions and that was just the first run and it remained in exhibition for 10-12 years with near 10 crore admissions. This is 10 crore footfalls which came due to crazy repeat viewings due to the Main Awara Hoon song. Disco Dancer was not as big as Awara but again got huge admissions due to repeat viewings for the songs. Its difficult to say why but the figures in Russia were huge for films of Raj Kapoor, Pramod Chakravorty and B. Subhash. These three makers have all the top Hindi films in Russia for some reason big.

Q. Secret Superstar has an Average verdict on the website but the film has the highest return of investment of all time with 15 crore cost and 1000 crore Worldwide gross

A. Shankar

A. The 15 crore is just production budget and then you have the cost of PA in India and Overseas then the cost of the extended guest role by Aamir Khan and then there is release cost in China. If a Bajrangi Bhaijaan cost 35 crore to promote and release on 8000 odd screens then the cost of Secret Superstar on 16000 screens is sure to be higher.

Q. Padmaavat is said to be inferior to Mughal E Azam but i think it is much better from all angles and it is not even a comparison as the quality of Padmaavat is far superior. Will this not be the general thinking?

Ravi Goswami

A. Most of the younger cinema viewing audience will actually see it your way. So despite Mughal E Azam being one of the greats, a good chunk of the public today will see Padmaavat better. But this is today as the making and technology available today is far superior than 60 years ago. In time Mughal E Azam will remain far superior as technology will get advanced even more than todays time but the performances and story telling of Mughal E Azam will make it stand out as that is hard to repeat so therefore a more engaging film. Padmaavat is just popular for the generation today while Mughal E Azam has passed through many generations and will continue to do so. Also you have legendary actors in Mughal E Azam like Dilip Kumar and Prithiviraj Kapoor and their talent will be appreciated through generations while that case cannot be made for a th actors of Padmaavat. This thinking mainly come because of grander production values but in time time Padmaavat production values will also look poor and thats where Mughal E Azam will will win as its superior in practically every thing else apart from technology and money giving Padmaavat a bigger look.