Laxmii released last week again reiterates the importance of the box office as without this there is no judge. The film has faced a double barrel sword with the negativity in the media and the leftover negativity on social media for the industry. These things will also happen for the bigger films as it hardly matters if you are negative for a Lootcase, Gunjan Saxena or Ludo as that hardly makes noise and is not noticed.

The ground realities for the Laxmii are different from what they are made out to be. The film has gone wrong in certain points and it would not have done well in all circuits but its not the worst film ever made and actually would have held some appeal for Maharashtra, Gujarat and CP Berar (Nizam may have done decent also).  A Diwali release would have bumped up the audience further as Gujarat is phenomenal on Diwali for this genre and Maharashtra also gets a big boost. North would have been struggle as there its grandness and gloss or relatability which works and here the grandness is not there and a transgender theme takes away all relatability.

The scenario takes us back to last year when another Akshay Kumar starrer Housefull 4 was lambasted by one and all but the results were totally different as it went on cross 200 crore nett and become the highest grosser of Akshay Kumar. Now Laxmii is not a Housefull 4 in terms of canvas or entertainment so it would have not reached those levels but its also not a Padman or Gold to remain on the lower side especially on Diwali.

The facts are that if this pandemic had by chance come last year and cinemas were shut then Housefull 4 would have been called a disaster or a totally rejected film and the only reason it was not called this is because the boxoffice was there to prove otherwise. Yes there are the phenomenal satellite results which continue even till today but those come at a later date. Forget a Housefull 4 or Laxmii but imagine if there was no box office for the likes of Sholay (1975), Kranti (1981) or Gadar (2001) which are among the most appreciated Hindi films of all time but what was being said about them was the opposite. The box office set the records straight.

What comes out of the mouth can never be taken seriously and this has been seen in the last few months with what has been said about the industry. The mouth is free and there is no cost to open it no matter how much crap comes out from it but the box office has a cost of a ticket so is the actual reality. Last year a terrible film like Saand Ki Aankh was supposed to give competition to Housefull 4 as the claim was public reports were good so it should at least trend better but reviews and public reports are two different things and Housefull 4 even sustained far better.

This year the campaining seems to be for another disaster Ludo. The film which will be unwatchable for most is being called a good film and again this is where the box office is needed for the actual facts so the stupidity does not last too long as it will now. Just like Laxmii would not have reached the levels of Housefull 4 then this Ludo would have struggled to even reach a Saand Ki Aankh.

The fact is that the  boxoffice is the ultimate  judge as a box office vote is through the pocket and not the mouth.