Jaat director Gopichand Malineni on film’s ‘organic’ success, explains why Sunny Deol-starrer opened low: ‘Unfortunately we were not given…’

In the exclusive conversation, the Telugu cinema director Gopichand Malineni reacted to the response Jaat has received, and even discussed why the film opened below expectations.

Gopichand Malineni with Sunny Deol in Jaat

A week after Sunny Deol’s Jaat, its director, Gopichand Malineni, joins DNA India to discuss the journey of the film at the box office. Released on April 10, Jaat fetched good reviews and favourable response from the masses, especially from the interior of India (B and C centres). Till now, the movie has grossed Rs 80 crores worldwide, and going by its trend, the movie is expected to score Rs 100 crores soon. Jaat has become Sunny’s biggest hit after Gadar 2 and Gadar: Ek Prem Katha. Jaat also marks Gopichand’s first directorial in Bollywood, and he’s ‘overwhelmed’ with the reactions he’s getting. Gopi reveals that he has never experienced such mania before, and wherever they are promoting their film, the audience is reaching out to him with praise. 

Speaking about the success, Gopi admits that the numbers the producers are releasing are ‘organic’ and there is no narrative push for them, or corporate booking. He says, “Whatever we’re getting, it is 100% organic. People are loving the film, and that’s why it is increasing. Word of mouth is helping us and the film.” Gopi shares his thoughts about receiving love and appreciation for Jaat, and adds, “I’m getting so many messages on X  and Insta, I can’t stop watching the reaction videos, and I witnessed this in theatres also. I went to some cinemas in Delhi, Haryana, and Punjab; they are superb. They are showing love, and many of them are owning the film. I didn’t get such a reaction or applause before. This is something I’ve not witnessed before.”  

Watch team Jaat with DNA India

When Jaat was released, it opened to low numbers. Trade was expecting a double-digit opening. Many were expecting Rs 15-20 crores on Day 1. However, the film took an opening of only Rs 9.50 crores. Gopi himself admits being aware of trade expectations and explains why the film took a low opening. He said, “There are two reasons behind it. The censor certification got delayed. When we applied, we thought we would be getting a certificate by Friday, April 4. But unfortunately, we were not given the certificate. There were some audio cuts, some blur shots as well. We didn’t get our certificate on Friday, so we waited until Saturday, Sunday, and Monday night, and then we got our certificate.” 

Gopi further explains that the delay in getting certification hampered their advance booking opportunity. “The advance booking opened 24 hours before the release. Otherwise, if we had got a censor certificate on Friday only, we could have had a proper four-day advance booking window. This delay has certainly affected the opening.”  

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