New Delhi: While Baby Do Die Do is being critically praised, the audience is still staying away from it. The reason? The film is screening in a very limited number of theatres and its word-of-mouth promotional strategy cannot compete with a big production house’s pull.
The Huma Qureshi-starrer was released last Friday and produced independently by Saqib Saleem. Made on a budget of Rs 25 crore, the film has collected Rs 3 crore worldwide after a week. The movie is directed by Nachiket Samant.
According to the BookMyShow app, in the Delhi-NCR region, Baby Do Die Do is being screened in approximately 27 theatres, with mostly one show per day, largely in the morning. On Friday, the film gets two shows at best — at Cinepolis Pacific Mall and Modi Mall. This has remained almost unchanged since the day of its release, with show timings and number of shows not fluctuating much throughout the week.
Alpha, meanwhile, starring Alia Bhatt and Sharvari and produced by Yash Raj Films, is getting three to four shows every day in more than 120 theatres across Delhi-NCR. A few theatres, including Superplex and US Cinemas in Noida, are screening the film seven times a day. The shows are spread across morning, evening, and late-night slots, covering timings convenient for most audiences. Despite the large number of shows, the film has collected nearly Rs 47 crore so far, and several box office watchers predict its lifetime collection to be around Rs 70 crore against its Rs 70 crore budget.
Film trade analyst Taran Adarsh says Baby Do Die Do’s success depends on word of mouth.
“Timings are affected due to the release of Alpha and Welcome to the Jungle, but I feel that the picture will work on word-of-mouth marketing. Right now collections are not steady, but maybe in future they will become steady,” he told ThePrint.
Promotions, but different
Ahead of the release of the film, big names backed Baby Do Die Do.
Zack Snyder, the director of several Superman films and 300 (2006), praised the trailer on the day of its release, calling it “ambitious, cinematic and incredibly well crafted.” Huma had worked with Snyder in Army of the Dead (2021).
“Having worked with Huma before, it’s great to see her delivering another powerful performance,” he wrote.
Similarly, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who worked with Qureshi in Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), posted several Instagram stories urging people to watch the film while it is still in theatres. He also shared the film’s posters and invited people to a theatre in Mumbai, where he bought 15 tickets for those coming to watch the film.
“The fight is for that one extra show, it’s the correct time that people will watch and sustain it for the word of mouth to build up,” Kashyap had urged at the screening.
Then, writer-director Varun Grover posted a Reel on his Instagram, where he talked about the film, saying it has good songs and critics are loving it. However, he pointed out the problem of how low-budget independent films do not get proper show timings, have no big posters displayed in theatres, and are not promoted through pop-ups on ticketing platforms, as those promotions also cost money. He said he realised this while releasing his first film.
“Show timings will not be according to your comfort in some cities and may be not available in some cities. Go watch the film if your city is not flooded,” Grover, also a stand-up comedian, said.
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Also Read: After Alpha, Huma Qureshi’s ‘Baby Do Die Do’ focuses on desi hit-women
‘Not a competition’
While two female-led assassins movies with vastly different budgets are clashing at the box office, Huma Qureshi is not worried.
The 39-year-old, in a recent interview, clarified that she is not seeing Alpha as competition to her film, adding that there is space for every type of film and audience.
“We’re an independently-made film. I’m not even looking at what else is releasing on that weekend, but just want to find my own audience,” she said. “I think it’s amazing that here we are, where two female-led films are clashing at the box office…. I will always be cheering, not just for my own film, but also for my girlfriends.”
While Alia Bhatt promoted Alpha on Netflix with India Got Latent Season 2, Baby Do Die Do has largely relied on word-of-mouth promotion. Qureshi has also collaborated with creators on Instagram such as Tanmay Bhat and Samay Raina.
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In one Reel, Qureshi and Raina joke about Alpha being promoted on India Got Latent while her film was being promoted on Instagram.
“This may be your last movie,” he joked.