Why Dhoni’s Economical Bollywood Story Was A Hit, While Kapil’s Big ’83 Spend Failed To Make The Box Office Tick

Big budget movie 83 on Kapil Dev led India winning the 1983 World Cup cost Rs 270 crore to make but did not do well. The biopic on MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, made with a budget of Rs 106 crore, did much better. 83 did not connect with today’s audience while Dhoni did. Trade pundits say the subject of 83 was overexposed; an old chapter in the history of India’s cricket and whatever was shown in the film was available on YouTube. Dhoni’s biopic, in that sense, was an untold story so had a huge audience connect. Also what worked in the biopic’s favour is Dhoni’s huge fan following coupled with his participation in the film promotion. Dhoni’s movie had romance, portrayed the journey of a small-town boy becoming captain of the Indian cricket team. It was aspirational. 83 was only about cricket which perhaps put off today’s generation despite Ranveer Singh. People who went to see 83 were in the 40-plus bracket, who are fewer in numbers. Also, it was not a family outing as their children were not keen to see 83.  It was also impacted by the Omicron wave. Clearly, Sushant Singh film had a bigger draw than a Ranveer Singh film. Incidentally, not all biopics do well. The one on Mohammad Azharuddin played by Emraan Hashmi bombed.