Vicky Kaushal, the star of the period biopic Sam Bahadur, has opened up about facing off against Ranbir Kapoor’s commercial entertainer Animal at the box office late last year. In a compelling interview with The Week Magazine, Kaushal shed light on the different approaches taken by the two big-budget films that locked horns on December 1st.
Calling it a true “David vs Goliath” showdown, Kaushal stated that from the beginning, Team Sam Bahadur viewed their film as a “test match” rather than a casual T20 game. “We knew Sam Bahadur wasn’t your typical masala entertainer like Animal promised to be. Ours was a story that required patience and understanding from audiences,” he said. However, Kaushal expressed confidence that word-of-mouth would help their content-driven film find its crowd.
Interestingly, data from industry tracker Sacnilk shows that despite Animal’s hyper-commercial nature, Sam Bahadur still found global box office success of over $15 million. According to Kaushal, this is a testament to the power of compelling storytelling. “If the story doesn’t connect, the release timing won’t matter. We’re just glad people continue discovering and appreciating our film,” he said.
The National Award-winning star also shared his delight as conversations around Sam Bahadur grew even in the weeks after release. With 8 Filmfare nominations under its belt, it seems history will remember this epic box office battle as a true David vs Goliath story of content finding box office success.
