Hansal Mehta says 'terrible films' sometimes make a lot of money: 'Stop judging films...'

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta recently made a strong statement regarding films being judged by their box office collections. Mehta asserted that the money a film makes or does not make, is the prerogative of those involved in it financially. He also urged audiences to judge films only on the basis of whether it was worth their ticket prices or not.

Mehta's take on the business of films

Mehta's curt tweet drew a lot of attention owing to its factual to-the-point delivery, conveying his opinions on the recent surge in interest regarding box-office numbers. Mehta believes that a film's box office should be nobody's concern, except for those involved in it in a "transactional" capacity. He enunciated how this essentially meant that these matters should be private. Mehta urged audiences to instead prioritise their experience with the film and if the money they paid to see it was worth their time and effort. He also commented on how box office numbers were an unreliable yardstick to judge a film as "Terrible films sometimes make a lot of money and good films make less money". He concluded by stating that the last thing box office number's should have an impact on is the worth of the film stars involved.

Bottom Line :
A films box-office is nobody’s business. It impacts ONLY those involved in the film in various ways that are purely transactional and essentially private.

STOP JUDGING FILMS BY B-O NUMBERS. Terrible films sometimes make a lot of money and good films make less… https://t.co/f4quG4xxcR

— Hansal Mehta (@mehtahansal) April 25, 2023

Why did Hansal Mehta make this statement?

Hansal Mehta's tweet was made in response to a separate tweet which was comparing trade figures and producer's figures for films. The tweet briefly pointed out how the latter is usually higher than the former and how the former may make wrong predictions and the latter may inflate their figures. The tweet also stated how for some films the trade figures are made popularly known while for some others producer's figures are spread. The conclusion of the tweet was that predicting box-office numbers and judging films on that basis was a largely misinformed activity.

Hansal Mehta is an Indian filmmaker who has made films like Manoj Bajpayee-starrer Aligarh and Rajkummar Rao-starrers Citylights and Chhalang. He is best known for directing television series Scam 1992. His last release was Faraaz this year.