Shahid Kapoor and Kiara Advani-starrer Kabir Singh 2nd highest opener for an A-rated film

Image: Instagram/@shahidkapoor

Ever heard of a Bollywood love story that is only for adults? Well, here is Kabir Singh for you. While it seemed to have got a rather harsh treatment from the Censor Board to have been meted with an 'adults only' certificate (strictly talking from the genre perspective), it is also a bit understandable since expletives, substance abuse and sex runs right through the three hour playing time for the film.

It is quite apparent that the makers were quite sure of the story that they wanted to narrate and what they were bringing on screen. Even if it meant that the narrative of a love story was peppered with content that was not quite suitable for those under-18 years of age, they were not willing to compromise.

In a way, it made sense as well since the flavor of the film has been kept intact. In fact it is rather surprising that despite the A certificate, there were at least 5-6 places in the film when the expletives were muted. In fact the sign of the middle finger was blurred as well, which makes one wonder why such action was necessary when the film had already been deemed rights just for adults. Moreover, it isn't as if expletives or other aforementioned references were not there for the rest of the film.

Thankfully, none of the kissing scenes were toned down or reduced in duration as not just were they tender instead of being explicit, they were also required as per the core theme of the film.

However, in the process the film has now set the template when it comes to a love story for matured audience. The super start that the film has taken (an opening day of Rs 20.20 crore) is a testimony to that as well as now one can well expect many more intense love stories coming for the audience that take a "no-bars-held" approach.

That was the formula which the Bhatts brought to the screen many years back when they made films for 'adults only'. They combined the lethal combination of horror, lust and music in majority of their films which resulted in the likes of Raaz 3 [Vikram Bhatt], Jism 2 [Pooja Bhatt] that earned good number at the opening of the box office.

Others followed as well, what with Ragini MMS 3 and The Dirty Picture (both by Ekta Kapoor) taking a fantastic start in theaters and then sustaining well to emerge as huge successes. Hate Story too was a franchise that was kick-started by another Bhatt (Vikram Bhatt), though eventually the biggest of them all happened with Hate Story 3, which surprised one and all.

The Top-5 in the list of adult films doing well have varied across genres though. Shootout at Wadala was a Sanjay Gupta film (again with Ekta Kapoor as the producer) and an action-drama entertainer set in the underworld. A multi-starrer, it was followed by another similar film Satyameva Jayate which was directed by Milap Zaveri (who also wrote Satyameva Jayate).

Veere Di Wedding (another film co-produced by Ekta Kapoor) was an ensemble starrer which stays on to be only all-female driven film to feature amongst the top A-rated films to make a cut. An entertainer, it too took a holds-no-bar approach when it came to references to sex and what women need, hence finding quit some resonance amidst the fairer sex.

The film which surprised one and all though was Grand Masti which is the only adults-only film till date in the 100 crore club. Also written by Milap Zaveri, it was directed by Indra Kumar, who continued his 'adult' antics with the trio of Riteish Deshmukh, Vivek Oberoi and Aftab Shivdasani.

However, the wait for a new A-rated film to find a place in the 100 crore club should now end with Shahid Kapoor and Kiara Advani-starrer which has been helmed expertly by director Sandeep Reddy Vanga. He made a name for himself with his Telugu film Arjun Reddy and now is set to make it real big with the Hindi remake Kabir Singh, which should go past the century mark in a jiffy.

That should also establish loud and clear that there is an audience out there which is happy to catch an 'adults only' film in hordes, provided there is good all-round entertainment in store.

Top-10 opening days of A-rated films
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Kabir Singh - Rs 20.20 crore

Satyameva Jayate - Rs 20.52 crore

Grand Masti - Rs 12.50 crore

Veere Di Wedding - Rs 10.70 crore

Shootout at Wadala - Rs 10.10 crore

Raaz 3 - Rs 10.25 crore

Hate Story 3 - Rs 9.72 crore

The Dirty Picture - Rs 9.54 crore

Ragini MMS 2 - Rs 8.43 crore

Jism 2 - Rs 7.46 crore

(Joginder Tuteja is a trade expert and film critic, and loves to talk and write about anything that is related to films. Views are personal)