Bollywood
Mumbai, August 23 - The anticipation is building up for Tiger Shroff's action thriller Baaghi 4, which is scheduled to hit the big screens on September 5. The makers are set to unveil the trailer on August 30, and are said to be confident that it to be the hype raiser. Meanwhile, the movie has already taken the spotlight as it climbed to the number one position on IMDb's real-time list of most anticipated Bollywood films of 2025.
While earlier in January the film held the fifth spot behind other biggies like Sikandar and Coolie, its steady rise reflects growing audience interest. The upcoming action spectacle also gained buzz after its teaser, featuring Tiger Shroff in high-octane combat against Sanjay Dutt, received an A certificate from the CBFC, hinting at darker and more intense storytelling.
The Baaghi franchise has always been synonymous with action-packed drama, and expectations are no different this time, though the upcoming film is completely different from the previous films, which were family-friendly. Baaghi 4 is the darkest and bloodiest film of the franchise yet. Nonetheless, the movie has been in the social media chatter, which also reflects in IMDb's most-anticipated titles, but the real question is, can this anticipation turn into box office numbers?
The Baaghi franchise's past box office records present a mixed picture. The first two movies of the franchise were box office hits, but the third movie (2020) had to settle for an average verdict, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, which cut short its potential. It has been a long time since that, so the trade is not sure whether the upcoming film can still resonate with the masses, especially at a time when the franchise films are falling apart.
With Baaghi 4 carrying a big budget, there are challenges ahead of it that it needs to overcome to become a box office hit. Despite the buzz soaring, the movie has to deal with franchise fatigue, which is real. As reported earlier, only one franchise movie, Raid 2, emerged box office hit, while others fell flat this year. For Baaghi 4 to join the Ajay Devgn-starrer, the makers will hope that the all-important trailer works well, and the movie manages to take a good opening, which has become a must for big-budget titles.
The trade is also not sure whether Tiger's films still carry the same interest among the fans as they used to before the COVID-19 pandemic. The actor's last few films failed miserably, which is making the trade nervous about the upcoming film. It is a big challenge, which can be overcome with one good film which manages to strike a chord with the audience, and the makers would hope it does.
The franchise fatigue, audience scepticism, and doubts over Tiger Shroff's box office pull following his recent underperformers are there, but if one thing is positive for the film is that the franchise still commands a loyal fan following, and Tiger’s popularity among action enthusiasts remains intact. To turn things in its favour as a whole, the film's trailer will be crucial in shaping audience sentiment ahead of its September 5 release. If early buzz translates into footfalls and the film delivers on scale and intensity, Baaghi 4 could emerge as one of the surprise winners of the year.
Stay tuned...
