Toby: Did Raj B Shetty falter by promoting it as a more commercial film than Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana?

Despite fairly positive initial reviews, the film failed to pick up at the box office

Toby

In the last couple of months, everywhere actor-filmmaker Raj B Shetty went to promote his film Toby, he spoke of it being bigger and better than his previous Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana (GGVV) and that it would have far more whistle-worthy moments. He revealed a first look that hinted at the film being violent, and the trailer too had such glimpses, giving audiences the impression that Toby would be like GGVV, after all.

Then, on August 25, the film released. It had a slow start, what with it being a festival in Karnataka and not a government holiday, and the initial reviews that came were fairly positive and encouraging, so much so that by afternoon, bookings began to pick up. The trend continued over the weekend, with no major improvement over day 1, largely owing to the mixed reviews that began pouring in from audiences.

Read our review: Toby movie review: Raj B Shetty presents a heart-achingly beautiful and tragic tale

Toby had clearly divided audiences, with one set loving it, and another dissing it over its slow narration, among others. One observation that clearly stood out, though is that audiences felt that Raj’s description of the film during the promotions was not in sync with what he brought to the screen. He had called it his most massy commercial entertainer, with far more whistle-worthy moments than GGVV. The film was nothing like that, despite having 2-3 action blocks. It was a film about a father-daughter bond, and him avenging the misfortune that befalls her because of him. It’s the emotions of the tale that struck a chord with some audiences, while the other set felt cheated of not having had a theatrical experience with pacy narration and elevations.

Read also: Exclusive! Raj B Shetty on Toby: The film Toby is my vision; I saw a film that’s independent of Dayanand’s story

After six days at the box office, trade sites peg Toby’s gross revenue at around Rs 4 crore to Rs 4.5 crore, with day 7 predictions hovering around the 30 lakh mark. The team is now looking at releasing the film in neighbouring states with the dubbed versions.

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