Post its release on December 26, 2014,
‘Home Sweet Home’ has braved Hollywood and Bollywood blockbusters such as
‘American Sniper’, ‘PK’, ‘Badlapur’, etc to complete 75 days of successful
screening in Goa. While the film showed signs of its immense potential for
success by completing 55 sold out shows and playing in every theatre in Goa
including Ravindra Bhavan in Margao, Vasco, Sanquelim and Curchorem in its
initial stages post release, the cast and crew of the film while celebrating
the occasion at its 400th screening at Inox in Panjim admitted to not having
foreseen success of this magnitude. The feeling, according to the crew, is yet
to sink in.
Aiming to bring focus to the issue of illegal-land grabbing of properties in Goa, ‘Home Sweet Home’ – a film by Go Goa Gollywood Production, opened to a full-house post its release with viewers appreciating the theme, acting and production quality of the movie. The film brought together the acting talent of some of Goa’s most-beloved performers in comedian John D’Silva, Rajdeep Naik and Prince Jacob. Commenting on the success of the film, actor Rajdeep Naik says, “I think the hero of the film is its story that is so close to the heart of the Goans. What is pleasing is the fact that we have managed to bring together the Hindu and Catholic audience to enjoy the film.”
Another reason for the success of the film could be attributed to the way the team promoted the film in a big way, before and after its release. Swanil Shetkar, the producer and director of the film, says, “Some really good Konkani films that have been made in the past failed to reach the audience because of which the audience kept away from the film. Hence, we knew right from the beginning that we wanted to promote the film in a big way. Within 4 days of the release of the trailer of the film on YouTube, it went viral and we received more than 40,000 views.” Producer Madhav Gad adds, “We screened the trailers before films in theatres in Goa which created an interest amongst movie goers. Besides that, we used different social mediums like Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp to spread the word around and this was the first time that a Konkani film had ten billboards up in the state. We also had regular advertisements, posters and banners around the state.”
Post tasting success like never before, the core team of ‘Home Sweet Home’ is now working on ‘Home Sweet Home 2’. While the core team will remain the same, a few new characters will be introduced giving scope to a few new actors to act in the sequel. The team is looking at releasing the film by December this year.