First weekend performance of latest release

It was always expected that BHOOL BHULAIYAA would open well. Well, it did open well but the massive manner in which it did has surprised even the strongest supporters of Akshay Kumar. Not just has the film seen an excellent Friday with a near cent percent occupancy all over, it has stayed on well on Saturday and Sunday too, hence adding on to be yet another definite success for Akshay Kumar.

While a 25 crore opening week is a given, it now has to be seen the distance that this Priyadarshan film covers. So what made the film a success it is today? As mentioned in last week's column, superhit music, Akshay-Priyadarshan combo, a tried and tested theme and a complete family film appeal were bound to get the audience.

To add to it, another important factor which went in it's favor was a rare biggie releasing after a relative drought at the box office. Barring DHAMAAL and to an extent DHOL, no other film released after HEYY BABYY had created a major impact across the country. Cinegoers were waiting for just the right film to walk into the theaters and an excellent promotional strategy adopted by the film's producers, T-Series, only added on to the buzz. In nutshell, a complete package that has brought back more than just smiles on the faces of distributors and exhibitors.

What happened to LAAGA CHUNARI MEIN DAAG in the meanwhile? As expected, the footfalls were far lesser in comparison (at places 25%, at best 50%) for this Pradeep Sarkar social melodrama which one could smell from a big distance to be very 60s! There was near to nil buzz about the film and BHOOL BHULAIYAA was always too hot a competition to handle.

Result? First and foremost the film opened to a poor/below average response. While all depended upon crucial word of mouth, something which was worked so very perfectly for CHAK DE INDIA a few weeks back, both media as well as audience was hardly in a forgiving mode. The film didn't see an elevation at all and seems all set to be a disappointment both critically as well as commercially.

Last week's movies

GO, CHODDON NAA YAAR, ITS BREAKING NEWS and 50 LAKH were the four films that opened last week. Well, I can't blame you if you haven't even heard or cared about most of these released films. That's because that was the common sentiment of the money spending junta in the week gone by. While all eyes were set on BHOOL BHULAIYAA, audience preferred to give a cold shoulder to anything and everything that came before or along with it. The same happened with each of the four releases which saw cumulative collections to the tune of under 1.5 crores! Terrible.

Still, Ram Gopal Varma may see a silver lining here since it was his GO which accounted for near 1.25 crores out of these 1.5 crores! CHODDON NAA YAAR, IT'S BREAKING NEWS and 50 LAKH rewrote the definition of disaster with mere 13 lakhs, 7 lakhs and 4 lakhs coming in respectively. One wonders if there would be any takers for DVDs of these films since even their promotion left a lot to be desired and there has been hardly any awareness about any of these films.

From the past

While no new films were making any waves at the box office last week, the most unusual suspect, DIL DOSTI ETC., turned out to be a surprise earner at the box office. The film fell by just 40% and got close to 1 crore in it's second week hence bringing it's overall total to 2.5 crores. Though Mumbai slid from it's first week total of 40 lakhs to 20 lakhs, Delhi was quite good with 15 lakhs more coming in after 20 lakhs last week. Looking at just about 100 prints in the country, the film has managed to hold on to decent collections and is now a comfortable above average success at the least.

In the end JOHNNY GADDAAR flattered to deceive. In spite of excellent word of mouth and some rave comments all over, the film just didn't entice many viewers and fell by more than 60% in it's second week. One of the main reasons behind low collections (only 1 crore) was the lack of confidence shown by exhibitors in continuing the film. There were far lesser shows in the second week which meant that by the time people actually became aware about the film and it's worth, it was already off the theaters at most places or was running at some of the most ill placed shows.

The film stands at 4 crores and should fold up soon but due to low cost, the losses, if any in some circuits, would be minimal. In nutshell, it seems like a no-profit-no-loss situation for it's investors.

Meanwhile DHOL continued to be the #1 choice of cinegoers even in it's third week. With a 60% fall (reasonable), the film still managed to earn more than 2 crores and hence bring it's total to 18 crores. A semi-hit, DHOL continues the winning streak of Priyadarshan which has reached it's zenith with BHOOL BHULAIYAA. DHAMAAL is another comic hit in the running and with 1.5 crores more coming in after a 50% fall, the film stands at 30 crores and is a hit. The film has followed the GOLMAAL route and has got a similar box office tag for it.

CHAK DE INDIA remains to be the most consistent of lot, as evidenced with less than 40% fall even in it's 9th week. With it's collections still reaching the 1 crore mark in the week gone by, the film has now crossed 63 crores in collections and looks likely to settle down close to 65 crores in the final run.

In the future

After a long delay, Vikram Bhatt directed SPEED finally sees a release. A solo release is any film's dream and this multi starrer thriller has it's best chance to capitalize on it. Though the promos have been decent, SPEED is still not the kind of film which comes with 'advance booking' hype. Even if it takes a 50% opening, it would be a victory for this Harry Baweja production which would then depend upon word of mouth to take it through an extra distance.