Three films release this weekend - 'Gali Gali Chor Hai', 'Love You To Death' and 'Staying Alive'. However other than 'Gali Gali Chor Hai', the other two don't stand any chance whatsoever at the box office. Let's start with the Akshaye Khanna starrer first. The film has a topical theme - corruption - but comes at a time when the Anna movement has actually fizzled away. Now if only this Rumi Jaffery film would have arrived, say three months back, the response would have been altogether different since at that time Anna's movement was at its peak. However today a similar impact is missing which means 'Gali Gali Chor Hai' is on its own.
This leads one to the face value of the film. Frankly, Akshaye Khanna hasn't been going through a great phase and though one has never denied his credibility as an actor to vouch for, when it comes to his star value as a solo lead, it is a different matter altogether. Promos are decent, not mind-blowing, which means one waits to see if the eventual content ends up doing the trick. Moreover 'Agneepath' can be expected to enjoy a bountiful second weekend as well, hence impacting the collections of 'Gali Gali Chor Hai'.
All such factors mean that the film is expected to start on a relatively lower note (30%-40%) and show growth only if the word of mouth is really good with favourable reviews coming it's way. However for that to happen, the momentum has to speed up really fast since the very next week sees the arrival of 'Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu'.
As for the other two releases of the week, neither 'Love You To Death' nor 'Staying Alive' seem promising from commercial standpoint. Former is a Hinglish film with an entirely unknown cast and crew and is arriving sans any promotion. Pitched as a comedy, the film may see select release in some pockets of the country though a run beyond a weekend would be nothing less than a pleasant surprise. On the other hand 'Staying Alive' is a dated film and is finding a sudden release for itself. This Anant Mahadevan-Saurabh Shukla starrer is seemingly a niche affair and though it may get good reviews, expecting audience footfalls would be too much to task, especially with zero promotion hardly helping it's cause.
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