First weekend performance of latest release

Is 24X7 media a boon or a curse? Nikhil Advani would be definitely wondering aloud about it since the day his 'Salaam E Ishq' hit the marquee. In the times, say as near as 7-10 years back, his film would have been accepted and rejected more or less on its own merits/demerits with word of mouth playing a big role in deciding the film's performance.

But in current times with a couple of dozen leading news channels, a dozen odd websites coming up with the reviews within 3-5 hours of the film's release, thousands of SMSs floating around in a matter of minutes and last but not the least PR agencies [with their positive/negative agendas or the lack of them!] deciding about what to say about the film on the film's release months in advance, it is a matter of first weekend (in majority of cases) to decide the film's fate at the box office.

Yes, 2006 has proved that most of the films boasting of big budgets and aggressive publicity have been safe at the box office but then exceptions are always there and unfortunately it seems that law of averages may well decide 'Salaam E Ishq' to be the film with which it would eventually catch up!

It came across as quite a shock to see 'Salaam E Ishq' opening to poor and at most average reviews. Nonetheless, all ears were now set on word of mouth from the paying junta because time and again they have proved the critics wrong! Well, audience didn't call the film as poor at all but 'Salaam E Ishq' didn't quite make it to must-watch list either. No one hated the film but they also didn't come out singing praises about it. There was only one thing that was said by one and all (a much abused statement heard since the film's release) - "The film is quite long and bores at more than just a few places!" Result? Even though the film has some real good moments with decent to very good performances by majority of starcast, it has almost become a fashionable statement to say that the film doesn't appeal, lest one is accused/mocked at about actually falling for the film's mushy moments during its 3 hours + duration!

Coming to the film's box office performance, though it opened in the range of being good to very good, the word of mouth, as detailed above, is not really helping the film's cause in the current scenario. The film is expected to fetch a good first week total but it would require some aggressive damage control by the makers of 'Salaam E Ishq' and reversal in pseudo word of mouth by audience to survive a crash in weeks to come. And that's because all said and done, 'Salaam E Ishq' is at the least an above average piece of entertainment that deserves to break even at the box office, if not being called a classic in years to come.

Second release of the week, 'Parzania', saw a selective release and with near zilch promotion and lack of entertainment value, it would have to relegate itself to making festival rounds. the film has failed to find an audience and would disappear in a matter of fortnight.

Last week's movies

First week of 'Risk' was quite poor and the writing was on the wall on the very first day of its release. With just about 2 crores in its kitty and a heavy fall in the second weekend, the film would find a quick way out of theatres and go down as yet another flop of 2007! Collecting 40 lakhs from Mumbai with Delhi being second highest at 20 lakhs, the film also suffered from the fact that at majority of theatres it was discontinued after Wednesday itself to make way for SEI to arrive on Thursday.

Tanushree Dutta can be content with a fact that she now has a song 'Hitchki' to her credit which she can utilize for her stage/award performances while Randeep Hooda could be a new macho performer to make his presence felt. Vinod Khanna may have lost the box office battle with 'Risk' but has firmly announced his comeback to the big arena. One waits his go ahead to some more exciting projects from hereon and for that director Vishram Sawant needs a pat on his back for making this happen!

'Mr. Hot Mr. Kool' has been a mother of all disasters as it has folded up at mere 5 lakhs!

From the past

After an impressive first week at the theatres with appreciation coming in from critics and audience [mainly class] alike, 'Guru' enjoyed a second good week in succession with 45% fall in collections. Looking at the great word of mouth, one expected around 30% fall [much less than the 50% industry standards] but ultimately a 9.5 crore total meant that 'Guru' stood tall at 27.5 crores. The film enjoyed yet another bumper week in Mumbai with 2.5 crores coming in while Delhi too had more than 1 crore as per its 6 days collections.

Biggest success for Abhishek Bachchan so far where he has pulled off a film solely on his shoulders, 'Guru' is now also the first success for Mani Ratnam when it comes to his films in Hindi. The film has given a solid platform for Abhishek to choose his projects very carefully from hereon and be hailed as an actor who knows how to deliver goods. 'Guru' has come at just the right time of his career where he has done all kind of movies and now should have an idea of what works and what not!

'Bhagam Bhag' continued its trend of 60% falls week after week and added another 80 lakhs to its total. At 41 crores and a hit status to boast, the film is now arriving on original DVDs/VCDs in the coming weekend. Would Priyadarshan or the producers of the film thinking of a sequel here? Now if they do, how about having more of Govinda, especially in the wake of him being the only actor who has come out unscathed from 'Salaam E Ishq'?

'Dhoom 2' and 'Vivah' continue to enjoy their stint in the Top-5 in spite of being at theaters for 9 and 11 weeks respectively. Collections keep pouring in for both the films as they both added around 75 lakhs each to bring their totals to 85 crores and 28 crores respectively.

In the future

For a film like 'Traffic Signal', it is nothing but bonus and sheer luck to arrive as a solo release. Coming from Madhur Bhandarkar, it is a film that needs to be applauded for being a kind of film that boasts of a unique subject and still dares to arrive without any established stars. An ensemble piece, it would be seeing a decent release of around 250 prints. The film may take an average opening but if the claims of people associated with it turn out to be true [i.e. it is one black comedy that would make you laugh and think at the same time], the word of mouth and an open week factor should manage to take it through. With the coming week also relatively open with only 'Black Friday' expected to arrive, the film should end up as an earner.