First weekend performance of latest release

Pretty uneventful - this is how one would summarize the weekend gone by for Bollywood. Even as there were 4 films released last Friday, neither trade nor aam junta were excited about any of them. Whether it was noir thriller RED, Oscar nominated social WATER, or action dramas 1971 and SARHAD PAAR - none of the 4 created any buzz or excitement whatsoever. In fact so dull was the opening weekend that even the sum total of occupancy of the 4 films didn't sum up to 100%.

Out of the 4, RED may have just opened a little well had it released 2-3 weeks back when it's promotion was at it's peak. Its delayed release coupled with an overall average product means that Vikram Bhatt would now have to look at his next release LIFE MEIN KABHI KABHI to change his box office fortunes. Even though Aftab acted well and Celina exuded sensuality and sexuality in good doses, audience was just not interested and gave it a miss.

In case of WATER it was quite expected that there would be hardly any takers amongst the audience. Released with minimal fanfare and many having already watched it on pirated DVDs that have been on circulation for last few months, WATER should soon be drying out in quick time.

In comparison, 1971 and SARHAD PAAR have opened to a disastrous response in spite of being contrasting products. While 1971 is a well made film but is on its way to go down due to zilch publicity and lack of face value, SARHAD PAAR came in too late when films belonging to this genre are just out of circulation, with or without a Sanjay Dutt or any other big star.

Last week's movies

Opening collections of NISHABD may well surprise many. Reason? In spite of all the criticism and opening weekend reports, the film eventually did manage to add up to 5 crores. Now looking at the wide release of the film (at as many as 300 cinemas), the percentage occupancy at number of shows did seem on the lower side. But on the other hand if one considers the niche audience for which the film was targeted and budget of the film, 5 crores definitely leads NISHABD to at least a coverage status.

Not a flop by any means, the film has in fact seen one of the best openings of Ram Gopal Verma ventures in recent times [though still way below the high standards the film maker has set for himself]. In Mumbai, the film touched 1 crore while Delhi stood at 70 lakhs. Though a fall is inevitable in the second week, it stands a decent chance in home video circuit. Nevertheless, the film is undoubtedly one of the best efforts of RGV and would be remembered for superb natural performances by Amitabh Bachchan and Jiah Khan.

On the other hand NEHLLE PE DEHLLA is a certified flop with just 3 crores coming in in spite of a commercial look and feel and presence of Sanjay Dutt and Saif Ali Khan. Agreed that the film was dated and released sans any hype, but still demonstration of star power on billboards, hoardings and posters should have got in some chunk of audience at least. That didn't really happen as the film summed up to a very poor 40 lakhs in Mumbai and 20 lakhs in Delhi. In the end, the only two people to have really benefited from the film are Kim Sharma (who has been noticed again for her cute-n-sexy looks and lovable costumes) and Shakti Kapoor (who has been found again as a comedian after years)!

From the past

In spite of NISHABD and NEHLLE PE DEHLLA releasing in the second week of running for HONEYMOON TRAVELS PVT. LTD., it fell only 50% which meant that the audience kept flocking the theaters in good numbers. Generally for mid-range films the fall is a little heavier than industry standard of 50% but in case of HTPL it held on quite well with Mumbai bringing in another crore and Delhi registering 30 lakhs.

With none of the 4 releases last Friday bringing any word of mouth, the stage is set wide for HTPL to be the favorite even in its 3rd week. Standing at 9 crores, this medium budget film is a comfortable above average runner, something that would definitely please its makers.

After a second week fall of 75%, EKLAVYA collected 1 crore and fell another 75% in the third week hence reaffirming that the film has been completely rejected by the audience. The immense hyper created by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and PR activism in full flow managed to get an audience in the first week but this is what has contributed most to its current total of 19 crores.

Running at selected theaters and now ready for a DVD/VCD release, BLACK FRIDAY currently stands at 4.5 crores with 20 lakhs added to it in its 4th week. An average runner, it doesn't really have much steam left to near the 5 crore mark. Now one wishes that director Anurag Kashyap continues to make interesting cinema while Bollywood wakes up to great talent that we have in the shape of Pawan Malhotra, Kay Kay Menon and Aditya Shrivastava.

GURU continues it's victory march and remains in Top-5 in spite of being in theaters for 8 weeks. Bringing home another 50 lakhs with the total in excess of 41 crores, this super-hit film has proved that there are takers of different kind of cinema today and if marketed, promoted and released well, they are bound to work.

Another case in point is VIVAH that has well created a record of sorts when it comes to bringing the kind of money even in the latter weeks of a box office run. Otherwise in the times of big release-quick gain, could one have ever imagined that even in it's 17th week, the film would take just a 15% fall and earn in excess of 30 lakhs to total up to 31 crores?

In the future

Three films release this Friday - HAT TRICK, JUST MARRIED and EIK DASTTAK. EIK DASTTAK, inspite of an interesting plot (With Vasundhara Das in lead, the film is about IT officers and how they go about doing their jobs), has a non-starter written all over it. The film has been ready for long but with no face value and promotion, it doesn't even seem that it would get a decent release across the country.

On the other hand JUST MARRIED has just lost steam over the weeks since the release is coming weeks after it's promotion was at it's peak. Seemingly a delightful film with several light hearted moments to keep you engaged, the film would sadly have to depend a lot on word of mouth to make any impact whatsoever since there aren't many expectations from the opening weekend.

Third (and the biggest release) of the week, HAT TRICK, hasn't seen much hype building up with the promotion leaving a lot to be desired. Looking best amongst the three films which are releasing this Friday, even HTA TRICK would have to rely upon word of mouth in spite of an unusual starcast (it's USP) of Nana, Danny, Paresh, Kunal and Rimmi.