First weekend performance of latest release

Yes, miracles do happen. Industry would certainly believe the saying with the stupendous opening that AAP KAA SURROOR has taken all over. Just last week it was mentioned here that "AAP KAA SURROOR is expected to take the best start due to sheer curiosity factor. Also, one can never underestimate the pull that Reshammiya may manage to bring on in the B and C centers where his songs have proved to be mega successes."

Every word has turned out to be true as the film has been lapped up by not just the masses in a big way but even the class audience frequenting the multiplexes in the A centers. Reason cited is of course the curiosity factor but one cannot discount the effort put in film's promotion. Heavily publicized with no stoned left unturned, AKS has given industry a much required fillip.

The film is a definite money spinner in the making and it has to be seen if after an opening weekend splurge, the film sustains itself for at least 7-10 days more to come to take it's prospects even higher.

APNE was the biggest release of the week in terms of sheer star power and grandeur and though many didn't expect the film to be any great shakes, to everyone's pleasant surprise it turned out to be the best product of the week with most positive reviews and audience response. The film opened to an above average to good box office response and after THE HERO, APNE is the only film that Sunny Deol could consider safe at the box office within first weekend of the release. Incidentally both the films are directed by Anil Sharma.

What has worked in the favor of the film is not just the hype around the three Deols coming together or the phenomenal boxing bout sequences but the emotional drama that has been integrated quite well into the script. Dharmendra leads the pack and is sure to find nominations at the end of the year while Sunny and Bobby play their equal parts well. Once AKS euphoria settles down, APNE is expected to stabilize even further.

One hopes the same for AWARAPAN though initial box office response to the film has been surprisingly lukewarm. At the face value, the film seemed to be the best of the lot till about a fortnight back. Bhatts, Emraan Hashmi and Pritam factor was good enough while Mohit Suri as a director was considered to be an icing on the cake. The promos were well received too with Hashmi getting special mention while songs were catching up fast as well.

Unfortunately for it, AKS mania started picking up fast while APNE turned out to be no ordinary competition. Result? AWARAPAN had the lowest opening of all though a well made product means that it is too early to write obituaries. The film should eventually make money though one can't help but observe that the film got sandwiched between opposition.

Last week's movies

CHAIN KULLI KI MAIN KULLI was the sole release of the week gone by and taking into consideration the minimal promotion, it could consider itself lucky to have managed to cross the 1 crore mark. Though the film is hardly in the running in week 2 and a mighty crash is inevitable, at least the losses would be less.

From the past

There could be many YRF dictators who could be commenting with a glee that Yash Raj bubble has burst with JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM. Though it may be too early to say that, what with TRRP may have eventually been declared a success and CHAK DE INDIA, LAAGA CHUNARI MEIN DAAG and AAJA NACH LE to follow, what certainly cannot be denied is that with JBJ around audience was in zero forgiving mood. Otherwise how else could one justify as much as a 70% drop in week 2?

In Mumbai the film fell from 4 crore to 80 lakhs, Delhi went down from 2.5 crore to 75 lakhs and NCR from 1.5 crore to 30 lakhs. A sorry take indeed. With just 5.5 crore more coming in, the film now stands at 25 crore and would fold up under 28 crore. The only gainers from the film? Unlikeliest of all - Bobby Deol and Lara Dutta, both of whom have gained good reviews.

After a disastrous second week, THE TRAIN fell down badly in it's third week too with a 70% drop resulting in only 15 lakhs more coming in it's kitty. With the total just managing to cross 5 crores, it is a loss making preposition for it's investors, though not in a major way due to the film's low costs. Same cannot be said so for MERA PEHLA PEHLA PYAAR which crashed completely in it's second week with merely a lakh or two coming in after a poor first week of 75 lakhs.

FOOL N FINAL stabilized to a certain extent in it's 4th week with around 50% fall. The film added another 50 lakhs to it's total and is now approaching 19 crores. Though a final total of 20 crore looks unlikely, an overall box office response of being a coverage film is still good enough as FNF was a below average product.

SHOOT OUT AT LOKHANDWALA had another good week as it got home 1 crore more in it's 5th week after close to 40% fall. The box office total now reads 33 crore for the film and it would be interesting to see if it manages to reach 35 crore. An uphill task though since three big releases have occupied most of the screens whereas coming weeks would see one biggie coming after another.

CHEENI KUM has sustained excellently at the box office in spite of being released alongside SOAL. Now for the first time since it's release, the film's total for a particular week reads more than of SOAL as it earns a little more than 1 crore with a mere 20% fall. The film has shown good legs and is been patronized very well by it's target audience - the multiplex goers. At 15 crores and still counting, the film is a hit and is bound to get very good reception once it arrives in it's original DVDs and VCDs.
METRO is enjoying an amazing success as instead of seeing a drop in collections, it has actually shown a splurge, that too a massive one, in the week it completed 50 days. Getting close to 50 lakhs to it's name, it showed as much as 40% improvement in collections over it's 6th week and has now amassed 16 crores. The makers had predicted anywhere between 16-18 crore total and the saying is bound to come true now.

In the future

Coming weekend sees the release of BOMBAY TO GOA, JAHAN JAAEYEGA HAMEIN PAAEYEGA, MY FRIEND GANESHA and THE BONG CONNECTION. None of them are expected to get a wide release either at multiplexes or single screens and hence make any dent at the box office. In fact each of them have been stuck in the cans/long in the making for varying duration and this was possibly the best opportunity for them to arrive.