First weekend performance of latest release

Box office is known to throw a surprise or two every now and then. On the face value, it always seemed that JOHNNY GADDAAR would have an edge over DIL DOSTI ETC. in the opening weekend, even though on the lower side. None of the two films were expected to make much waves on their release and all depended upon the actual credentials and word of mouth. What actually transpired was just the opposite. Though both JOHNNY GADDAAR and DIL DOSTI ETC. opened to a sub 50% response, the latter had an edge.

First timer Manish Tiwary's well made take on youth in a campus setting saw a greater foot fall than JOHNNY GADDAAR at number of centers. Though the film saw mixed reviews coming it's way, a low budget DIL DOSTI ETC. at the minimum is en route to recovering it's cost and also make some profit.

On the other hand JOHNNY GADDAAR is one of the best films to have come out this year and is easily an intelligently made piece of cinema by director Sriram Raghavan. The film didn't quite open on a heartening note but the word of mouth has been terrific all over with everyone from audience to critics to industry folks coming up with wholehearted appreciation. If exhibitors show courage to give it another fortnight's run, JOHNNY GADDAAR has in it to make an impression at the box office.

Last week's movies

It is hardly 'surprising' any more when Priyadarshan films turn out to be so-called 'surprise successes'. It happened with MALAMAAL WEEKLY and later BHAGAM BHAG, none of which got any favor from the critics but turned out to be huge audience hits. DHOL is now following the same path too and has turned out to be yet another earner for the director who may be accused of making similar films but is still finding favor from the audience.

A 10 crore opening in the week when India was at it's peak in 20-20 cricket is no mean achievement. With Mumbai fetching more than 1.5 crores, Delhi too crossing the 1 crore mark and Delhi NCR at 60 lakhs, the film needs just one more good week to be termed as a hit. This medium budget film emphasizes the point once again that Tusshar Kapoor's safest bet is a comedy and consolidates the fact that Rajpal Yadav is the best comic actor on the scene today. Sharman gets yet another multi starrer success while Kunal Khemu now has three consecutive earners [KALYUG, TRAFFIC SIGNAL, DHOL] to his name!

MANORAMA SIX FEET UNDER is the biggest box office disaster for Abhay Deol ever since he started his career. No wonder, he is expected to be at his wits end since he came up with a very good act in a well made film but is let down to all around combination of horrible publicity, poor marketing, bad product placement and strange release strategy. Nevertheless, debutant director Navdeep Singh can take heart from the fact that his work has been noticed and now he has a released film behind him even though the business reads just about 30 lakhs from across the country.

From the past

AGGAR could well be termed as a box office disaster of the year. With a 95% fall in it's second week and near to negligible collections to show, this decent thriller only managed to shock everyone associated with it. The film has done less than what Mahadevan's recent release VICTORIA NO, 203 earned and has folded up at a mere 95 lakhs. NANHE JAISALMER too shared the same fate and has failed to cross even 35 lakhs from across the country after two weeks.

DARLING is another massive box office failure as yet another 80% + fall in the third week means that the film would fall short of touching 2.5 crores. No wonder, the DVDs are out on stands this weekend for this Ram Gopal Varma film, which ironically is his best effort since SARKAR.

This takes me to DHAMAAL. After a shaky opening, the film settled down after the opening weekend and went on to do decent first week business. It was particularly good in it's second week when the fall was less than 40% while third week has held on reasonably well too in spite of 20-20 and another comic release DHOL. With less than 60% fall and 3.5 crores more coming in, DHAMAAL has crossed the 25 crore mark to be termed as a Semi-Hit.

While Mumbai got home 70 lakhs, Delhi stood at 30 lakhs. The film still would continue for some more time at the box office since continued revenue is expected as it moves deeper into B and C centers. The film's prospects are not just restricted to multiplexes and would make inroads into single screens too.

HEYY BABYY fell by 70% in the 5th week but not before turning out to be Akshay Kumar's first 50 crore earner. Earning 80 lakhs more, the film is a superhit all over the country and is now getting ready for it's DVD release. A good family film which is bound to be a massive success on both home video and television circuits too!

Meanwhile CHAK DE INDIA is simply relentless and in the week when it completed it's 50 days, it stayed as one of the Top-3 preferred movies and went on to net close to 2 crores more. Fabulous. With mere 35% in the week when only DHOL and to an extent DHAMAAL worked, the film has now crossed 60 crores at the box office. If one doesn't take inflation into account, CHAK DE INDIA is Shahrukh Khan's biggest box office earner ever as it has now crossed the 58 crores total of DDLJ while leaving KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI'S 50 crores way behind.

In the future

Till about a couple of years back, there used to be a big lull in film releases before Id, Dussehra and Diwali. It is no more the same now with multiple releases every week, courtesy multiplexes. This Friday too sees 4 movies arriving at the theaters, though each of them is a low budget flick. CHHODON NAA YAAR, GO, ITS BREAKING NEWS and 50 LAKH are the four movies arriving in the town and each of them have taken their own time in hitting the marquee.

Both ITS BREAKING NEWS and 50 LAKH are seeing restricted releases and are hardly expected to make a dent at the box office. On the other hand neither CHHODON NAA YAAR nor GO are the flicks which would make crowds throng the theaters in dozens. The only film that may eventually survive to stay in the running opposite BHOOL BHULAIYAA and LAAGA CHUNARI MEIN DAAG (both releasing a week after) would be the one with the merits!