First weekend performance of latest release

Every year, there is one week like this when 2/3/4 films release on the same day and all turn out to be box office disasters of equal proportions. In fact it is hard to figure out which of these films is a bigger trade disappointment than the other since the collections all over at all centers and each show are near to negligible.

The weekend gone by saw history repeating itself as each of the four films - GO, CHODDON NAA YAAR, ITS BREAKING NEWS and 50 LAKH saw literally empty theaters on the first day itself. The writing was clear on the wall - audience was in no mood to even give a chance to any of these four films that had nothing going in their favor.

GO came very near to Ram Gopal Varma's AAG and as expected, it was a field day for those who had seen the film as well as those (which formed majority) to rip it apart even if that meant doing so without any rhyme or reason. This Gautam Kumar debut film was definitely not bad but when the tide is so strong against a film maker and the pre-release buzz is all negative, there is nothing that can save a product. Add to it a predominantly new cast and crew and the battle is further lost.

CHODDON NAA YAAR was a strange film in itself and hence there was no surprise when audience gave it a cold shoulder without even giving it a dekko. Also, those who saw it hardly had a good word to say about this mumbo-jumbo of horror meets KAAL meets adventure meets some mish-mash which just didn't make any sense in entirety. In the end, a no-show for Jimmy Sheirgill who can only take solace from the fact that he, as always, got decent to good reviews for his work.

IT'S BREAKING NEWS and 50 LAKH were so dry before their release that sheer unawareness amongst the audience about the films hardly came as a surprise. Result? Empty theaters all around for the two films which won't even get into a second week running.

Last week's movies

DIL DOSTI ETC. has turned out to be a surprise earner at the box office. It's first week collections have been 1.5 crores which is good enough to make this small budget film reach the safety mark. Debutant director Manish Tiwary's realistic film laded with humor found an audience amongst youngsters and found stable footfalls throughout it's first week. While Mumbai had 40 lakhs to show, Delhi was decent too at 20 lakhs. Delhi NCR further contributed with another 20 lakhs odd hence making it a good success up North. Released at selective number of prints and carried forward at a good number into the second week, the film has made it's mark in spite of close to dozen releases in the month of September.

At 3 crores, JOHNNY GADDAAR is on a sticky ground as of now. Though the number is hardly flattering, some very good appreciation from audience as well as critics raises some hopes of a decent second week. As expected, the film saw maximum collections from Mumbai (80 lakhs) with Delhi at 33 lakhs. Low cost of the film would ensure that the film covers it's costs at the least but the sad part is that this Sriram Raghavan directed caper hasn't got it's box office due. Even if word of mouth sustains it in the second week, the BHOOL BHULAIYAA and LAAGA CHUNARI MEIN DAAG onslaught at majority of multiplex screens would force JOHNNY GADDAAR an early retirement.

From the past

Two weeks back it didn't quite seem that DHOL would follow the MALAMAAL WEEKLY route. Well, at least the first couple of weeks have indeed followed a journey in this direction. Just like Priyadarshan's earlier comedy, even DHOL has seen a reasonably good second week with only 45% fall. Earning 5.5 crores more, the film has now crossed 15 crore mark hence becoming a semi-hit right away. The film has done quite well in centers like Mumbai and Delhi where it has netted 80 lakhs each more in the second week. One more good week like this and DHOL could well gain a higher status.

MANORAMA SIX FEET UNDER is a huge disaster with collections falling by close to 90%. With mere 30 lakhs in the first week, one can easily see the kind of billing film would have after two weeks. Extremely disappointing to see some good act going completely unnoticed.

In the meanwhile DHAMAAL continues to create some rock solid 'dhamaal'. The film can finally wear the HIT tag for itself as this Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Riteish Deshmukh, Javed Jaffry and Ashish Chaudhary film has sustained excellently in it's 4th week to see a negligible fall (less than 10%) from it's third week. An added 3 crores in the collections means that the film has now crossed the 28 crore mark and would comfortably cross the 30 crores milestone.

From 70 lakhs last week, Mumbai has barely dropped, as indicated by 65 lakhs in last week whereas Delhi has in fact jumped from 30 lakhs to 35 lakhs. A clear cut HIT now, it is a second successive success for Riteish after HEYY BABYY. Even for Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi, it is third big money spinner after the twin success of Munnabhai.

HEYY BA
BYY is now in it's last leg and may sustain only for around a fortnight more. With close to 50% fall and only 40 lakhs more coming in, HEYY BABYY has crossed 51 crores but it unlikely to reach the 52 crores mark.

CHAK DE INDIA is turning out to be the VIVAH of 2007, though on a higher side! While VIVAH was busy collecting in lakhs on a consistent note once it went past the first 4-5 weeks, CHAK DE INDIA has taken the crores route. In it's 8th week, the film has done phenomenally well to actually show a jump in collections and netted another 2 crores. The film stands neck to neck with year's biggest money spinner, PARTNER, at 62 crores but would cross it easily this week.

In the future

While this week's BHOOL BHULAIYAA is a T-Series film, LAAGA CHUNARI MEIN DAAG has Yash Raj Films backing. As are the indications BHOOL BHULAIYAA is going to be a clear winner as far as the opening weekend goes. Superhit music, presence of mighty Akshay Kumar, presence of Priyadarshan (who can even make a DHOL a blockbuster), a successful theme (the film has been made in numerous South Indian languages and has been a success every time) and a complete family film appeal are just a few reasons which might make BHOOL BHULAIYAA as the first choice of cine goers.

On the other hand LAAGA CHUNARI MEIN DAAGA has been pretty 'thanda' ever since its promotion began. Presence of actors like Rani Mukherjee and Abhishek Bachchan is a little too predictable when it comes to a Yash Raj Film, the music has not caught up at all in spite of being pleasant, the buzz is clearly missing while the film's theme sounds serious. The film should pick up and that too purely on the basis of word of mouth once the BHOOL BHULAIYAA wave settles down.