First weekend performance of latest release

To begin with, there were never many hopes for HALLA BOL taking a flying start at the box office. For an issue based film like this which provided entertainment at a different level, the call of the situation was a smart promotional campaign and identification of target audience. Sadly, the promotion left much to be desired and the buzz was missing as well. Even with names like Rajkumar Santoshi and Ajay Devgan, the investors didn't quite capitalize to the fullest and a below average opening was for all to see.

The film is good and this worked in favor of the film over the weekend when it managed to show an upward trend after a not-so-inspiring opening. Still, as of now, HALLA BOL is on a shaky ground with all it's hopes lying on a sustained word of mouth. The film is certainly not a washout, as is being falsely claimed by some sections of the media, though it hasn't entered the safe zone as well. HALLA BOL has it's advantage in the form of yet another relatively lighter week all for itself due to arrival of only BOMBAY TO BANGKOK.

I sincerely wish that the film manages to break even at the least. After the debacle of FAMILY, Rajkumar Santoshi has demonstrated his trademark stamp once again in HALLA BOL. Pankaj Kapur and Sunny Deol too have come up with a bravura act and the film deserves to find it's bearings amongst it's target set of audience.

On the other hand MY NAME IS ANTHONY GONSALVES defines clichéd cinema at it's best. If the dated look and boring promos were reasons not good enough to ensure a poor opening at the box office, an overall weak product meant that the film didn't improve even over the weekend. Nikhil Dwivedi has made a decent debut but that hasn't been good enough to result in horde of audiences making a beeline for the film. Film lovers have shown utter disinterest in this project which is all set to be lost in oblivion in just a fortnight's time.

Last week's movies

With January first week jinx scaring away makers from releasing any of their films, there were no new notable releases in the previous weekend.

From the past

RETURN OF HANUMAN hasn't been memorable at all at the box office. After a poor opening week, the film failed to find an audience even in it's second week as it crashed by close to 70%. With just around 40 lakhs coming in, the writing was clear in the wall for this Anurag Kashyap directed animation film that has joined the list of flop animation films coming from Bollywood. The film hasn't sustained in any territory at all and is soon disappearing from theaters all over. It's only chance now lies with the DVD release which should be just around the corner.

SHOWBIZ was even worse as it touched the bottom of the barrel with more than 90% fall. With first week bringing in mere 25 lakhs, it doesn't take an Einstein to calculate the total net collections of the film after two weeks. One wonders if this box office disaster from Vishesh Films would find any takers even in the DVD circuits!

In an unprecedented state of affairs, a film which had lower collections than other simultaneous release for two weeks at a stretch has managed to overtake it in it's third week. Yes, I am talking about TAARE ZAMEEN PAR which has sustained excellently in it's third week with consistent collections to finally beat WELCOME and jump to the top spot. Though WELCOME reigned for two weeks with blockbuster collections, TAARE ZAMEEN PAR has kept steady and the result is that in the week gone by, it performed marginally better (3 lakhs) than it's contemporary.

After barely 30% fall, TAARE ZAMEEN PAR collected 9.29 crores at the box office in the third week, hence bringing it's total to close to 39 crores. A super hit, it has a constant number of prints in circulation even after all these weeks. It is especially superb in Mumbai where it reached the 2.5 crores yet again. Delhi has been powerful too with 1.5 crores coming in. On the other hand WELCOME too has been mostly neck to neck with 9.26 crores earned in the week gone by. With close to 55% fall, the film has still managed to cross the 66 crores mark and is bound to cross 75 crores milestone in a long run. A blockbuster already, this Anees Bazmee film crossed 1.5 crores in Mumbai though Delhi fell short of the 1 crore mark by a million.

OM SHANTI OM continues to be in Top-5 of the movie charts and netted another 15 lakhs to add on to it's 86 crores total. JAB WE MET collected another million as well and is a shade below touching 30.5 crores mark.

In the future

Coming weekend doesn't quite promise to set the box office counters afire as well with BOMBAY TO BANGKOK hardly promising to take a stunning opening. Even if it takes a 40-50% opening, BOMBAY TO BANGKOK should be able to sail though. Though the film marks the comeback of IQBAL team of Subhash Ghai, Nagesh Kukunoor and Shreyas Talpade, it is a core word of mouth film. On the other hand Irrfan Khan-Manisha Koirala starrer TULSI, which has long been stuck in the cans, is a non-starter and would find it lucky to even get an all-India release, let alone making any impact whatsoever at the box office.