First weekend performance of latest release

Trade is agog with speculations/doubts/surprises about the box office outcome of TA RA RUM PUM. I am not. After all was it really reasonable to expect a mind boggling/stunning/phenomenal opening for the film? In fact I can distinctly recollect writing in this very column last week that 'don't expect a phenomenal start' for the film. It was also mentioned that the film would see a good opening but not the kind that qualifies as record breaking.

And by the way, good opening the film did take, though if one wishes to associate 'good' as a 80% plus opening for every Yash Raj film then that is living in a dream world. Let's admit it, the film wasn't a DHOOM 2 in the offering which would create hysteria of any sorts. It's mainly a matter of setting standards for the film to foresee how much would the film eventually gain. Obviously if you expect a moon from a film, your expectations are bound to see a crash to the ground.

As of now, TRRP has taken a good start in 60-70% range and looking at a very large number of prints in circulations (expected to be 500 odd), it is certainly not bad. The question now is whether the film is sustaining itself well too. Both the word of mouth and reviews have been decent to impressive and no one is walking out of the theater with a complain. Don't expect a trendsetter or a something which is out of this world and TRRP proves to be a decent dekko for a family outing!

Last week's movies

KYA LOVE STORY HAI was the sole notable film a week before but that didn't quite add on to the film's box office fortune. A poor show from Show 1, the film saw a big slide as the days progressed from Friday to Thursday. Week 1 showing 3 crores in collections means that the film is a certain flop with no signs of redemption in weeks to come. It's target territory, Mumbai, just didn't have much to cheer about after the week ended at mere 50 lakhs. Delhi was very bad at 25 lakhs while Ahmedabad was third best with 20 lakhs.

One shudders to think what would have been the fate of the film had Kareena not appeared in the number 'It's Rocking'. It was this very song that kept the film in news for around a month and if one removed it from the very beginning of KLSH, the film is as good as over. Though director Lovely Singh has certainly lost a lot of ground with the film, Tusshar Kapoor doesn't have much to worry since he has GOOD BOY BAD BOY and SHOOT OUT AT LOKHANDWALA coming in quick succession. Ditto for Ayesha who has a seemingly certain success with FOOL N FINAL arriving in town.

From the past

A lot was dependent on how Week 2 of BIG BROTHER would perform since that would have decided the overall box office fate of BIG BROTHER. There was a mighty fall of 70% of the film but an additional 1.5 crore bringing the overall total close to 6.5 crore just about managed to get the film to coverage status. Ultimately the film has seen a mixed response across the country and would at maximum qualify as a small success up North mainly on the strength of single screen audience.

This is the maximum that the film seems to have survived as there is practically a big release every week. Credit it to Sunny's loyal fans and some good publicity for it's target audience that the film managed to reach this far at least. Sunny would now certainly be hoping that his FOOL N FINAL coming on June 1 meets with a much better (and respectable) box office success.

When a film's collections start reading in thousands in a territory like Mumbai, it is a clear cut disaster sign even if it is an A, B or Z grade movie. Though LIFE MEIN KABHIE KABHIEE boasted of good credentials, its fate was no better as it crashed completely (~95%) to qualify as the biggest disaster of the year gone by. In fact one fails to remember if there was a bigger crash for a film with notable names this year.

Standing at mere 50 lakhs, the film is now out of theaters and should soon see a DVD release. One hopes that in Home Entertainment mode, the film gets its due since it's box office outcome by no means reflects its merits and for once, one can say that director Vikram Bhatt has been unlucky with his venture!

This brings me to a movie which has indeed turned lucky for everyone associated with it. As per reports, the cast and crew of BHEJA FRY were not paid a penny and this is what restricted its budget to 55 lakhs that mainly constituted of actual production cost. The idea was to have profit sharing as the means of remuneration once the film hits the screens.

Well, there are all the valid reasons for cast and crew to be happy with the agreement since the champagne bottles are already out with the film turning into a monster hit. After a 2 crore opening week, the film saw an increase in collections and registered another 2.25 crore, a phenomenon that has been witnessed only with VIVAH and THE NAMESAKE in the recent past.

At 4.25 crore and still raking in good word of mouth, the film has been a quick hit of 2007 and has all in it to be considered as superhit if yet another week brings in similar collections. While Mumbai stayed on at 80 lakhs figure, Delhi NCR saw an improvement from 55 lakhs to 60 lakhs.

It's time for the original DVDs/VCDs of SHAKALAKA BOOM BOOM to be hitting the stands pronto since the film has all but vanished from the theaters. Seeing another mighty fall (80%), the film has got just 20 lakhs more in its 3rd week and now stands at 7.5 crore with 8 crore looking like a distant dream. Just like LMKK, even SLBB is an unfortunate success since audience just didn't venture into theaters and the rest was taken care by press/media which was unanimous in ignoring it completely.

Apart from BHEJA FRY, the only film to have gained a decent audience response in the week gone by is NAMASTEY LONDON. The film has continued to be good over its last 5 weeks and after a 50% fall, it collected another 1.5 crore +. At 35 crores, the film is a hit and Akshay Kumar can assure himself a continued success since his next BHOOL BHULLAIYA (expected to arrive in August end) looks likes a blockbuster material too!

Meanwhile THE NAMESAKE too saw an industry standard fall of 50% while getting richer by 25 lakhs more. At a little less than 4.5 crore, it is a true crossover success for Mira Nair since the film is holding on extraordinary well in overseas too. Meanwhile India collections ensure that the film is a Semi-Hit and gets highlighted as yet another offbeat film seeing a good success along with BLACK FRIDAY and BHEJA FRY. Meanwhile VIVAH continues to be rock-steady (yes, the word is being over used for VIVAH but then that actually has been the state of the film ever since it released 25 weeks back) and continues to gather 15 lakhs every week as has been the case in last 4-5 weeks.

In the future

Sole Hindi release of the film is long-stuck-in-cans YATRA which is mainly art-house cinema. Directed by Gautam Ghose, the film stars Nana Patekar and Rekha in the lead but doesn't come with any box office pull. With zero promotion to support and an offbeat theme, the film is just a filler for the week as no other Hindi film is daring to release on the same Friday as SPIDEMRAN 3.