First weekend performance of latest release

The kind of hype that both 'Don' and 'Jaan-e-mann' generated pre-release was stupendous. Since the day of inception, PR for the respective films and media was on an overdrive to keep the film in news. D day came on October 20th and while it was expected that both the films would be more or less neck to neck at the box office with 'Don' having a slight edge over the weekend, what came as a shocker was not the collections but the reviews that the films got.

'Don' opened to unanimous average/below average reviews with hardly a few supporting the effort. On the other hand, reviews of 'Jaan-E-Mann' too were mixed as they ranged from below average to very good. What was most disturbing were the scathing comments that 'Don' got from more than 90% of the media forums, be it websites, print media or news channels. It seemed that an entire nation had only topic to talk about - "Would Don fail?" Needless to say, there was a certain sadistic approach to the whole affair since it seemed evident that most just 'wanted' to crash the film even before it rose and declared it a flop on the day of its release. Thankfully the reality was just the opposite!

'Don' opened to a flier of a response all over and boasted of a sell out weekend [except for Saturday since it was Diwali day] and enjoyed very good collections all over. If one was thinking of obituaries from Monday onwards then that wasn't a case either since reports indicate a sustained audience penetration. One waits for the first week to go through because that would indicate a cleat picture about the magnitude of the film's opening week but one thing is for sure - SRK and Farhan should have a decent success in hand here.

On the other hand collections of 'Jaan-E-Mann' have not been as impressive as one would have wanted them to be, especially since the film has been quite well made and has all in it to go down as India's first contemporary fairy tale. Shirish Kunder's narration has been a unique experience and if not for the competition factor, 'Jaan-E-Mann' would have been an outright winner from Day one. Still, the film hasn't lost any ground and should only show an upswing in collections over the week due to positive word of mouth. People across age groups are finding the movie a good watch, if not a must-watch, and that should help the film sail through if the film holds on well. No release over the coming week and only 'Umrao Jaan' to combat a week after is another positive aspect for the film.

Last week's movies

Media as well as audience was unaware that Kumar Sanu produced 'Utthan' came and went in a jiffy a week before. Making hardly 2 lakhs at 10 odd prints, it can be termed as the TRADE DISASTER of the year.

From the past

'Zindaggi Rocks' has witnessed a forgettable run at the box office and has now more or less wrapped up with just around 1.5 crore total. With negligible collections coming from the centers where it was playing, it added a mere 25 lakhs in the second week. Sushmita Sen's semi-autobiographical portrayal has been given thumbs down by the audience while Tanuja Chandra only has one more addition to her flops. Shiney Ahuja may have been left wondering if it was indeed worth it to be a part of the film where he was the least talked about individual in spite of an endearing performance! 'Gafla', 'Iqrar - By Chance', 'Mera Dil Leke Dekho', 'Jaana-Let's Fall In Love' and 'Bhoot Unkle' may have created a record of 5 Bollywood supreme disasters in a single week as they exit with unmentionable collections!

With all new releases meeting with a pathetic response all over, 'Woh Lamhe' benefited most though the collections still fell down by a further 50%. Adding on another 1 crore in the third week, the film is now at 6.5 crore but with hardly any screens playing the film after October 20th, the film would have to settle down as an average runner. Vishesh Films too have realized this fact and have brought the promotion of the film to a halt. Expect the original DVDs/VCDs of the film to be out in a week's time! After a 20% fall a week earlier, 'Dor' fell 50% in last week but in the process added another 25 lakhs to its kitty hence making the total cross 2 crores. A coverage film, it has ironically started garnering good word of mouth now. Sadly, it is quite late now, especially with hardly any prints running in the town now. On the other hand 'Khosla Ka Ghosla' has been simply remarkable as it maintained more or less the same collections as the last week [80 lakhs] with no significant fall, hence defying industry norms. At 4.5 crore, this small film is now a semi-hit. Also, with the DVDs/VCDs out on stands, audience would continue to watch the antics of Khosla and Khurana!

Meanwhile 'Pyaar Ke Side Effects' has been consistent too in spite of the film available on home video. In its 5th week, this debut vehicle of Saket Chaudhary collected around 50 lakhs and made the film cross 8 crore mark. This is yet another semi-hit of the month apart from 'Khosla Ka Ghosla'.

And now comes news of the year! Just a few weeks after 'Krrish' elevated to the position of second biggest money spinner of the year, 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' has dethroned it, and that too in 7 weeks flat, as it added another 2.5 crore to bring the collections in the excess of 66.5 crores. Leaving 'Krrish' behind by around a couple of crores, LRM is an “All Time Blockbuster” now and makes Rajkumar Hirani one of the topmost directors of this side of the century.

In the future

With 'Don' and 'Jaan-E-Mann' occupying theatres across the country and 'Umrao Jaan' coming on November 3rd, there are no new releases coming Friday.