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First weekend performance of latest release

If there would ever be a book written on '10 best ways to kill a movie at the box office', STRANGERS would certainly be considered in the list of examples. With good actors at disposal, a decent budget, a unique storyline, an unconventional narrative, very good dialogues and a willing director who wanted to go against the stream, the film's presenters could have pitched the movie in the market a bit more intelligently. Instead they chose to release it sans any fanfare and the treatment befitted that of an abandoned child.

Result? The film got a 'near-dead' release with it's director Anand Kumar and actor Jimmy Sheirgill being the only people going all out for the film's promotion. Sadly, that didn't prove to be enough at all and the film opened to an abysmal response. Even though the reviews were by and large positive and there was some improvement in box office collections over the weekend, the thrust wasn't to an extent that could save the film at the box office. This week's 2 big arrivals means that the film would now have to hope for a penetration into the DVD segment.

Last week's movies

The unthinkable has happened. One always believed that DUS KAHANIYAAN was a sure shot earner at the box office. Ok, so a 30-34 crore kind of a total wasn't really the figure that even the biggest supporter of the film would have thought of but at the least it was expected that the film would have a respectable run at the box office. To the surprise of most, that hasn't quite happened in spite of at least 5-6 stories out of 10 working for most and fairly good reviews coming the film's way.

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A polished product that did have at least 2-3 stories being complete disappointment, the film was still a notch above number of other multiple stories/episodic films made in the recent times. However, the box office had a different picture to paint with the film opening to a very lukewarm response. Just around 8 crores from the first week was only a little higher than 7.25 crore first week total of ZINDA, one of the lowest openers of Sanjay Gupta. As expected the film got it's maximum moolah from Mumbai (1.5 crores +), though Delhi was pretty much on the lower side (60 lakhs). After a successful SHOOTOUT AT LOKHANDWALA, DUS KAHANIYAAN is turning out to be a downer for Sanjay Gupta.

KHOYA KHOYA CHAND has turned out to be a box office disaster for Prakash Jha. He enjoyed a surprise success with his small film DIL DOSTI ETC. just a few weeks back but KHOYA KHOYA CHAND has suffered due to the film being an average product coupled with sheer indifference from the audience. Unlike OM SHANTI OM which cashed in on the 70s Bollywood, the 50s/60s era didn't quite appeal the cinegoer. In nutshell, the film has barely crossed the 1.5 crore mark in India (Mumbai - 50 lakhs, Delhi - 28 lakhs) and would fold up under 2 crores. Shiney Ahuja may have benefited from the success of BHOOL BHULAIYAA but KHOYA KHOYA CHAND would send him a few steps back.

From the past

When it was pointed out in this very column a few days back that AAJA NACHLE would turn out to be the lowest grosser of Yash Raj Films in recent times (even lesser than LAAGA CHUNARI MEIN DAAG), not all were in consent with the thought. However, the truth is that the film has fallen by more than 60% in the second week with only around 4 crores (Mumbai - 60 lakhs, Delhi - 37 lakhs) coming in. The film has been rejected by the audience, as can be seen from the 2 week total of 14 crores.

Neither did the film work for the classes nor the masses. The songs have failed to take off as well (in spite of being good) whereas except for Madhuri's act, not much has come for any major appreciation. With AAJA NACHLE, Yash Raj Films ends a rare year where they would have more misses than hits to their credit.

GOAL has made it's money in 3 weeks flat and is now looking at ending it's box office run. With a substantial 75% fall in the week gone by and 1 crore added to it's kitty, the film is just a notch below 16 crore and should be closing around 16.5 crore. An average runner, it is still one of the major success stories of John Abraham. In the end, no one has lost money with the project, there are neat profits for everyone involved and director Vivek Agnihotri has succeeded in pulling off a polished project with medium range stars.

At 83.5 crores, OM SHANTI OM is now just a couple of crores below the biggest earner of all times - DHOOM 2! The film took 50% fall in the week gone by and the latest collections should reveal a lesser drop due to STRANGERS being the only film for competition. With around 2.5 crores coming in last week, the record for the biggest earner should be broken in around two weeks time.

JAB WE MET refuses to fall below 30% ever since it stabilized it's collections 4 weeks back. Yet again, the film fell less than 25% and ended up getting a little less than 1 crore. At 29 crores and all set to break the 30 crores barrier, the film is now second superhit in a row for Shahid Kapoor if one discounts his FOOL N FINAL, a multistarrer, that released earlier this year.

In the future

Akshay Kumar's BHOOL BHULAIYAA has just ended it's run and WELCOME is ready to be welcomed by the audience. However, this Anees Bazmee film looks like an interesting project not just due to the Akshay factor by also an ensemble cast comprising of Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar and Feroz Khan which gives it an altogether different flavor. The film is all set to take 80% + opening and is looks like an outright fifth success in a row for country's second biggest superstar.

TAARE ZAMEEN PAR has also shown an escalation in hype over last 10 days and is no more a pushover. The early views/previews through special screenings etc. have generated positive vibes while there is a certain 'brand trust' factor that one associates with Aamir Khan. The film should take a good start (60%-70%) over the weekend and only elevate further as word of mouth catches.