First weekend performance of latest release

Contrary to what some media reports had to indicate on Friday itself, the solo release of the weekend gone by, ONE TWO THREE, is showing a reasonable pull at the box office. After opening to a so-so response with majority of critics choosing to dismiss it away, this Kumar Mangat production picked up well as Friday came to close. It's target audience i.e. youth, isn't minding the gag-show with laugh a minute scenes dominating the proceedings.

With Friday showing signs of a fight at the box office, Saturday and Sunday kept the momentum on as well while giving good hopes for the film to be able to comfortably sail through at the box office. Even though RACE is turning out to be a formidable competition even in it's second week run (more about this in sections to follow), ONE TWO THREE is all set to make some moolah for itself if crowds continue to grow on word of mouth over the week. For a film of this scale, even a 50%-60% occupancy isn't a bad sign at all and ONE TWO THREE has pretty much managed to maintain this level at majority of major centers.

Last week's movies

After OM SHANTI OM, RACE has turned out to be the biggest money spinner ever in it's opening week. In the process, it is has broken records of WELCOME and DHOOM 2.

Though this Abbas Mustan film also benefited from the fact that it saw the biggest release ever (900+ cinemas), what matters in the end is that the gamble paid off as patrons filled up the auditoriums in spite of the film arriving at so many screens.

With 35.6 crores coming from Week One, the film has surpassed the first week collections of WELCOME (35.3 crores) and DHOOM 2 (34.9 crores). However, OM SHANTI OM still stands tall at 40 crores plus, though with the way big films are being pitched in the market today, it should be a matter of weeks before this record is quashed too. TASHAN looks the closest contender with it's release less than a month away.

Coming back to RACE, the film has done fantastic business all over with each of the territories spelling big money for the distributors. Mumbai at ~6 crores and Delhi at 4 crores are fabulous while Delhi NCR at 2 crores plus means that film has got major moolah from multiplexes. Ahmedabad and Hyderabad too has crossed the 1 crore mark while Bangalore is superb at 1.6 crores. With the film super strong in Week Two as well, the film is all set to be SUPER HIT at the box office. Now one waits to see till what distance the ‘race’ continues in weeks to come!

From the past

After a two week run and some face saving collections, BLACK & WHITE has more or less breathed it's last in it's third week. If not-so-encouraging response from audience wasn't enough, RACE euphoria simply blew this Subhash Ghai film away as box office collected only 40 lakhs more. At 5.5 crores and struggling to meet the 6 crore mark, BLACK & WHITE is a no-profit-no-loss affair for it's investors. With the film now out of his way, Ghai would be looking forward at focusing all his energy towards much awaited YUVRAAJ.

In spite of the storm created by RACE, JODHAA AKBAR managed to do decent business and didn't quite cave in as was expected earlier on. The film fell by 50% and still netted close to 2.25 crores at the box office. Superb! In the process, the film managed to cross the 60 crore milestone, a number which is far better than what one had assumed when JODHAA AKBAR had hit the screens.

The film is expected to show steady fall from here on considering a couple of more releases every week, but still everyone associated with the film can have their heads high with pride in the way JODHAA AKBAR has eventually performed. A big HIT!

Meanwhile TAARE ZAMEEN PAR continues to add on to it's kitty. The film fell by less than 40% and got home another 20 lakhs. The film is approaching the 61 crores mark and should end the run at that number.

In the future

Three films release this weekend - SHAURYA, KHUDA KE LIYE and BHRAM. However, none of the three are carrying much buzz around them with their eventual box office performance seemingly doubtful. While BHRAM seems to be the most under publicized of the lot, surprising since it comes from the house of Magna Films, SHAURYA has been supported by some good promotional campaign.

However, BHRAM with Dino Morea in the lead hasn't quite created much curiosity while SHAURYA is a film which has all it's chances hinging on word of mouth. Ditto for Pakistani film KHUDA KE LIYE which again deals with a serious issue. Don't expect any fireworks at the box office coming weekend!