First weekend performance of latest release

There were innumerous speculations about the box office prospects of 'Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna'. The question on everyone's lips was, "Would the film turn out to be the biggest first week grosser ever, hence breaking the record of 'Krrish' on its way?" Well, first the facts. a) The film has opened to a great response all over (as expected) and if first 3 days are any indications, the film is a certain success in the making. b) The film has met with diverse reactions with some people loving the movie for its novel treatment and matured handling of subject, some finding it as yet another Karan Johar melodrama while a section of audience finding the subject a little difficult to digest.

But hold on before you think that the film is going downhill after an excellent start, because that is certainly not the case. This is due to the fact that the film has invited a kind of debate as never before. Unlike the case of 'Lamhe' [another well made film with a bold subject of its time] when the film just died in the first week itself, KANK has turned out to be one of the most talked about film of the year. This means that good or bad, the publicity has helped and people actually continue to be excited enough to check out the film in order to ascertain what is so bold or controversial about it?

This brings us back to the million dollar question on whether the film would have a historic first week opening? 'Krrish' holds the record currently with a 26 crore plus opening and the way KANK has progressed so far, it would be surprising if the first week is anything less than 25 crore. A first week opening between 25-28 crore looks a decent possibility and with some stretch it has a potential to cross the elusive 30 crore milestone too!

Last week's movies

Three films, each with a long title, came together and unfortunately none of them saw long queues in front of the theatres. That wasn't really surprising since they came just a week before KANK when majority of 'aam junta' would have preferred to save their money for the BIG flick rather than spend on either 'Anthony Kaun Hai', 'Darwaza Bandh Rakho' and 'Shaadi Karke Phas Gaya'. To add to the vows, none of the three boasted of a spectacular outing that would have resulted in wild-fire like word of mouth. While 'Anthony Kaun Hai' still is on the verge of surviving due to good starcast and decent treatment, less said about the other two releases the better. Both 'Darwaza Bandh Rakho' and 'Shaadi Karke Phas Gaya' are supreme disasters with first week collections of 1.5 crore and 1 crore respectively!

Biggest box office disappointment for Salman Khan as far as one can remember, SKPGY took home just 15 lakhs each from prime cities like Mumbai and Delhi. With topmost territories like these raking in such a less moolah, the other territories were no better. 'Darwaza Bandh Rakho' was slightly better but purely in relative terms. While Mumbai could barely smile with a 30 lakhs opening week, it was a tale of sorrow for Delhi with a mere 6.5 lakhs total. No wonder the film is out from this territory in one week flat! Comparatively 'Anthony Kaun Hai' still managed face saving collections in the tune of 6 crore and though this by no means seems like a comfortable total that would guarantee the film to sail through, it at least gives it an outside chance to survive in few territories. Sanjay Dutt-Arshad Warsi fan following ensured that Mumbai had a 1 crore total to boast but Delhi was poor with just 40 lakhs in its kitty. Since the entire world only has KANK to talk about this week, it would be interesting to see if any spillover audience chose AKA as the second best alternative.

From the past

'Omkara' sustained well in its second week and is certainly not a flop now. With a 50% industry standard fall, the film still added around 6 crore in the second week and now sits pretty at a total in excess of 18 crore! In fact it is amazing to see that the film hasn't taken a fall at all in Delhi with a great second week [1.4 crore] after a good first week [1.5 crore]. Mumbai too was decent with around 1 crore in the second week while smaller towns and cities too are chipping in the moolah. This makes it two in a row for Ajay Devgan who is anyways basking in the success of 'Golmaal'. While the film is certainly a Saif show all the way, credit must also be given to Viveik Oberoi who has tasted some success even though he played a third lead.

Both 'The Killer' and 'Yun Hota To Kya Hota' have now ended their run with no circulation whatsoever after a 3 week run [disappointing!]. 'The Killer' took another 90% fall [after 85% fall in the second week] and has barely touched the 4.5 crore before calling it a day. On the other hand YHTKH had less than 5 lakhs to add that made its overall total stay on at 1 crore. While 'The Killer' has barely covered costs in a few circuits, YHTKH is a loosing preposition for everyone involved.

Even in it's 4th week, 'Golmaal' continues to be one of the Top-3 preferred choices for filmgoers with more than 2 crores added to take it past the 25 crore mark. The film's box office status is now between above average and hit with Mumbai being superhit. 'Corporate' is inching towards the 9 crore mark but it seems this is where the film would end since the 5th week saw only around 15 lakhs added on. Overall an average runner though much better box office outcome was expected from this well made film.

'Krrish' continues to hang around in Top-5 as the 7th week got home another 1 crore to its already mushrooming total. A 62 crore plus total is remarkable by all means but the film can expect a steep fall from hereon due to KANK eating up majority of screens. 'Fanaa' and 'Phir Hera Pheri' add on a million and half-a-million each but that should be all for both the films that have a superhit tag attached to each of them now.

In the future

Any film to release a week after a biggie like KANK is a certain risk and that can be attributed as one of the major reasons due to which 'Rocky - The Rebel' has moved ahead by 2-3 weeks. This makes the road clear for 'Ahista Ahista' that can now hope for the best with overflow audience walking in to watch the flick. Though the Abhay-Soha pairing looked promising, the publicity has left much to be desired since the focus has always been on Reshammiya songs all this while. The film should open between 40-50% collections and since the film looks like a decent watch, the word of mouth may just help it sail through. 'Kathputli' which is expected to arrive this week [since it couldn't release last week as planned] doesn't promise much from box office outcome point of view.