First weekend performance of latest release

Aah, finally the big day arrived. Weeks and weeks of speculations were over when the two biggies OM SHANTI OM and SAAWARIYA were unveiled for the audiences. Three things held good in an expected manner: a) Both the films opened between 80%-100% on Friday, b) Evening shows were affected at few centers due to Diwali celebrations, c) OM SHANTI OM turned out to be an entertaining watch while SAAWARIYA didn't! What wasn't expected though was marked difference in the kind of reviews both the films got.

Though everyone believed that OM SHANTI OM would work for the audiences with or without favorable reviews, almost all media forums giving it a Thumbs Up came as a surprise even to it's makers. On the other hand everyone in the town believed that SAAWARIYA would get glowing reviews due to it's artistic flavor but this time around Bhansali missed on that aspect as well. No wonder, the film maker is mighty upset and has declared his angst openly.

Coming back to the two films, OM SHANTI OM by no means is a great piece of cinema. Entertaining it certainly is but that's about it and perhaps that was THE sole intent of the makers to provide unabashed entertainment to the paying public. As things stand today, it would be a surprise if it doesn't turn out to be the biggest box office earner of the current year and in the process leaves beside SRK's own CHAK DE INDIA and PARTNER, both of which netted a little over 60 crores.

On the other hand SAAWARIYA may barely scrape through though a second week crash is inevitable. SAAWARIYA is getting maximum flak for it's lack of storyline and fake characterization/setting due to which negative reports are piling up in heaps. However, the silver lining for the film is Ranbir Kapoor who may not have made what one terms as a smashing debut but still has made much more than just his presence felt.

Last week's movies

With all eyes on OM SHANTI OM and SAAWARIYA arriving on 9th November, no film was released last week.

From the past

JAB WE MET, which had two consecutive good weeks, had to live with lesser number of shows in it's third week due to the arrival of OSO and SAAWARIYA. However, it seems that it may just turn lucky in the fourth week with talks around reduced shows of SAAWARIYA in days to come. This would mean that after OM SHANTI OM, it may be back to JAB WE MET as the second choice for viewers in days to come.

The film had a fantabulous second week with the makers increasing the number of shows to cash in on an open week. The film saw a drop of just 20% in spite of a huge number of prints and gathered another 9+ crores. At 21 crores (Mumbai being 1.25 crores from the reported centers, Delhi another 1 crore), the film is a solid hit and the entire industry believes that if not for OSO/SAAWARIYA hurricane which hit multiplexes last week, the numbers for JAB WE MET would have escalated further to give it a superhit status in a fortnight's time.

Nevertheless, the bottom line is that Shahid & Kareena have delivered a success together, audience has loved (and not just liked) the film, the film is a money spinner and would be terrific on home video and satellite, Imtiaz Ali is born again after SOCHA NA THA and there are all chances for the film to be revived in weeks to come.

NO SMOKING has crashed and how! No one actually seems to be surprised with a 90% box office fall of this Anurag Kashyap directed film which has now joined the league of one of the biggest disasters of recent times. With only 20 lakhs more coming in and collections barely coming close to 2 crores, this misadventure is better off forgotten.

In terms of a fall, MUMBAI SALSA did follow an industry standard of 50% but that was hardly a consolation since the first week's collections were miserly to say the least. With barely 17 lakhs more coming in and overall collections just managing to cross 50 lakhs, a decently made MUMBAI SALSA has suffered a disappointing run. Fall for BAL GANESH was also less than 40% but just like MUMBAI SALSA, a very poor first week's run did it in. At 52 lakhs, this animation film is also a trade disaster hence making it 3 in a row for a single week.

Meanwhile after a 60% in the previous week, BHOOL BHULAIYAA did quite well to stabilize itself due to zero release week and fell by less than 40%. At 4 crores, the film has sustained exceedingly well and now reads 51 crores, hence all set to be the biggest ever box office success of Akshay Kumar with HEYY BABYY just a few lakhs ahead. While Mumbai was very good yet again by adding 1 crore against 1.25 crores last week, Delhi saw a massive fall from 50 lakhs to 20 lakhs. The bad news is that the film would witness a steep fall in numbers because it was more or less discontinued due to OSO/SAAWARIYA occupying majority of screens.

LAAGA CHUNARI MEIN DAAG has now touched 20 crores and this is where it's run would end. With 60 lakhs more coming in the week gone by, the film has turned out to be a commercial as well as critical failure.

In the future

Due to OSO/SAAWARIYA euphoria, no film was planned for release in the coming weekend. This should now be beneficial for two movies - OM SHANTI OM and JAB WE MET!