First weekend performance of latest release

Now if only promotion could guarantee a film's success! HAAL E DIL had so many factors running in it's favor - a fresh star cast that looked promising, alluring visuals, hit music, a producer/father who shelled out crores to ensure a great launch for the film! However, there was trouble in paradise. And that was the last set of promos which came on air.

The moment talkie promo appeared on the music channels, it started becoming obvious that the film had strong elements of DDJL and JAB WE MET. Somehow, instead of generating a positive vibe about the film, it only turned out to be the opposite with the audience getting a strong sense of deja vu. It was never expected that the film would take anything better than a barely average opening. But a 10% start was a shocker. Add to that the film being billed by one and all as the biggest ever blunder on the lines of TASHAN and one pretty much knew where the film is headed.

The film has broken dreams for the cast of the film but one person who has come out relatively unscathed is Adhyayan Suman. His 20 minutes act has been noticed by the industry and it should soon be time for his re-launch with Mukesh Bhatt's RAAZ 2. We are waiting!

Comparatively much smaller in scale, KHUSHBOO was the other release of the week. Now one knows where the film is headed when it is not even reviewed by media. The same happened for this yet another film starring newcomers. No hype. No buzz. No reviews. No opening. The film would struggle to complete a one week run. A sad state for a film which comes from the maker of Govinda starrer AANKHEN and SHOLA AUR SHABNAM.

The only silver lining (and that too to just an extent) came in the form of DE TAALI. This romantic comedy too opened on a lower note but somehow sustained itself as the weekend progressed. The film is not being disliked by those who have seen it but there isn't the case of an extremely strong word of mouth as well. A sweet and harmless film that is a clean entertainer for an entire family, DE TAALI is a decent flick which is giving it a fight at the box office to turn into a break even preposition at the least. It may eventually manage to do that as well since out of the three releases of the week, this is the only one in the running. With THODA PYAAR THODA MAGIC as it's only competition for the week to come, this medium budget film may just about manage to cross the safety mark.

Last week's movies

MERE BAAP PEHLE AAP has turned out to be a passable affair for it's investors. Due to a huge release (over 600 cinemas), the film did manage 15 crores plus in collections. However, the film hasn't aroused any great word of mouth and is eventually looking at settling down as a coverage success. The film collected close to 2 crores in Mumbai while Delhi topped 1.5 crores, hence making it a safe preposition. However, from the team of Priyan, Akshaye, Paresh and the rest, a lot more was expected but the final outcome has been below par. To give full credit to it's makers, they are still pumping big money in the film's promotion. A 60%+ fall in the second week is still pretty much on the cards though.

As expected SUMMER 2007 has turned out to be a box office disaster. At 35 lakhs, the film has proved to be a one week runner and would soon see a DVD release. Sikandar Kher has suffered from a double blow after WOODSTOCK VILLA but he should recover from that considering the positive reviews and good projects coming his way. This guy certainly deserves at least a couple of more chances!

From the past

Yes, SARKAR RAJ has indeed taken a fall in it's second week. Though the film's first week performance wasn't extraordinary, it was good enough to give the film an outside chance of being classified a hit if only it would have trended well over the weeks gone by. Also MERE BAAP PEHLE AAP wasn't THE competition which could have potentially come in it's way. However, a 70% fall over the second week isn't healthy by any standards, regardless of the kind of opening a film may get and approximately 7 crores in addition means that the overall total stands at 31 crores.

It is quite obvious now that SARKAR RAJ would find it impossible to break the 40 crore barrier; something which seemed possible after first week's collections. With Mumbai going down to 1.5 crores and Delhi too looking at only 70 lakhs, the film would require some solid push in collections in weeks to come. An average runner, SARKAR RAJ has at least broken the jinx of countless box office non-performers that Ram Gopal Varma had been suffering for last few years.

AAMIR is another coverage movie which would keep it's makers busy. Good word of mouth meant that the film took only around 35% fall and hence raked in another 70 lakhs odd. Now that's commendable considering the print count had been reduced from the first to the second week. At close to 2 crores, the film's box office status can only go up from here provided the exhibitors continue to show their trust in the film and run it at 2-3 shows a day for next couple of weeks at least.

JANNAT remained in Top-3 bracket and got another 70 lakhs into it's kitty. Now looking at a DVD release after a reasonable 60% fall, the film has earned more than 32 crores and should eventually add another 70-80 lakhs more. SUPERHIT.

In the future

There are three movies releasing this Friday and though each of them belongs to different shapes, sizes, budgets and genres, none of them is expected to do much at the box office. While THODI LIFE THODA MAGIC would struggle to complete a one week run considering zilch awareness about the film regardless of the title-war newsbytes, VIA DARJEELING is a multiplex film which has it's chances only if manages to get AAMIR kind of reviews and word of mouth.

However, it would be quite a pleasant surprise if the biggest release of the week - THODA PYAAR THODA MAGIC - opens to anything better than a 50% response. And if it doesn't (which looks quite likely), it would be quite a disappointing outing for this Yash Raj film which boasts of a top grade cast and crew!