Two distinct films arrive this weekend - 'Piku' and 'Kuch Kuch Locha Hai'. It may well have been marketed as a battle between Deepika Padukone and Sunny Leone but thankfully the PR and marketing teams of none of the two films has taken that route. Both films are arriving pretty much independent of each other and without any baggage, which means they would be playing primarily on their merits.

Between the two films, it would be 'Piku' that would take a better start and for obvious reasons. the credentials attached to that, whether it comes to the actors (Deepika Padukone, Amitabh Bachchan, Irrfan Khan) or the director (Shoojit Sircar) are good enough to generate curiosity amongst the audience. However, 'Kuch Kuch Locha Hai' is not a pushover either since Sunny Leone has managed to find audience into the interiors of the country as well.

The fact still remains that due to its genre, which is that of being a slice-of-life film, 'Piku' would primarily fetch attention from the multiplex going junta in the big cities to begin with. Hence, the opening at an all-India level of 30%-405 is on the cards and that would gradually increase once the news spreads around the content. On the other hand 'Kuch Kuch Locha Hai' could have been bigger had it arrived after some gap since 'Ek Paheli Leela'. It is releasing almost back to back and for media as well as audience, there has been too much of Sunny during last few weeks, due to which an opening of around 20%-30% is expected.

Meanwhile, both films would have also have to contend with 'Gabbar Is Back' which is doing well and hence would continue to find audience in the second week as well.

Joginder Tuteja tweets @tutejajoginder