I was surprised to see reactions from people, especially the ones from the industry, who were seemingly 'shocked' at the below-par opening day of 'Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu'. The film's collections in the first few shows read 40%-50% and it was only by evening that there was further escalation in footfalls. Though many out there wondered aloud whether it meant a downfall of the film, it was hardly supposed to be a point for worry. As mentioned in this column last week, this Karan Johar film was always meant to take a low/medium opening and grow with word of mouth, if at all it was liked.

This is exactly what happened as the film was pushed by good word of mouth and hence after an ordinary day, it grew from strength to strength over the weekend. This was pretty much reflected from the fact Saturday and Sunday collections almost tripled the moolah that this Imran Khan and Kareena Kapoor starrer had collected on Friday, hence giving a solid indication that the film was widely liked.

The film has also worked for it's actors in a big way because now both Imran Khan and Kareena Kapoor have scored a hat trick of successes after 'Delhi Belly', 'Mere Brother Ki Dulhan', 'Bodyguard' and 'Ra.One' respectively. As predicted last week, 'Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu' had the potential to reach the 50 crore mark and 21 crore coming in the first weekend have pretty much paved the way for the film.

Of course the fact cannot be denied that collections have primarily come in from the multiplexes while single screens have been pretty much a barren affair. However for those who had invested in the film, the source hardly mattered as they are already in the green zone. With a semi-hit tag pretty much in its kitty, it would be the coming fortnight that would decide it's status of being either a clean hit or perhaps even super-hit.

With this success, Dharma Productions has now become probably the first ever production house to enjoy two successes in a matter of two weeks and that too at the very beginning of the year. First 'Agneepath' and now 'Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu' has only enhanced the production's house star power further.

As for the other release of the week, 'Valentine's Night', it has turned out to be as insignificant as it gets with collections reading as thousands, and not even lakhs, in select screens where it was released.

'Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu' Public Review