Prediction came true to the T when it comes to two new releases of the week - 'Shuddh Desi Romance' and 'Zanjeer'. It was mentioned in this column here that the Yash Raj production had managed to create good hype over the weeks gone by and hence would sail through comfortably at the box office. Well, this is what happened as the film managed to cross 22 crore* mark in just three days, hence turning out to be an instant plus affairs for it's makers.

The opening of the film in fact surprised many because though 50% start was on the cards, the film went on to consolidate it's place on Friday evening itself, hence registering an even better occupancy. Though the film comes with it's own set of loopholes and ambiguities, the fact remains that the opening has taken care of it already to give it a 'success' tag. Now it has to be seen that how big does the success turn out to be in weeks to come.

As for 'Zanjeer', it was expected to open better in the mass centres and this is what happened as it just couldn't make inroads into multiplexes. It was also predicted that a lot would depend on the final product since opening by itself wasn't on the cards and hence the makers couldn't rely just on that moolah. With a thumbs down coming in from most quarters, be it junta, industry or the critics, the film could bring in just around 10 crores* in the opening weekend. With not much expected from weekdays now, this Ram Charan Teja-Priyanka Chopra would have to rely on the Telugu version 'Thofaan' which is doing much better.

* Final numbers awaited

Note: All collections as per production and distributor sources