First weekend performance of latest release
'Kya Pakaau Story Hai', 'Kya Bore Story Hai', 'Kya Flop Story Hai'.....headlines all over were unanimous in screaming aloud that KYA LOVE STORY HAI was easily one of the most forgettable films to have released this year. There have been bad movies and there will be bad movies, but when availability of good resources, a willing producer, a chartbuster track and some good locations also doesn't help a story move forward, the writing is clear on the wall that it is not just the execution but the basic foundation that is at flaw.
Same was the case with Lovely Singh's KLSH since there was a shocking lack of depth in the film's script. All of this meant that the film didn't have anything to gain once the Friday shows were over. The film was never expected to take anything more than an ordinary start and rest was dependant on word of mouth. In case of KLSH the word of mouth was so bad after the first show commenced that it was only downhill from thereon. The film would add on to the long list of box office disappointments in 2007.
The other three releases of the week - MY BOLLYWOOD BRIDE, PAPPU PAAS HO GAYA and PANGAA NA LO - arrived on a handful of prints and are on verge of disappearing in a week's time. With zero buzz, miniscule publicity and lack of star cast to add to the woes, the films are plain non-starters.
Last week's movies
Considering the fact that BIG BROTHER only had single screens as its chief source for making money, a 5 crore opening does seem to be handful. Having said that, it is still not the kind of total that is flattering to say the least. Agreed that a delayed product comes with its own limitations and Sunny Deol is at an all time low of his career, but still this film at maximum can qualify as face saving. Nevertheless, Guddu Dhanoa would be relieved that his film has finally arrived and accepted at least at centers in North India.
Though Mumbai was never expected to reap in good harvest for the film and folded first week at mere 55 lakhs, Delhi was an out and out disappointment with the total reading a mere 17 lakhs. Unbelievable, since this is an area where the worst of Sunny films have traditionally done decent. With a response like this, it was left to smaller cities and interiors to collectively contribute in bringing 4 crores.
LIFE MEIN KABHIE KABHIEE, in spite of being one of the better films of Vikram Bhatt, ironically stands as one of his biggest box office disasters today. The film got a selective release [just 100 cinemas] and its total only managed to come within breathing distance of a lowly 50 lakhs. Even his RED had fared better when compared to LMKK but Vikram Bhatt's cup of woes only seems to filling on further with every passing year.
While Aftab's string of flops continues in spite of good performances, Dino Morea is on a shaky ground as well. Meanwhile Sameer Dattani would have to wait for another day to see any of his films run beyond two weeks at the theaters, let aside CORPORATE where he had exactly 3 scenes.
In the meantime an absolute outsider called BHEJA FRY had its fries and ate them too as the film debuted in Top-3 charts and crossed 2 crore mark. For a 55 lakhs film, this kind of total gives it a HIT status right away. Add to it the good DVD sales that are expected once the software arrives on stands and it would only mean continued celebrations for everyone involved.
Vinay Pathak was a known face for last 4-5 years. Now he is also a known name post BHEJA FRY at least in the cities. The film's collections read a mind blowing 80 lakhs in Mumbai, whereas Delhi plus NCR got another 55 lakhs. Now it has to be seen how far does the film travel from here since the word of mouth is positive and audience has started becoming further aware of the film in its second week. If the fall sustains itself at 50% industry standard, it would be yet another feather in the cap for the film.
From the past
With the second week proving to be mighty disastrous for SHAKALAKA BOOM BOOM, the dreams of even being considered as coverage are shattered. The film took an extremely heavy fall by 80% + which clearly spells a FLOP box office status for the film.
With just 1 crore more coming in and the total reading 7.5 crores, this is yet another box office failure for Bobby Deol. Meanwhile Upen Patel sees a commercial disappointment for the first time in his short career as both 36 CHINA TOWN and NAMASTE LONDON have been successful. Ditto for Kangana who had a dream start to her career with GANGSTER and WOH LAMHE. Celina has second consecutive box office failure after RED.
PROVOKED didn't quite have a flattering opening weekend and writing was clear on the wall as soon as the first week commenced. There were never any hopes of a revival in the second week and in spite of minimal competition, the film managed to collect only 50 lakhs more to bring its total to 1.75 crores. Expected to fold up once the total crosses 2 crore mark, PROVOKED is second consecutive English language film failure for Aishwarya Rai after MISTRESS OF SPICES.
NAMASTEY LONDON continues to gain from positive word of mouth and has been making hay due to all films releasing after it [with an exception of BHEJA FRY] turning out to be box office disappointments. The film dropped by only 30% and brought home another 3.5 crore. Sitting pretty at 34 crores and still counting, the film may eventually loose its breath before it comes near 40 crores mark. That still should be an achievement since after a 16 crore opening week, even 35 crore seemed like a stretch.
In Mumbai, the collections saw a reasonable slide from 85 lakhs to 50 lakhs but in Delhi the film has held on quite amazingly since after a 50 lakhs 3rd week, the film saw approximately 40 lakhs coming in the 4th week.
For the first time since its release, THE NAMESAKE saw a substantial drop as it fell by over 40%. Still bringing in another 50 lakhs and crossing the 4 crore mark, the film is a semi-HIT. Success of a film like THE NAMESAKE should open up the eyes of commercial film makers in Bollywood who have been making Irrfan Khan enact particular kind of roles. Sheer depth that he has managed to bring to his character in the film brings Irrfan Khan into spotlight once again.
On sheer strength of single screen audience, VIVAH has achieved the feat of crossing 32 crores in a matter of 23 weeks. Taking a slow and steady approach, the film is still running at 50 cinemas and is now all geared up to enter its silver jubilee week.
In the future
Yash Chopra. Aditya Chopra. Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukherjee. Vishal-Shekhar. Javed Akhtar. Siddharth Anand. 15+ shows at prominent multiplexes. Feel good family entertainer. Solo notable release of the week. Good buzz. All of this ensures that the film would take a good opening at the box office. Still, do not expect a phenomenal opening which would break the record created by DHOOM 2 or come close to the ones created by KANK, KRRISH or DON. At maximum, it would open on the lines of a FANAA or a LAGE RAHO MUNNABHAI but that should be good enough to make it sail through.