First weekend performance of latest release
'Bhagam Bhag' was hyped beyond imagination for the last one month. In fact an aggressive promotional drive continues even in its first week. Hence it was always a given fact that the film would open quite well. Though it wasn't a 'flier' of a start as expected [90% +], it still did quite well with collections in the range of 70%-80%. When compared to Priyan's last 3 films [Malamaal Weekly, Chup Chup Ke and Kyun Ki], 'Bhagam Bhag' took a far better opening. Also the film should out-gross his biggest success 'Garam Masala' by a comfortable margin. Still, it doesn't appear to be yet another 50 crore runner of the year because both critics and audience have been unanimous in their view about the second half being not as exciting as the first half.
Last week's movies
Even before 'Kabul Express', 'Aryan' and 'Dil Se Pooch Kidhar Jaana Hai' released, it was quite crystal clear about which of the three would emerge successful at the box office. It was commendable to see a film like 'Kabul Express' crossing the 7 crore mark in its first week and that too without a wide spread multiplex release in Delhi NCR. With the film not having much to gain from single screen audience [unlike D2 which still managed to rake in a lot of moolah from single screens when the film couldn't make it to numerous multiplexes up north], it was a loss of at least a crore in that region. Delhi managed to reach quite close to 50 lakhs but could have been much better. Comparatively Mumbai was superb with a contribution of more than 2 crores.
The film is expected to take a fall in its second week due to 'Bhagam Bhag' taking lead but even a 10 crore + final total for 'Kabul Express' would be victory sign for Yash Raj Films which ends the year on a winning note.
'Aryan' cut a sorry figure from the very first show of its release and an unflattering total of 90 lakhs meant doom for it. If released earlier at the peak of its promotion, it may have just managed to fare a little better. With Mumbai coming up with maximum collections of just 14 lakhs, one can very well imagine the fate of rest of the cities/towns. It should not be more than a week or two before the film is available on DVDs/VCDs. 'Dil Se Pooch...' is a colossal failure with a 10 cinema release and mere 1 lakh in collections.
From the past
After a poor first week, there were hardly many who gave 'Baabul' any chance at the box office. Though some believed that relatively weak competition in the form of 'Kabul Express' and 'Aryan' may help its prospects, it had become quite apparent quite earlier in the day that it seemed a distant possibility. With a 60% fall in the second week and only 4.5 crores added to its 11 crore first week total, 'Baabul' currently stands at 15.5 crores but would struggle to touch 20 crores.
Mumbai saw the biggest fall [2 crores to 55 lakhs] while Delhi was relatively better [1 crore to 50 lakhs]. 'Baabul' has now turned out to be yet another box office failure for Salman Khan after 'Jaan-E-Mann' which is ironic since he acted quite well in both the films. Nevertheless, he has a biggie coming in the form of 'Salaam-E-Ishq' next month which should certainly help him regain lost grounds.
'Dhoom 2' saw a fantastic 4th week as it took only 40% fall after a 50% fall a week earlier. Mumbai enjoyed another 1 crore week while Delhi, without its major multiplexes, was excellent at 75 lakhs. With 6.5 crore added in, 'Dhoom 2' now stands as the biggest money spinners of all times with 75 crores total to boost. It has crossed films like 'Gadar', 'Lage Raho Munnabhai', 'Hum Aapke Hain Kaun' and 'Krrish' [all 60 crores + films] by a big margin and one waits to see if 'Dhoom 3' would be the only film in coming months to break its record.
Vivah' is now officially a superhit with collections remaining remarkably stable in its 6th week. Just like 2 crores coming in a week earlier, even this week's collections read 2 crore which is amazing. Standing at 22 crores and continuing its dream run across the country, 'Vivah' is the biggest ever hit of Shahid Kapoor and Amrita Rao. And to think of it, there has been absolutely no contribution of music towards the film's prospects!
'Don' has finally touched 50 crores after being in theatres for 9 weeks though is now on the verge of being out. Meanwhile an agonizing wait of 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' to touch 70 crores at the box office continues as it is still 4 lakhs shy from doing that.
In the future
There was a possibility of 'Anwar' coming along with 'I See You' as the last release of the year but since it has backed out for a later day, 'I See You' is the only film coming in. To describe the box office prospects of 'I See You', one remembers Tom Hanks' dialogue from 'Forrest Gump' - "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." The same holds good for 'I See You'.
Coming from debutant director Vivek Agrawal, the promos indicate a breezy entertainer but lack of star value goes against it. Now one waits to watch the film to see if it indeed is a sweet romantic comedy as proclaimed by producer/actor Arjun Rampal. At the box office, the film may not open more than 40-50% but has a potential to consolidate over an entire fortnight as the next two notable releases ['Guru', 'Risk'] arrive on January 12th.