First weekend performance of latest release
With all eyes on OM SHANTI OM and SAAWARIYA arriving on 9th November, no film was released in the weekend gone by.
Last week's movies
Unlike the battle of OM SHANTI OM v/s SAAWARIYA where both the films are expected to take a very good to excellent start, the quartet of releases last week, JAB WE MET, NO SMOKING, MUMBAI SALSA and BAL GANESH, just had one film in the race - JAB WE MET. It seemed as if there was no competition at all the moment Friday came to an end. JAB WE MET grew from strength by strength with every passing show and as the first week came to an end, the distributors and exhibitioners were already base lining plans on increasing the shows drastically in week 2 to go for the kill.
Coming back to the film's first week's collections, JAB WE MET has netted just under 12 crore which has immediately got it the comfort zone. The word of mouth is immense for this film which people queued up for repeat viewings. Mumbai was very good with 2.5 crores while Delhi crossed 1.5 crores and NCR fetched close to 1 crore too. The way film has progressed so far, it won't be surprising if overall collections reach the 20 crore mark in two weeks flat and give the film a hit status!
NO SMOKING went up on smoke sooner than anyone would have expected and even Anurag Kashyap has now graciously accepted the film's failure at the box office. At 1.75 crores with 50 lakhs coming from Mumbai city alone, the film's maximum revenue came in the first 3 days because after that there was a steep fall all the way. A trade disaster, it has set the industry thinking yet again if Indian audience is indeed ready for experimental cinema told in an abstract fashion yet! There doesn't seem to be much prospects for the film on home video too.
MUMBAI SALSA would qualify as one of the top trade disasters of the year. A pity because it deserved a better fate and simply got crushed due to below average publicity, entirely new starcast, competition from JAB WE MET/BHOOL BHULAIYAA and surprisingly no push from the makers around it's release. At 35 lakhs, the film has hardly any ammunition left to take it into the second week. Ditto for BAL GANESH which again managed to cross just around 30 lakhs and would end around the same figure.
From the past
With JAB WE MET as the only film running in the town, BHOOL BHULAIYAA had yet another good week to it's name as it fell by 60% to net another 6 crores. At 47 crores plus, BHOOL BHULAIYAA is poised to cross the 50 crore mark once the current week is through. This would make Akshay Kumar as the only actor after Hrithik (KRRISH, DHOOM 2) in recent times to have delivered two back to back 50 crores super hits in a single year (after HEYY BABYY). In Mumbai, the film is still dealing in crores and has crossed 1.25 crores though Delhi was relatively behind at only 50 lakhs. The film has now penetrated B and C centers and is expected to rake in some moolah from here as well.
On the other hand LAAGA CHUNARI MEIN DAAG continues to crash and with a 70% fall got home only 1.5 crores. With not much revenue expected in the current week and total disappearance from the theaters once OSO and SAAWARIYA arrive, it would have to contend with a loser status. At 19.5 crores, it would inch towards the 20 crores mark but that's about it.
In the future
Well, there is not much left actually to write about OM SHANTI OM and SAAWARIYA. All said and done, both the films are all set to do 100% business on Saturday and Sunday though on Friday, evening shows at some centers would be effected due to Diwali celebrations. The picture about a longer stay at the theaters would be clearer once the actual product is out and the audience inclination is more visible after a euphoric opening weekend!