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First weekend performance of latest release When most trade pundits were unanimous about TASHAN being all set to take a humongous opening, I could see the alarm bells ringing which indicated the otherwise. And this was before multiplex imbroglio. I strongly believe that even if TASHAN would have releases at the multiplexes, the opening wouldn't have matched the standards of OM SHANTI OM or even RACE/WELCOME/DHOOM 2. Reason was plain and simple - the film was just not being promoted enough. In fact I would go to the extent of stating that whatever promotion took place, it was far from impressive with Kareena's waistline being the sole selling point for TASHAN. In addition, there was absolutely no idea given about the film's storyline or plot through television promotion. Surprising, since the film boasted of a solid star cast and hit music by Vishal-Shekhar. All of this would have been pardonable if only the film would have at the least opened to a good response and fetched nice enough word of mouth. But let's do some reality check here. I can easily say that this is the worst movie ever coming from Yash Raj Films ever since Aditya Chopra took over the mantle of country's premier banner. Yes, NEAL N NIKKI was better. Yes, LAAGA CHUNARI MEIN DAAG and AAJA NACHLE had a couple of moments and some good acting. Yes, even JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM was far more impressive. And if we start comparing it with the films which got maximum brickbats last year, then even RAM GOPAL VARMA KI AAG was better. To summarize - TASHAN was simply exasperating! Well, it appears that similar sentiments were shared by many since after an ordinary opening, the film had no option but to go downhill. Not a single soul has stood up and spoken in favor of the film. Of course, as it happens in case of widely thrashed movies, even those who have a few kind words to say about the film refrain from doing so lest they gets categorized in minority. However, the fact remains that word of mouth is so negative that TASHAN is bound to see a steep fall over the week. And less said about the fate of the film as the second weekend begins the better. In nutshell, TASHAN which was widely speculated to be the biggest opener of the year, now risks taking the lowest ever opening for a film of it's stature! Last week's movies HOPE AND A LITTLE SUGAR was destined to be a looser at the box office, especially after the way it was promoted. No wonder it's meager release followed by an absolute no-show at the box office meant that the film collected a mere 11 lakhs at the ticket counters. Collections have been so bad all over the major cities where it released that it has barely being continued in the second week. An out and out trade disaster which has already been forgotten. From the past A relatively open week with zero competition coming from HOPE AND A LITTLE SUGAR meant that U ME AUR HUM saw a little less than 50% fall in it's second week. Though Devgans would have expected that due to a controlled released strategy the fall would be much lesser, a large segment of audience which mainly looks for 'dhinchaak' entertainment rather than sensible cinema hasn't quite filled in the auditoriums. Result is that the film did collect 6.5 crores more with it's total reaching 19 crores but that's not the kind of collections which this film deserved. In Mumbai the film collected 1.25 crores though Delhi remained fairly stable at 70 lakhs. Since TASHAN hasn't been released at multiplexes, it has given U ME AUR HUM a couple of more weeks to breath easy since this Friday's releases are hardly a challenge by themselves. In comparison KRAZZY 4 did fall heavily (as expected) with 70% drop in collections. Still, in the process it did manage to earn 5 crores more which means that this medium budget film is already standing tall at 21.5 crores. For a film which doesn't have a single lead actor per se and is made of primarily supporting/character artists of the likes of Irrfan Khan, Arshad Warsi, Rajpal Yadav and Suresh Menon, it is a huge achievement in itself. An above average success, KRAZZY 4 earned another ~1 crore from Mumbai though Delhi was quite low at just 40 lakhs. The film doesn't have much to gain in weeks to follow but is bound to do well on DVD circuits, courtesy kids falling for a catchy title! After a huge crash in it's second week, SHAURYA somehow managed to stay afloat by seeing only 40% fall. With 20 lakhs added to it's kitty and the total crossing 2 crores, SHAURYA should be able to break even in the long run. What surprises though is the success of KHUDA KAY LIYE which is staying pretty consistent in the major cities where it has released and hence fell by - believe it or not - just 15%. The film has scored even in it's third week and with 40 lakhs more coming in, it has now crossed the 1.5 crore mark. A safe film by all means, KHUDA KAY LIYE marks a good beginning to films from Pakistan hitting the Indian shores. ONE TWO THREE managed to stay on in Top-5 even in it's 4th week and has earned 30 lakhs more. At 18 crores +, the film should now be seeing a DVD release soon. On the other hand RACE has gained further in it's 5th week with only 35% fall. With more than 1.25 crores coming in, the film is now neck to neck with JODHAA AKBAR at 62 crores. Though a huge fall (70%) during last week had indicated that JODHAA AKBAR would end up enjoying better final total than RACE, the good run of the latter in the week gone by means that it would be the eventual winner. Coming to JODHAA AKBAR, it hasn't been a pushover either even as it is battling it out in the 10th week. With less than 10% fall and 20 lakhs more coming in, the film is a huge hit at 62.5 crores and continues to work in favor of the selective Hrithik Roshan. In the future Three films release this Friday - ANAMIKA, MR. WHITE MR. BLACK and PRANALI. And one doesn't need a trade analyst or a box office expert to comment on the fate of each of the three films. Even though each of the three films belongs to diverse genre (ANAMIKA is mystery, MR. WHITE MR. BLACK is action comedy and PRANALI is social), audience is bound to skip them all in favor of, what else, but the 20-20 cricket fever. With zero expectations from any of the films coupled with unimpressive promotion, if at all there is something positive which comes out from the narrative, it would be quite pleasant in itself!
Tanishaa runs for Underprivileged Children!
Tanishaa who wowed all with her super fitness regime and sleek look in Neal N Nikki is all set to run again, this time for a great cause!! Part of the Dream Team for Standard Chartered Marathon happening on 20th January, the actress will run for the NGO called Light of My Life, which helps rural and destitute street children live a normal fulfilling life, and Tanishaa is looking forward to her marathon run. "I will run for an organisation called Light Of My Life, a very generous organization that helps enrich the lives of rural and destitute street children. We see these kids everyday on roads but we never know the strife they go through when all they deserve at this age is love and affection and freedom to enjoy their childhood. Light of My Life primarily works with teachers and parents and helps re-educate and give better lives to the underprivileged kids..I am just trying my bit to help and I hope we can do even more in the future!" she says. On the film front, Tanishaa will have a good year ahead with films like Kumar Mangat's One Two Three directed by Ashwin Dheer and RGV's Sarkarr Raj with Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai. Well, nothing like starting off 2008 with a noble deed!
Kabul Express looks another ace product from YRF
Trust Yash Raj Films to give movie buffs something interesting to view months after months. Dabbling in different genres, for every 'Veer Zaara', they have a 'Neal N Nikki' while for every 'Fanaa' they have a 'Dhoom 2'. Now with 'Kabul Express', the film makers venture into a different territory [pun intended], as their 'Kabul Express' releases on December 15th. Coming at the time when the 'Dhoom 2' collections would have stabilized and audience would be looking forward to something new, it seems to be an interesting film all the way with wit and humor seemingly the two pillars on which this movie rests. Promos have done the trick and one can expect YRF to release it strategically across theatres at the right show timings for its target audience to catch the flick.
Retailers vary about selling movie MP3s
A new trend is being witnessed with an arrival of original MP3 of albums such as 'Dance Masti Forever', 'Vivah' and 'Dhoom 2' which have hit the stands along with a regular CD/cassette version. While a buyer has reasons to jump with joy since these MP3 come at a throwaway price with an added advantage of carrying an 'original' tag, retailers do not seem to be carrying similar sentiments. As per those who were spoken to, it is a professional hara-kiri to sell MP3s instead of CDs. And this is the reason why. "First and foremost the margins are quite low. While I can send a regular CD for approx. Rs. 150/= and earn a margin of Rs. 25-30 at an average, in case of MP3 this comes down substantially since its cost is in the range of Rs. 60-80/=. Fair enough, I may still manage to cover some ground due to the volume factor as it is bound to grow, but then what happens to the other titles that I wish to sell. Take an example of 'Vivah'. Its MP3 comes with not just the film's songs but about 40-50 other songs from Rajshri films. This means that automatically there is a hit on the sales of these Rajshri films which I could have sold otherwise through standalone CDs. Ditto for 'Dhoom 2' which comes with songs from 'Salaam Namaste', 'Veer Zaara', 'Bunty Aur Babli, 'Neal N Nikki' and many more. What happens to CDs of these albums then? I loose completely there", says the retailer. So how do you intend to keep your margins intact? "Simple, we don't keep the MP3s on display", he says with condition of anonymity, "we hand it over to the customer only if he asks for the same. Otherwise we just keep the CDs on stands and earn from the margins we gain from their sales. See for big retailers like Planet M and Music World this is not an issue because first and foremost they have a corporate backup and secondly they have huge sales figures that are expected keep their standing afloat. But for us, it becomes quite a difficult task." Now this brings one to think about the tricky situation the music industry finds itself in. For years it has been trying to combat piracy and when it takes a positive step to curb it, above is the kind of response it gets from the market. A vicious circle indeed!
Dhoom 2 and Vivah available on MP3
Guess how are music companies working together to combat music piracy and decreasing sales of music albums? By coming up with original MP3s of the latest albums along with the regular music CDs. The latest to add the list are the MP3s of 'Dhoom 2' and 'Vivah' that have really set the sales rolling for the two films. Marked at half the regular price of an original music CD and comprising of 40-50 songs at an average, they are a double delight for the listener since they come with numerous other hits from the production houses. While 'Vivah' boasts of dozens of other Rajshri hits apart from the songs of 'Vivah', 'Dhoom 2' enhances the bouqet by including songs from YRF hits like 'Bunty Aur Babli', 'Salaam Namaste', 'Veer Zaara', 'Neal N Nikki' and many more. A few weeks back 'Dance Masti Forever' too came in a MP3 version and has been a big hit since then. One just hopes that the trend continues with many more forthcoming albums too.