First weekend performance of latest release
In the Friday gone by, three distinct films had released - PHOONK (horror), MAAN GAYE MUGHALL-E-AZAM (comedy) and MUMBAI MERI JAAN (social). As pointed out in this very column last week, PHOONK was always the front runner and credit must go to the makers for having designed the strategy for the film's promotion and it's release quite well. Deserving 10 out of 10 for the way they brought PHOONK to the public, it was pretty much on the cards that PHOONK would take a good opening.
However, there was a surprise in store since being true to it's title, PHOONK seemed to have spun black magic at theaters across the country. Otherwise how does one really describe the terrific opening which this film managed to take all over the country? A near 100% opening on Friday caught even the staunchest supporter of Ram Gopal Varma (and PHOONK) by surprise.
Released at limited shows (2-4 at all major multiplexes), the film took a very good opening (over 80%) when the day begun and soon word of mouth ensured that by the time evening and night shows commenced, there were house full signs all over. Made in a budget of just 3 crores, the film is on it's way to do a business of at least 10 crores which means that the Superhit tag is not really far away.
A surprise success of the year in spite of no leading stars glaring from the film's posters and promos, PHOONK has managed to erase the disappointment of the box office failure of Ramu's last month release CONTRACT.
On the other hand both MAAN GAYE MUGHALL-E-AZAM 
Last week's movies
Siddharth Anand's BACHNA AE HASEENO has turned out to be a safe preposition for everyone involved. Showing a good performance at the box office with more than 21 crores coming in it's first week, the film has reached safe shores and should comfortably cross the 30 crores mark, hence ensuring at the least an above-average tag for itself. Well, if one asks Yash Raj Films, they may well love to call it as a hit, at least thematically, since it has been after ages that their film has managed to win hearts of the audience. In Mumbai the film did business in excess of 4.5 crores while
For a film which was clearly dated and didn't have an impressive publicity to boast of, GOD TUSSI GREAT HO went on to do some decent business for itself with a 11 crore first week. However, the film hasn't been much appreciated and is bound to take a big fall in the second week. At maximum, the film would be able to earn a coverage tag for itself, something which neither the makers nor the actors would mind since at one point of time, even that looked impossible. The film was best in Mumbai (in fact quite good) with 3.5 crores though
From the past
Till a few days back, especially after a blockbuster first week opening, one wondered whether SINGH IS KINNG would go on to break the 86 crores record of OM SHANTI OM. However, after a second week haul of 18 crores, that is now out of question as the two week total of the film stands at 62 crores. Covering up remaining 24 crores is clearly an impossible task and for SINGH IS KINNG, now the immediate milestone is to cross the 76 crores WELCOME barrier. In it's second week, SINGH IS KINNG fell by 60% in collections (expected since the film had opened huge) though it continued to do well in places like Mumbai (2 crores),
UGLY AUR PAGLI could muster only 10 lakhs in it's third week after a 80% fall and is now ready for it's DVD release after a 7.5 crores haul. However, it would still be some time before Aamir Khan eventually decides to bring JAANE TU YA JAANE NAA on home video. In the week leading to 50 days at the box office, this Imran Khan starrer earned another 40 lakhs at the box office. The film should eventually close under 55 crores.
In the future
Four films release this Friday - 
Showing posts with label Singh is Kinng. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Singh is Kinng. Show all posts
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First weekend performance of latest release
YASH RAJ FILMS finally have a success
in their hands. After four back to back flops. After four back to back flops (LAAGA CHUNARI MEIN DAAG, AAJA NACHLE, TASHAN, THODA PYAAR THODA MAGIC) which boasted of big names like Rani Mukherjee, Abhishek Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit, Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Anil Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan, a film like BACHNA AE HASEENO with one film old Ranbir Kapoor has taken a good start at the box office. Of course presence of Bipasha Basu and Deepika Padukone is a big factor too with Siddharth Anand at the helm of affairs counting as well.
Considering the fact that SINGH IS KINNG had released just a week back and created a box office opening record, there were fears about BAH being eclipsed. However, that didn't quite happen as the film took an opening of over 70% which easily makes the film a safe preposition for everyone involved. With no big releases till the end of September, BACHNA AE HASEENO should bring smiles back in YRF camp!
GOD TUSSI GREAT HO, as expected, took an OK opening though a little better than expected. Salman Khan proved his prowess once again in the smaller center which meant that opening weekend was better than decent. A 50%-60% opening means that at the least this Rumi Jaffrey directed film has been face saving for everyone involved. Though in urban centers it is still movies like SIK and BAH that are holding center stage, there is a market in single screens which is happy with GTGH. The film is still on shaky grounds though considering there are 3 to 5 releases every week for next 6 weeks that should eat into it's business. Still, from a film which was thought to be a flop even before it's release has managed to recover a good amount of it's investment which means that losses, if any, would be minimal.
Last week's movies
SINGH IS KINNG is now the biggest ever Bollywood opener of all times. The film has broken the record of OM SHANTI OM which was created last Diwali and has collected close to 44 crores at the box office. Released at close to 1000 cinemas, the film has made records at number of centers. While Mumbai has surpassed the 7 crores barrier, Delhi has crossed 5 crores. Ahmedabad too came close to 2 crores, Jaipur, Hyderabad and Kolkata topped 1 crores while Delhi NCR is tremendous with 4 crores plus. In fact Gurgaon for the first time crossed 1 crores and was just below the 1.5 crore mark.
The film would obviously show a drop in it's second week but that would strictly be in terms of percentage which is expected considering huge collections in the first week. In terms of sheer money inflow, it should still come close to 20 crores which means that a week later, this Anees Bazmee film should top the business (75 crores plus) of WELCOME. It now has to be seen whether SINGH IS KINNG should eventually go on to break the record breaking 86 crores total of OM SHANTI OM. Considering the fact that BACHNA AE HASEENO has been doing good business and there are 3-5 releases every week, it does look quite difficult at this point!
What happened to GOOD LUCK in the meanwhile? Well, a 25 cinemas release and 3 lakhs coming from the entire country pretty much tells the tale, isn't it? Disaster!
From the past
As expected, UGLY AUR PAGLI took a massive fall (over 90%) in it's second week. The film was truly eclipsed by SINGH IS KINNG and could gather only 50 lakhs more. At 7.5 crores the film is coverage at some centers but that's about it. Also, at places where it hasn't managed to make any profits for the distributors, it hasn't been a loss making preposition either. In nutshell, a film which has been a come today - gone tomorrow affair. Of course, it would have done a little better if not for the competition surrounding it's release.
Both MISSION ISTANBUL and MONEY HAI TO HONEY HAI ran completely out of steam in their third week and between them only gathered 10 lakhs more. Two more disasters served by Bollywood in 2008! Meanwhile KISMAT KONNECTION continued it's trend of huge drops after a rollicking first weekend and saw close to 85% fall. With just 25 lakhs more coming in and it's total standing at 27.5 crores after 4 weeks, it's time for the DVD release of this average box office earner.
This means that the only film which still managed to stand tall over the week gone by was JAANE TU YA JAANE NAA which managed yet another crore to it's name. Though the fall was pretty apparent (60%), the collections were still good considering all other films were falling like nine pins in the wake of the success of SINGH IS KINNG. At 54 crores, the film has been a massive earner.
In the future
Three films release this Friday - PHOONK, MAAN GAYE MUGHALL-E-AZAM and MUMBAI MERI JAAN. Out of the three, PHOONK should take the best opening considering it's promotion being pretty much on par with Ram Gopal Varma's SARKAR RAJ. Pretty much boasting of on-your-face publicity with some excellent promos, this film comes at the time when mindless entertainers, comedies and feel good romantic films are doing the best business. For the set of audience looking at a unique thriller in the offering, PHOONK comes as a 'scary' relief.
MAAN GAYE MUGHALL-E-AZAM too should be safe since Mallika, Paresh Rawal and Rahul Bose are expected to bring in audience for this comic fare. An opening of 50% + should be good enough. Meanwhile MUMBAI MERI JAAN, though backed by critics and industry insiders who have seen the film in special screenings, may not really be able to do an AAMIR due to heavy inflow of movies starting this week. It should do well on home video though.
Read More ...
YASH RAJ FILMS finally have a success
in their hands. After four back to back flops. After four back to back flops (LAAGA CHUNARI MEIN DAAG, AAJA NACHLE, TASHAN, THODA PYAAR THODA MAGIC) which boasted of big names like Rani Mukherjee, Abhishek Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit, Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Anil Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan, a film like BACHNA AE HASEENO with one film old Ranbir Kapoor has taken a good start at the box office. Of course presence of Bipasha Basu and Deepika Padukone is a big factor too with Siddharth Anand at the helm of affairs counting as well.Considering the fact that SINGH IS KINNG had released just a week back and created a box office opening record, there were fears about BAH being eclipsed. However, that didn't quite happen as the film took an opening of over 70% which easily makes the film a safe preposition for everyone involved. With no big releases till the end of September, BACHNA AE HASEENO should bring smiles back in YRF camp!
GOD TUSSI GREAT HO, as expected, took an OK opening though a little better than expected. Salman Khan proved his prowess once again in the smaller center which meant that opening weekend was better than decent. A 50%-60% opening means that at the least this Rumi Jaffrey directed film has been face saving for everyone involved. Though in urban centers it is still movies like SIK and BAH that are holding center stage, there is a market in single screens which is happy with GTGH. The film is still on shaky grounds though considering there are 3 to 5 releases every week for next 6 weeks that should eat into it's business. Still, from a film which was thought to be a flop even before it's release has managed to recover a good amount of it's investment which means that losses, if any, would be minimal.
Last week's movies
The film would obviously show a drop in it's second week but that would strictly be in terms of percentage which is expected considering huge collections in the first week. In terms of sheer money inflow, it should still come close to 20 crores which means that a week later, this Anees Bazmee film should top the business (75 crores plus) of WELCOME. It now has to be seen whether SINGH IS KINNG should eventually go on to break the record breaking 86 crores total of OM SHANTI OM. Considering the fact that BACHNA AE HASEENO has been doing good business and there are 3-5 releases every week, it does look quite difficult at this point!
What happened to GOOD LUCK in the meanwhile? Well, a 25 cinemas release and 3 lakhs coming from the entire country pretty much tells the tale, isn't it? Disaster!
From the past
As expected, UGLY AUR PAGLI took a massive fall (over 90%) in it's second week. The film was truly eclipsed by SINGH IS KINNG and could gather only 50 lakhs more. At 7.5 crores the film is coverage at some centers but that's about it. Also, at places where it hasn't managed to make any profits for the distributors, it hasn't been a loss making preposition either. In nutshell, a film which has been a come today - gone tomorrow affair. Of course, it would have done a little better if not for the competition surrounding it's release.
Both MISSION ISTANBUL and MONEY HAI TO HONEY HAI ran completely out of steam in their third week and between them only gathered 10 lakhs more. Two more disasters served by Bollywood in 2008! Meanwhile KISMAT KONNECTION continued it's trend of huge drops after a rollicking first weekend and saw close to 85% fall. With just 25 lakhs more coming in and it's total standing at 27.5 crores after 4 weeks, it's time for the DVD release of this average box office earner.
This means that the only film which still managed to stand tall over the week gone by was JAANE TU YA JAANE NAA which managed yet another crore to it's name. Though the fall was pretty apparent (60%), the collections were still good considering all other films were falling like nine pins in the wake of the success of SINGH IS KINNG. At 54 crores, the film has been a massive earner.
In the future
Three films release this Friday - PHOONK, MAAN GAYE MUGHALL-E-AZAM and MUMBAI MERI JAAN. Out of the three, PHOONK should take the best opening considering it's promotion being pretty much on par with Ram Gopal Varma's SARKAR RAJ. Pretty much boasting of on-your-face publicity with some excellent promos, this film comes at the time when mindless entertainers, comedies and feel good romantic films are doing the best business. For the set of audience looking at a unique thriller in the offering, PHOONK comes as a 'scary' relief.
MAAN GAYE MUGHALL-E-AZAM too should be safe since Mallika, Paresh Rawal and Rahul Bose are expected to bring in audience for this comic fare. An opening of 50% + should be good enough. Meanwhile MUMBAI MERI JAAN, though backed by critics and industry insiders who have seen the film in special screenings, may not really be able to do an AAMIR due to heavy inflow of movies starting this week. It should do well on home video though.
Latest Stories
Akshay Kumar seems to be ruling over the box office as he skips the Rs 10 to Rs 20 crore fee bracket.
For almost two decades the Khans have ruled over Bollywood's box-office. Shah Rukh, Salman and Aamir started the trend of being paid in crores. It was only Hrithik Roshan, who could challenge the Khans clout for a short period after his debut in 2000.
However, now Akshay Kumar, who has been reinventing himself over the past few years, is emerging as the clear box office king.
Akshay has left the Khans and Hrithik Roshan way behind when it comes to acting remunerations. UTV Motion Pictures has reportedly signed Akshay Kumar for a jaw-dropping figure of Rs 72 crore for a new project.
“I can’t go into figures, but yes, I can say that we have signed Akshay Kumar for a film that will go on floors in the second half of 2009,” says Founder UTV Rampage, Ram Mirchandani.
His last release Singh is Kinng has earned a record Rs 90 crore over the first week and is set to cross Om Shanti Om's highest collection of Rs 167crore in worldwide ticket sales.
With a number of films such as Om Shanti Om, Welcome, Chak De India and Dhoom 2 having earned over a Rs 100 crore just at the box-office, the Bollywood revenue pie is getting bigger, and with expanding international markets the revenue projections might just make Akshay's new fee worth the while.
It seems that Bollywood is now following a simple rule by investing more because bigger the investment more the returns.
Meanwhile, the topmost position might go from Shah Rukh to Akshay to someone else in the future. But, the bottom line is if the actors are charging more money, producers are making much more and the industry is growing. And at the end of the day, that is all that matters.
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Singh is Kinng, starring Akshay Kumar in the lead role, opened to an excellent box office worldwide today but critics are not sure whether the euphoria will last.
The film's producer Vipul Shah said that box office collections on the opening day was a "historical 100 per cent" everywhere. "It is the biggest ever opening for any film so far," he claimed.
Singh is Kinng has been released in 1800 screens worldwide, he added.
When asked about the weekend and second week prospects for the film, Shah replied, "they look record breaking."
Sandeep Bhargava of Indian Films which has the distributed the film worldwide, said according to distributors in India and overseas, the film has got a phenomenal initial opening.
"They say the opening is bigger than Shah Rukh Khan starrer Om Shanti Om. "However, it is too early to provide the comparative figures as the film has been released only today," he added.
The much hyped and well published movie which is co-produced by Akshay Kumar himself was in the news all throughout its making.
The actor's recent movies have raked over Rs 500 crore and trade circles commented that the film's
title suggested Kumar's attempt to replace Shah Rukh Khan as the 'King of Bollywood'.
However, critics and trade analysts are divided on their opinion about the film's fate at the box office.
Some critics are keeping their fingers crossed and feel that the euphoria will not last in the second week.
"Reports about the film's content are mixed. With good publicity and hype, half the battle is won. But, I am not sure if the film will do well at the box office.
The collections are sure to drop from Monday," trade analyst Amod Mehra said. According to Mehra, the script is not exciting enough to sustain through the second week with competition coming from Ranbir Kapoor starrer Bachna Aae Haseeno and Salman Khan's God Tussi Great ho both releasing on August 15.
Meanwhile, another trade analyst Taran Adarsh described the film as a good entertainer.
"Audience should not apply any logic to the film. Just enjoy it. It is fantastic. Singh is Kinng is made on a lavish scale and will re-write box office history."
He said even though the film has its share of flaws and turn of events are not captivating at times, the proceedings move so fast and packs in so much, that there is no time to think and analyse.
Taran said despite the upcoming releases in the weeks to come, Singh is Kinng is set to rule the hearts of audiences, as it is their verdict which matters the most.
Senior film journalist and critic Ajay Brahmatmaj described the film as "completion of director Anees Bazmee's nonsense trilogy -- No Entry, Welcome and now Singh is Kinng. We hope he makes some sensible films in future," he said but admitted that the box office opening of the film has been landmark.
"The good chemistry between Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif continues in this film as well. However, the fact is that script is always the king," he added.
Read More ...
The film's producer Vipul Shah said that box office collections on the opening day was a "historical 100 per cent" everywhere. "It is the biggest ever opening for any film so far," he claimed.
Singh is Kinng has been released in 1800 screens worldwide, he added.
When asked about the weekend and second week prospects for the film, Shah replied, "they look record breaking."
Sandeep Bhargava of Indian Films which has the distributed the film worldwide, said according to distributors in India and overseas, the film has got a phenomenal initial opening.
"They say the opening is bigger than Shah Rukh Khan starrer Om Shanti Om. "However, it is too early to provide the comparative figures as the film has been released only today," he added.
The much hyped and well published movie which is co-produced by Akshay Kumar himself was in the news all throughout its making.
The actor's recent movies have raked over Rs 500 crore and trade circles commented that the film's
title suggested Kumar's attempt to replace Shah Rukh Khan as the 'King of Bollywood'.
However, critics and trade analysts are divided on their opinion about the film's fate at the box office.
Some critics are keeping their fingers crossed and feel that the euphoria will not last in the second week.
"Reports about the film's content are mixed. With good publicity and hype, half the battle is won. But, I am not sure if the film will do well at the box office.
The collections are sure to drop from Monday," trade analyst Amod Mehra said. According to Mehra, the script is not exciting enough to sustain through the second week with competition coming from Ranbir Kapoor starrer Bachna Aae Haseeno and Salman Khan's God Tussi Great ho both releasing on August 15.
Meanwhile, another trade analyst Taran Adarsh described the film as a good entertainer.
"Audience should not apply any logic to the film. Just enjoy it. It is fantastic. Singh is Kinng is made on a lavish scale and will re-write box office history."
He said even though the film has its share of flaws and turn of events are not captivating at times, the proceedings move so fast and packs in so much, that there is no time to think and analyse.
Taran said despite the upcoming releases in the weeks to come, Singh is Kinng is set to rule the hearts of audiences, as it is their verdict which matters the most.
Senior film journalist and critic Ajay Brahmatmaj described the film as "completion of director Anees Bazmee's nonsense trilogy -- No Entry, Welcome and now Singh is Kinng. We hope he makes some sensible films in future," he said but admitted that the box office opening of the film has been landmark.
"The good chemistry between Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif continues in this film as well. However, the fact is that script is always the king," he added.
