Bollywood box-office report of the week : 29 january 2009

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The coming Friday will see an interesting clash between Zoya Akhtar’s Farhan-Konkona starrer LUCK BY CHANCE and Ajitpal Mangat’s Harman-Amrita starrer, VICTORY. The interesting thing common to both the films is that apart from the second release of the male lead (Farhan and Harman), there are a host of big names involved. In case of LUCK BY CHANCE the celebrities are from Bollywood, while VICTORY boasts of a number of well known cricketers. One feels that of the two, LBC has better chances at the multiplexes and cities and VICTORY is likely to appeal more to the single screens and the smaller centres. Unfortunately, there is no big buzz associated with either the two upcoming releases, though LUCK BY CHANCE is likely to fare better than VICTORY, given the overall scheme of things.

CHECK OUT: LUCK BY CHANCE Movie Preview

The battle between the two releases of last Friday went the expected and predicted way. Just like another hugely popular and critically acclaimed Hollywood venture (with Indian connections) WATER, the latest release, Danny Boyle’s SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE could not really translate all the global hype into a good opening in India. In fact, it could not even match up to the opening of the ‘desi’ horror from the Bhatts, RAAZ -THE MYSTERY CONTINUES… The original English version though fared comparatively better in Bombay and Bangalore multiplexes, as opposed to the dubbed Hindi SLUMDOG CROREPATI. 

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Released at 103 cinemas of Bombay-Thane (SPE Films India Pvt. Ltd.), the Emraan, Kangana and Adhyayan starrer RAAZ-TMC… saw a very good start. On an all India basis, the film saw quite an impressive opening at most of the places. Trade predicts that the film will keep everyone associated with it happy, its good initial and hit music being its biggest plus points. On the other hand SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, released at 33 cinemas of Bombay-Thane (thru Fox Star Studios (I) Pvt. Ltd.), saw an ordinary opening almost everywhere, barring some multiplexes of Bombay, Pune and South. The trade however is optimistic that SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is an excellent film and it may have started slow but it has the merits to pick up by strong and positive word of mouth. Its business in the multiplexes and big cities is likely to be quite good. 

CHECK OUT: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE Movie Review

The year’s first major release, Nikhil Advani’s Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Gordon Liu and Ranvir Shorey starrer failed to sustain beyond the weekend (especially Sunday). The collections fell heavily during the weekdays. Checking out the numbers, the film obtained 2.55 crores from Bombay, 86 lakhs from Ahmedabad, 3.75 lakhs from Nandiad, 2.65 lakhs from Himmatnagar, 3.15 lakhs from Valsad, 20.35 lakhs from Rajkot, 8 lakhs from Jamnagar, 6.35 lakhs from Bhavnagar, 2 lakhs from Surendranagar, 2.15 lakhs from Junagarh, 2.25 lakhs from Bhuj, 20 lakhs from Pune, 2.35 lakhs from Sangli, 10 lakhs from Nasik, 2.75 crores from Delhi city, 37 lakhs from Ghaziabad, 10.15 lakhs from Kanpur, 34.10 lakhs from Lucknow, 10.10 lakhs from Agra, 5.15 lakhs from Allahabad, 5.40 lakhs from Meerut, 5.50 lakhs from Aligarh, 5.45 lakhs from Gorakhpur, 2.25 lakhs from Muzaffarnagar, 8 lakhs from Chandigarh, 60 lakhs from Gurgaon, 13.65 lakhs from Faridabad, 3 lakhs from Panipat, 3.15 lakhs from Guwahati, 16.20 lakhs from Calcutta, 25.55 lakhs from Nagpur, 3 lakhs from Jabalpur, 4.25 lakhs from Amravati, 3 lakhs from Akola, 6 lakhs from Raipur, 3.25 lakhs from Bhillai, 2 lakhs from Wardha, 3.25 lakhs from Chandrapur, 22.35 lakhs from Indore, 2 lakhs from Sehore, 2 lakhs from Ujjain, 45.10 lakhs from Jaipur, 6.20 lakhs from Jodhpur, 8 lakhs from Ajmer, 6.10 lakhs from Bikaner, 75 lakhs from Hyderabad, 2.60 lakhs from Warangal, 2.70 lakhs from Aurangabad, 2 lakhs from Nanded, 7.25 lakhs from Mangalore and 1.15 lakhs from Coimbatore.

As per the makers/distributors, during its opening week, CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA netted around 27 crores (45 crore gross) from India. Given the high number of prints and the huge involved costs, its a poor show and CC2C will be a heavy loser for all concerned. Even in the Overseas, the collections have crashed heavily as the film grossed $601,890 from UK and $869,611 from US.

CHECK OUT: Now GHAJINI ‘Made In China’?

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Moving on to the Murugadoss directed Aamir Khan starrer GHAJINI, the film saw its first major fall after three stupendous weeks. During its latest run, GHAJINI collected 76 lakhs from Bombay, 15.65 lakhs from Ahmedabad, 7 lakhs from Surat, 1.15 lakhs from Nandiad, 8.35 lakhs from Baroda, 1.10 lakhs from Bharuch, 1.10 lakhs from Valsad, 5.60 lakhs from Rajkot, 2.30 lakhs from Jamnagar, 1.10 lakhs from Bhavnagar, 1.05 lakhs from Gandhidham, 19 lakhs from Pune, 3.20 lakhs from Kolhapur, 1.45 lakhs from Solapur, 2.20 lakhs from Nasik, 4 lakhs from Goa, 36 lakhs from Delhi city, 5.60 lakhs from Ghaziabad, 6 lakhs from Kanpur, 9.05 lakhs from Lucknow, 3.10 lakhs from Agra, 3.05 lakhs from Varanasi, 2 lakhs from Allahabad, 3.10 lakhs from Dehradun, 2.85 lakhs from Meerut, 1.60 lakhs from Moradabad, 1.35 lakhs from Aligarh, 1.25 lakhs from Chandigarh, 7.35 lakhs from Gurgaon, 1.30 lakhs from Faridabad, 1 lakh from Calcutta, 1.05 lakhs from Guwahati, 6.70 lakhs from Nagpur, 2 lakhs from Amravati, 2.45 lakhs from Raipur, 1.20 lakhs from Akola, 1.15 lakhs from Durg, 5 lakhs from Indore, 9.10 lakhs from Jaipur, 2.10 lakhs from Ajmer, 1.55 lakhs from jodhpur, 2.10 lakhs from Ajmer, 12.75 lakhs from Hyderabad, 2.05 lakhs from Aurangabad and 1.55 lakhs from Mangalore.

Adding another 5 crores, GHAJINI has now netted an unprecedented 110.50 crores in four weeks from India. The Aamir Khan, Asin, Jiah Khan and Pradeep Rawat starrer is now within touching distance of an all time blockbuster status from India. GHAJINI is already Aamir Khan’s biggest overseas success, grossing $998,737 from UK and $2,444,668 from the US.

CHECK OUT: Will all biggies now score 100 crores apiece?

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Meanwhile, just like GHAJINI, Aditya Chopra’s Shah Rukh Khan starrer RAB NE BANA DI JODI, saw a major fall but in its sixth week. The film collected 17 lakhs from Bombay, 5.50 lakhs from Ahmedabad, 10 lakhs from Delhi city, 1.45 lakhs from Noida, 1.15 lakhs from Ghaziabad, 3.25 lakhs from Lucknow, 1.15 lakhs from Allahabad, 1.05 lakhs from Gurgaon, 2.50 lakhs from Guwahati, 1.10 lakhs from Jabalpur, 1 lakh (approx) from Raipur, Akola, and Indore, 5 lakhs from Jaipur, 6 lakhs from Hyderabad and 1.50 lakhs from Aurangabad.

Adding around a crore in its sixth week, RAB NE BANA DI JODI has now netted in excess of 85 crores from India. After becoming the biggest grosser for Yash Raj Films (beating DHOOM:2’s 80.60 crores), the all time blockbuster, RAB NE BANA DI JODI is now sure to cross Shah Rukh Khan’s highest grosser, OM SHANTI OM. In the Overseas RAB NE BANA DI JODI is a blockbuster hit, grossing $2,063,916 from UK and $2,078,956 from the US.