This week's new releases include Twilight Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.'s CHAL PICHCHUR BANATE HAIN; the Vikram Bhatt directed RAAZ 3 and Horizon Films Pvt. Ltd.'s RIWAYAT. It needs no rocket science to predict that from the three films, it will just be the Bipasha-Emraan starrer, RAAZ 3, which will embark on a good if not impressive start, for reasons that we have already discussed (crisp and chilling promos, 3D and popular music)!
Last Friday's major release was the Shirish Kunder directed Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha starrer, JOKER. Though no one was expecting JOKER to open to a big start, still the rather dull to ordinary start was quite unexpected. The lackluster promotion, and the lack of popular music (barring a 'Kaafirana'), are some of the reasons being given! But in a nutshell, the paying audience is quite aware these days and makes up its mind about watching (or not watching!) a new release much before it hits the cinema. The only silver lining is the modest selling price of JOKER (around 40 cropre) and the pre-selling of the satellite rights, which will minimize the losses. JOKER has also disappointed in the overseas grossing ? 84,200 from UK and $105,865 from the US during the opening weekend (August 31-September 2).
The other releases of the week, FROM SYDNEY WITH LOVE, JALPARI – THE DESERT MERMAID and I M 24 have all been rejected, with collections varying from dull to negligible!
Meanwhile EROS International and Bhansali Productions' 16 crore (all inclusive cost), SHIRIN FARHAD KI TOH NIKAL PADI, managed a so-so week and collected 2.25 crore from Bombay (collections from other cinemas unreceived), 35 lakhs from Ahmedabad, 11.65 lakhs from Surat, 11.65 lakhs from Baroda (collections from 3 cinemas unreceived), 3 lakhs from Rajkot, 18.55 lakhs from Pune, 5 lakhs from Nasik, 5 lakhs from Goa, 1.15 lakhs from Belgaum, 1.25 crore from Delhi city, 17.55 lakhs from Noida, 10 lakhs from Ghaziabad, 4.20 lakhs from Kanpur, 7.55 lakhs from Lucknow, 1.50 lakhs from Agra, 2.35 lakhs from Allahabad, 25 lakhs from Gurgaon, 3 lakhs from Faridabad, 8.15 lakhs from Chandigarh, 7.20 lakhs from Jalandhar, 1.75 lakhs fromAmritsar, 1.50 lakhs from Ludhiana, 1 lakh from Bhatinda, 1 lakh fromAmbala, 1 lakh from Jammu, 30 lakhs from Calcutta (collections from other cinemas unreceived), 2.50 lakhs from Siliguri, 1.55 lakhs from Guwahati, 10 lakhs from Nagpur, 2.65 lakhs from Jabalpur, 5 lakhs from Raipur, 9.60 lakhs from Indore, 2 lakhs from Gwalior (collections from 2 cinemas unreceived), 5 lakhs from Bhopal, 11 lakhs from Jaipur, 1 lakh from Ajmer, 3 lakhs from Kota, 20 lakhs from Hyderabad, 2 lakhs from Aurangabad (collections from 3 cinemas unreceived), 40 lakhs from Bangalore, 1.50 lakhs from Visakhapatnam , 2.50 lakhs from Madras (collections from other cinemas unreceived) and 1 lakh from Kochi. During the opening week the Boman-Farah starrer, SHIRIN FARHAD KI TOH NIKAL PADI, has netted a below par 9.50 crore from India and will just about break even, after accounting for the non-theatrical rights. The film has been rejected in the overseas grossing ?74,000 from UK and $150,000 from the US till the second weekend (August 31-September 2).
After an unheard of and unbelievable extended first week (9-days) run, Yash Raj Films' Kabir Khan directed, EK THA TIGER, took an expected huge tumble in the second week as it collected 3.50 crore from Bombay, 1.30 crore from Ahmedabad, 18.20 lakhs from Surat, 27 lakhs from Baroda (collections from 7 cinemas unreceived), 13.25 lakhs from Rajkot, 6.35 lakhs from Jamnagar, 34.50 lakhs from Pune, 17.75 lakhs from Nasik, 7 lakhs from Goa, 3.15 lakhs from Belgaum, 3.10 crore from Delhi city, 35.65 lakhs from Noida, 30.85 lakhs from Ghaziabad, 33.50 lakhs from Kanpur, 54.20 lakhs from Lucknow, 17 lakhs from Agra, 14 lakhs from Allahabad, 10 lakhs from Meerut, 8.25 lakhs from Aligarh, 42.50 lakhs from Gurgaon, 8.35 lakhs from Faridabad, 15.50 lakhs from Chandigarh, 17.20 lakhs from Jalandhar, 5.35 lakhs from Amritsar, 4 lakhs from Ludhiana, 4.25 lakhs from Bhatinda, 4.50 lakhs from Ambala, 4 lakhs from Jammu, 76.50 lakhs from Calcutta (collections from other cinemas unreceived), 2.50 lakhs from Darjeeling, 7 lakhs from Siliguri, 6 lakhs from Guwahati, 34 lakhs from Nagpur, 17 lakhs from Jabalpur, 16.75 lakhs from Raipur, 30 lakhs from Indore (collections from 2 cinemas unreceived), 7 lakhs from Gwalior (collections from 4 cinemas unreceived), 35.20 lakhs from Bhopal, 88 lakhs from Jaipur, 10.60 lakhs from Ajmer, 15 lakhs from Kota, 90 lakhs from Hyderabad, 13.35 lakhs from Aurangabad (collections from 5 cinemas unreceived), 60 lakhs from Bangalore, 2.50 lakhs from Vijayawada, 3.20 lakhs from Visakhapatnam, 5 lakhs from Madras (collections from other cinemas unreceived) and 2.50 lakhs from Kochi. Adding around 31 crore more EK THA TIGER has netted a humungous 183 crores in two weeks from India. The Salman-Katrina starrer is an all-time blockbuster. EK THA TIGER is also Salman's biggest overseas hit grossing ?1,350,500 from UK and $2,560,000 from the US (to be confirmed) till the third weekend (August 31- September 2).
Concluding with Anurag Kashyap's Nawaz-Huma starrer, GANGS OF WASSEYPUR II, the film continues its steady run (even during the ETT wave!) collecting 20 lakhs from Bombay (collections from other cinemas unreceived), 4.65 lakhs from Ahmedabad, 1.25 lakhs from Surat, 1 lakh from Baroda , 2 lakhs from Pune, 15 lakhs from Delhi city, 2.75 lakhs from Noida, 2.15 lakhs from Ghaziabad, 1.15 lakhs from Kanpur, 5 lakhs from Lucknow, 3 lakhs from Gurgaon, 2.50 lakhs from Calcutta (collections from other cinemas unreceived), 1.25 lakhs from Raipur, 2.55 lakhs from Indore (collections from 2 cinemas unreceived), 1 lakh from Jaipur and 3.65 lakhs from Bangalore. Adding another 1.10 crore GANGS OF WASSEYPUR II has netted 23.60 crore in three weeks from India and is an average plus fare.
