MUMBAI: Madaari, starring Irrfan Khan and Jimmy Shergill, was expected to draw a fair number of viewers as both enjoy a good following. The film in itself did not provide anything new and came across as a mix of few recent films. Also, for a film aimed at the multiplex audience, the title, Madaari, sounded quite outlandish!

Not able to raise curiosity, the film managed a weak opening at the box office not improving thereafter to end its opening weekend with Rs 8.3 crore.

*M Cream went unnoticed.

*Kabali (Hindi-Dubbed from Tamil), gets a lot of media hype with the media not bothering about Rajinikanth films vis a vis Hindi film audience; in that, he commands no following here as such, neither in dubbed films nor he did in original Hindi films.

Also, filmmaking has moved on which includes the South Indian industry. The concepts have changed now and filmmaking has become technology oriented as special effects have become easier to incorporate. In such an event, you wonder at Kabali which sells the same Rajinikanth being sold since decades; only, here he is much diluted one thanks to age. The film has no gimmickry or gestures associated with Rajinikanth and hand to hand fights are avoided. Compare this to another south Indian film Bahubali,with its youthful star cast, larger than life canvass and special effect wizardry. No use taking viewers for granted, even Rajini fans.

Since the ticket buying moviegoer is immune to such hypes, the film had a low opening response with footfalls varying from 10/15 per cent to 25 per cent and the figures reflecting the fact. The film collected about 3 crore on day one with a negligible raise on days two and three.

The film collected Rs. 12.7 crore for its opening weekend despite an extensive release with over 1000 screens.

*Great Grand Masti fails to add much to its opening weekend figures of 7.8 crore. With the rest of the four days of the week collecting just Rs 4.7 crore to take its first week total to Rs 12.5 crore.

*With an open field and Salman as main attraction, Sultan continues to hold its own as the film collects Rs 277.96 crore at the end of its second week (16 days. The film adds another Rs 11.09 crore for its third weekend taking its 19 day total to Rs 289.05 crore.