With the kind of films being made which find their way to the cinema halls, one can’t blame the dull period at the box office to the fasting month of Ramzan when the Muslim audience keeps away from entertainment or the Championship Trophy 50 over matches being played in England.
It is more to do with a good film and a bad film. Because, Hindi Medium, which released on 19 May, continued to do excellent business even through its second and third weeks when Ramzan and Championship Trophy, both were already underway. And, Bahubali, a dubbed film, continues with its record breaking spree.
Last week saw both, 10 new releases and flops each. This Friday, three films released and all three films failed badly. There were no hopes rested on Behen Hogi Teri and Love U Family. But, the trade as well as the exhibitors expected Raabta to help fill the auditoriums for at least four to seven days coming as it does from T Series backing and stars Sushant Singh Rajput, fresh from the success of M S Dhoni: An Untold Story.
*Raabta is a high cost film and the prudence of such an investment in a next to nil face value film (it stars Sushant Singh, Kriti Sanon, Jim Sarb) with no other cast in support or even to distract one from the tedious goings-on! The choice of the subject, the screenplay and direction were poor beyond comprehension.
The film opened to poor houses on Friday with some screens having to cancel shows due to lack of audience. As the negative reports spread, it failed to add much on Saturday and Sunday to end its opening weekend with Rs 13.2 crore.
*Behen Hogi Teri, a film about neighbourhood romance of a UP girl and guy, was not quite the film for the multiplex era. The star cast lacks draw of any kind and the film faced a miserable fate on day one and through the weekend. It managed to put together about one crore for its first three days. The film’s screenings through rest of the week look unlikely.
*Love U Family was a nonstarter.
*Dobaara: See Your Evil has managed to cross one crore figure by collecting Rs 1.25 crore in its first week.
*Hanuman Da’ Damdar (Animation) has collected Rs 1.1 crore in its first week.
*The other releases of June 2: Dear Maya, A Death In The Gunj, Sweetiee Weds NRI, Mirror Game: Ab Khel Shuru, Flat 211 all fared badly proving to be total loss ventures.
*Sachin: A Billion Dreams has added Rs 6.35 crroe in its second week to take its two week tally to Rs 39.85 crore.
*Half Girlfriend has collected Rs 1.2 crore in its third week to take its three week total to Rs 54.1 crore (Rs 541 million).
*Hindi Medium is a super hit for its budget. This much appreciated film has added 11.3 crore in its third week taking its three week tally to Rs 53.9 crore (Rs 539 million).
*Bahubali (dubbed) has collected Rs 4.7 crore in its sixth week to take its six week total to Rs 496.8 crore.
