First day, 1st verdict: Don short on Salman power

First day, first verdict: Don short on Salman power

Mumbai, Dec. 23: Shah Rukh is back as Don but Salman remains the box office king.

Though official records are not out yet, trade experts variously put the opening day collections of Shah Rukh Khan's Don 2 between Rs 15-17 crore.

SRK's arch-rival Salman Khan's film Bodyguard had grossed a record Rs 21.5 crore on the first day.

Bollywood trade analyst Komal Nahta said the first show of Don 2 registered 40 to 50 per cent collections in Mumbai and Nagpur.

"The territories that reported the best start are Delhi-UP and Rajasthan — they recorded 70 to 80 per cent bookings. Most of the multiplexes in Ghaziabad and Noida in the north reported full houses in the morning show — at concessional admission rates," said Nahta.

The collections in cinemas of the Mumbai circuit were, surprisingly, below the mark in the first show and that is not good news. Bollywood trade watchers say success in the Mumbai circle is mandatory for a film to do good business.

"In terms of trade, I expect Don 2 to make about Rs 15 crore on the first day — that is a fair to good report card," said Nahta. The figure though is certainly not in the league of aBodyguard or even SRK's last release Ra One.

"Don 2's first day box office collections will be around Rs 16-17 crore as of now. The figure will drop if evening shows are like morning ones and may pick up if evening shows see 100 per cent occupancy all over," said Manoj Desai, who owns at least seven single screen theatres across Mumbai.

Cinema owners such as Desai who have been in the business of exhibiting films for over five decades say Don 2 disappointed audiences in the second half.

"Audiences these days are not like old times — they want pace. Don 2 loses traction after the interval — it drags at times and the plot wavers," says Desai, while pointing out how "Shah Rukh and only Shah Rukh has the swagger to pull off the role of a new-age Don he portrays in the films".

The earlier Don flick by Farhan Akhtar — Don: The Chase Begins — was a remake of the 1978 Chandra Barot classic starring Amitabh Bachchan. It rebooted the original script of the Big B-Zeenat Aman starrer written by Farhan's father Javed Akhtar and his then professional partner Salim Khan.

To the uninitiated, Salim Khan is Salman's father.

Salim and Javed are not the thickest of friends anymore. Neither are SRK and Salman.

Farhan and Shah Rukh have co-produced the Rs 75 crore Don 2 (along with Ritesh Sidhwani) and Bollywood insiders say that a lot more is riding on the film than just money. "Farhan and Shah Rukh both had points to prove with Don — remake, sequel, whatever it be," says Desai, who knows all the protagonists engaged in the real life contest.

Farhan-Shah Rukh's Don: The Chase Begins, which released in 2006, was the fifth biggest grosser of the year in India, with revenues of Rs 51 crore mopped up from the domestic market.

Trade analysts say Don 2 will overtake the collections of the 2006 remake. "That's not saying much after five years, especially since other Bollywood films starring Salman and Aamir have done record-breaking business in the last two years. SRK needs to surpass them if he wants the number one spot," said a Bollywood trade analyst.

"Don 2 also has the added advantage of an international release two days ahead of the Indian opening. It will be released with 3,000 movie prints in the domestic market and it will also have a 3D release in another 550 screens. It has sold satellite rights to Zee TV for Rs 37 crore apart from making money through gaming merchandise. So it will surely make money — but may not be in the league of Bodyguard," says the trade analyst.

Whether Santa Claus will turn the tables for Shah Rukh this Christmas, only the weekend collections will tell.

https://www.telegraphindia.com/1111224/jsp/bihar/story_14921004.jsp