Disney likely to lose more than Rs 40 crore on JJ - DTNpg3&4

New Delhi: Disney's romantic musical comedy Jagga Jasoos has not managed impressive returns in its opening weekend. The film, starring Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif, which was in the making for nearly five years, earned only Rs33.17 crore by Sunday, and could spell a big loss for the American studio that invested Rs120-130 crore into the mammoth project.

"The film opened to a lukewarm response on Friday. It was slightly better on Saturday and Sunday but not as high as expected. Plus it is only the first weekend that really matters nowadays, said trade analyst Amod Mehra.

The Anurag Basu-directed film made Rs8.57 crore on Friday which improved to Rs11.53 crore and Rs13.07 crore on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Occupancy levels across theatres in the country ranged from 30-35% over the first three days. Select single screens even reported discontinuing shows Saturday onwards. A lot of people walked out 30-40 minutes into the film that plays out almost entirely in music, and not in actual dialogue. Mehra said the figures would only mean about Rs15 crore for distributors which is far from encouraging.

Disney, itself sees reason to celebrate the collections though.

"Kids and families flock to theatres for Jagga Jasoos. Sunday witnesses good growth in collections and clocks in Rs13.07 crore, it said in an official statement.

Whether that actually means good news remains doubtful. A trade expert, who declined to be named, said the studio was likely to suffer losses of Rs40-50 crore given the Rs120-130 crore budget. Apart from estimated net collections of Rs35 crore in India, about Rs20 crore, Rs15 crore, Rs5 crore and Rs5-7 crore would come from satellite, digital, music and overseas rights, respectively.

"Though the film looks colourful and fresh on screen and the delay has not been a major hindrance, the high cost of the film is a major stumbling block, said film trade and business expert Girish Johar, adding that the film mainly catered to multiplex audiences in the top five metro cities of the country and suffered a significant disadvantage because of its lack of appeal to the masses in single-screen theatres. Besides, the children and family audiences that the film is primarily meant for are unlikely to visit movie theatres on working days over the week.

Since 2014, the Walt Disney Co. India, part of the American conglomerate The Walt Disney Co., has sought to create a distinctive identity for itself in the country despite enjoying a presence in the Indian market through its subsidiary, UTV Motion Pictures. Last year, particularly after the debacle of its big-budget period drama Mohenjo Daro, Walt Disney Co. decided to pull the plug on its Hindi movie production business, a decision it didn't reconsider despite the stupendous success of its sports drama Dangal, starring Aamir Khan, that made Rs387 crore in India alone. Jagga Jasoos is the company's last Indian production.

"They had already decided to shut down their India operations and were only waiting to see this one through, Johar said. "They might've hoped it would click but the costing was a major letdown.