BAH is the 6th hit of theyear

Bachna Ae Haseeno breaks Yash Raj's box office jinx
Aminah Sheikh / Mumbai August 18, 2008, 5:31 IST

Yash Raj Films has finally broken the one-year jinx at the box office. After a string of flops following the success of the Shahrukh Khan-starrer Chak De India! in August 2007, India?s leading film production house has finally hit the jackpot with Bachna Ae Haseeno.

The film, which hit the screens on Friday with around 700 prints, is expected to fetch Rs 35-40 crore in the first week alone. Leading cinema chains such as PVR Cinemas, Adlabs Cinemas, Inox Leisure, Shringar Cinemas, Cinemax India confirmed that the occupancy of Bachna... has been over 95 per cent during the long weekend.

While some said that the long weekend helped, others compared Bachna?s performance with the other big release on Friday ? God Tussi Great Ho. The film, which has big stars like Amitabh Bachhan, Salman Khan and Priyanka Chopra, has managed a mere 40-45 per cent occupancy during the weekend.

?Bachna... has opened extremely well and is proving to be very popular amongst youngsters, whereas God Tussi Great Ho has not performed as per expectations,? Utpal Acharya, vice president (programming & distribution), Inox Leisure, said. That?s excellent news for Yash Chopra whose Yash Raj Films churned out four box office duds last year ? Ta Ra Rum Pum, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Laga Chunari Mein Daag and Aaja Nachle. It was only Chak De India! that earned around Rs 36 crore.

The same pattern is being witnessed this year, too. Its first release in 2008, Tashan, was a disaster from the word go. Apart from the film content, what went against the film was the production house?s? inability to reach a consensus with the multiplexes on revenue sharing. Chopra finally had to back down from his earlier demand of a revenue share of 50 per cent and 45 per cent in the first and second week, respectively. Tashan was released in the multiplexes after Chopra agreed to a revenue share of 48 per cent and 38 per cent in Mumbai and 50 per cent and 40 per cent in other territories.

Chopra?s second release this year, Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic, also did not draw the audience.

But market players said the success of Bachna... shows India?s leading ?film factory? hasn?t lost its magic touch yet. Devang Sampat, vice president (marketing & programming), Cinemax India, said ?with the top-notch performance of Bachna..., we are hoping that Yash Raj Films? forthcoming films will continue to set the cash registers ringing.?

The forthcoming releases of Yash Raj Films this year are Roadside Romeo, an animation flick, and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, starring Shah Rukh Khan.
[www.business-standard.com]

Finally a hit for Yash Raj after a number of flops.
Deepika is two for two in terms of hits while Ranbir finally gets his first hit film.

Hi Sonya..long time no see...😛

srtill have to see BAH

does dat mean dat BAH is a hit! ??????????

US box office

August 17, 2008

Weekend Estimates
Domestic Market Share
Top Domestic Releases
Weather Report

The Hollywood parody Tropical Thunder took top box office honors with weekend movie goers providing an estimated $25.6 million for its debut. The session also saw a softish $15.3 million bow for the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars that ranked third and a more predictable $11.1 million fourth place finish for the thriller Mirrors.

The session also a number of limited wide openers with Woody Allen's Vicky Christina Barcelona grossing a respectable $3.7 million from 692 adobes and fair returns of $2 million for the 3D import Fly Me to the Moon. However, the comedy Henry Poole is Here had a moribund $770,000 from 527 sites.

Additionally the freshman crowd in niche and alternative arenas included two new Bollywood entries with the highly anticipated Bachna Ae Haseeno generating a strong $320,000 opening while God Tussi Great Ho fizzled with a $71,000 box office. There was also poor response of $26,100 for Le Cas Roberte on 22 Quebec screens but initial potency of $17,400 from two exclusives for French import A Girl Cut in Two.

With Labor Day looming and summer fast fading, distributors have ramped up release schedules in hopes of generating some coin and quickly burying films they see as commercially fungible. Don't expect many new openers to stick around long into the fall season.

The late season bow of Tropic Thunder came up short of industry expectations that it would have comparable box office opening strength to last weekend's Pineapple Express. Critical reviews were upbeat to the anarchic spoof but with production and marketing costs reported at about $150 million the film can ill afford sharp drops in its domestic gross. And the slim edge of profitability will weigh heavy on international response.

Weekend revenues inched toward $127 million for a modest 4% bump from seven days earlier. However, continuing the recent trend, it experienced a slight 3% ebb from 2007 when the debut of Superbad led with its $33.1 million debut. Further erosion could see summer 2008 box office a virtual carbon copy result with last year and eradicate any hope for a boost in admissions.

The Dark Knight advanced to second position among all-time box office grossers this weekend but studio estimates that it will final at about $525 million leave it significantly short of the Titanic record. Coincidently while the non-Jedi Knight passed Star Wars, the latter film's animated episode sputtered following strong Friday matinees. Exit polls indicated a strong family audience but scant interest from series' fans.

Following strategic festival screenings, the advance word for Vicky Christina Barcelona was upbeat with predictions of a more commercial run than the typical Woody Allen movie. Opening numbers certainly hold out the promise of a gross rivaling the $23 million domestic tally of Match Point.

Industry eyes were also paying keen attention to the opening of the 3D digital Fly Me to the Moon (it also played in about 20 Imax locations). The Belgium-produced animated film did respectably but with so many in the industry pounding the drums for stereoscopic movies as the answer to the commercial doldrums, this particular entry came up short.

- Leonard Klady

That is great news !! thought it would do well..for me yash raj were never flopping i liked laaga chunari and aaja nachle!!

i loved bachna ae haseeno .. ranbir , deeps, manisha and bips were great specially ran en deeps climax ..... and when he goes to bips for forgiveness so i hope it will be a blockbuster