SRK's last REAL HIT??

Going by the latest box-office numbers, the team of Don 2 can heave a sigh of relief. The movie did decent business in its second weekend.

Trade pandits point out that the price for satellite and music rights, combined with the overseas figures, ensure that the investment will be recovered. Meanwhile, ex-cop YP Singh's directorial venture, Kya Yahi Sach Hai which released last week, sank without a trace.

Komal Nahta, editor of koimoi.com, terms the collections of Don 2 on Saturday-Sunday as "superb." "Whether it's December 31 or not, Saturday-Sunday is usually good. After netting about Rs 75 crore in all languages in the first week, Rs 18 crore in the second weekend, the film should touch Rs 100 crore by Thursday. Overseas, it will yield a distributor share of about Rs 25 crore," he summed up, adding that Reliance, which is co-producing and distributing the film, will make more than Rs 12 crore.

Equally optimistic is Delhi-based distributor Sanjay Ghai of Mukta Arts Ltd. "I had predicted that it will do Rs 100 crore in two weeks. The film held well from Monday through Thursday in the first week. Had that not been the case, it would not have done even Rs 15 crore in the second weekend," he asserted, adding that he expects the Shah Rukh Khan starrer to yield a distributor share of Rs 50 crore in India.

The film that cost Excel Rs 80 crore to make, cost Reliance another 10 crore on 3D conversion and 15-20 crore on prints and publicity. Of the Rs 105 plus crore the company has put in, it is said to have already made Rs 35 crore from satellite rights and Rs 10 crore from music.

However, another distributor who released the movie for Reliance in one of the territories is skeptical about the company profiting from it. On condition of anonymity, he explained, "On the strength of overseas and satellite, they will break even. But you don't make a movie to break even. Also, Don 2 was part of the package deal with Excel, along with Rock On and Luck By Chance. Both those films incurred a loss of over Rs 25 crore to Reliance. And don't forget the rate of interest on their investment in Don 2." Veteran trade analyst Amod Mehra says that the SRK film has done well overseas and average in the second weekend in India. "Christmas and New Year has saved Don 2. So it will make some commission besides recovering the money. Also, it benefitted from having no competition from another release," he concludes.