First weekend performance of latest release
It was a wise decision by the producers as they didn't dare release their films a week after 'Krrish'. Even if they had decided to do so, it would have been to no avail since majority of the screens were already occupied by 'Krrish' while remaining had 'Fanaa', 'Phir Hera Pheri' and 'Chup Chup Ke', the only three films in the reckoning today, running!
Last week's movies
The bumper beginning of 'Krrish' ensured that Roshans would be laughing all the way to the bank for the next few weeks. Before the film opened, there were speculations if it would be able to beat the first week record created by 'Fanaa' just a few weeks back. The opening weekend confirmed that this would indeed be the case but the final figures at the end of week one were magical to say the least! 'Krrish' has left 'Fanaa' behind by crores, and not just a few lakhs, as it has garnered a 26 crore plus first week! This means that now it is the BIGGEST money spinner ever in the history of Indian cinema. The least time one heard such statements, it was for Subhash Ghai's 'Khalnayak' which recovered its cost within days of its release, courtesy Sanjay Dutt arrest episode and 'choli ke peeche'! Though the distributors would still have to wait for a couple of weeks before they actually recover their investments [the film's budget is 40 crores plus], it still sounds like a safe bet due to an open week and no major release before 'Omkara' arrives at the end of July.
Last few weeks have kept statisticians busy as records have tumbled one after another, first with 'Fanaa' and later with 'Phir Hera Pheri'. The excitement continues for them as 'Krrish' too has created records at number of A, B and C centers! In Mumbai alone, the film has crossed 4.5 crores, thanks to the record prints unleashed in the market, while Delhi is sitting comfortably at 3 crore plus. Ahemedabad looks pretty too with around 1.5 crores while in Kolkata a record has been created as 'Krrish' crosses 1 crore mark. In Chennai, the Hindi and Tamil version have together toppled the 1 crore mark whereas the 3 neighboring cities of Delhi in UP [Noida, Kaushambi and Ghaziabad] have together got home around 1.75 crore, a record! Roshans deliver a hat trick as a 'baap-beta' jodi and plans are now on for yet another escapade of 'Krrish' in the form of a sequel.
From the past
Superb run of 'Krrish' meant that it was survival of the fittest at the box office. Well, 'Alag' certainly didn't fall into this category as it was hardly in the reckoning in its second week with just 10 prints in circulation. A disastrous first week meant that week 2 would be no different as the film crashed out with literally near to negligible addition to its first week total of 40 lakhs. Disheartening!
'Phir Hera Pheri' survived the 'Krrish' challenge, quite a notable achievement, as it managed to add on around 5 crore to its overall total of 29 crores. While everyone was going ballistic over catching the first available show of 'Krrish', they didn't ignore the escapades of Baburao, Raju and Shyam and adored them for the third consecutive week. Mumbai was as expected the best with collections topping 1 crore while Delhi and Ahmedabad contributed well too with collections to the tune of 30 lakhs and 35 lakhs respectively. The film held on reasonably well in rest of the centers too hence bringing the film to a superhit status as it reached the 34 crore mark. The film would struggle though to reach the 40 crore mark due to 'Krrish' mania and the rains in Mumbai, the territory that has got it the maximum moolah.
After gaining a coverage status last week, anything that 'Chup Chup Ke' earns from hereon is an added bonus as it manages to do an okay business in its 3rd week. The film dropped heavily though by around 70% but even then added 1.5 crore to its earlier total of 12 crore, hence bringing it closer to the 14 crore mark. That's still quite reasonable for this mid budget film by Priyadarshan for which doom was predicted as its opening paled in comparison to 'Phir Hera Pheri'. I would still maintain that if only it was a solo release of the week or had come with a lesser competition, it would have been a comfortable 20 crore earner. Nevertheless the film now enjoys an average status though chances are bleak that it would go anywhere farther than 15 crore.
'Fanaa' is hanging on well too though first 'Phir Hera Pheri' and then 'Krrish' have taken some sheen away from the otherwise spotless run of the film. A film which earlier seemed to be a comfortable 55 crore plus earner is now standing at 49 crore plus after a 2 crore 5th week. The way things are proceeding, it doesn't have much chance to go beyond 52 crores at maximum. Nevertheless, 'Fanaa' gains itself a superhit status and brings Kunal Kohli to the list of A+ directors.
With 'Krrish', 'Phir Hera Pheri', 'Fanaa' and 'Chup Chup Ke' holding fort at the majority of screens [around 1350], there are hardly any other movies running on major screens. Films like '36 China Town', 'Gangster', 'Tom Dick and Harry' live another week at 10-15 screens each with combined collections of around 6 lakhs!
In the future
After an open week comes Madhur Bhandarkar's 'Corporate' that looks quite interesting. Makers of the film would be happy with the thought that they didn't release the film in the current week since Mumbai rains would have played havoc on the film's prospects. A film that should open well in the metros, especially Delhi and Mumbai, one cannot say the same about the smaller centers since the film has been set in the urban world. Nevertheless one cannot say much about these predictions since 'Page 3' also fetched similar pre-release reports but eventually went on to do good business at B centers as well after word of mouth caught on. Bipasha Basu should be the one to watch out for while Raj Babbar sort of makes a comeback. There is also a probability that a lesser known film 'Husn - Love And Betrayal' would release this Friday. Though the film's songs are decent, this long stuck-in-the-cans film doesn't stand much chance at the box office!
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