GANGA dominates DON and JEM in Mumbai

This month as a Diwali and Eid attraction three movies Don, Jaan-E-Mann and Ganga (Bhojpuri) released all over India, at the same time, on the same day - October 20.
Interestingly, in the first week, the former two big star cast films' tickets were available easily on the ticket counters and could manage only 70-80 per cent of the collections. Ganga, a Bhojpuri film, on the other hand, gained unexpected success and theatres showing the film had only one sign put up everywhere - "Houseful".
Cinemagoers not only from the Bhojpuri speaking areas of the state but also from Marathi speaking areas like Malegaon and Ichalkaranji were found running from one theatre to the next to procure tickets for the film.
It has happened for the first time that a Bhojpuri film has been released with more than a hundred prints all over the country in the first week of the film releasing.
And in the city too, the film starring actors - Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Manoj Tiwari, Ravi Kishan and Nagma received a fabulous response with 15 prints of the film being released in first week itself. As if that was any less, an additional five prints were released on public demand in the second week.
Babubhai Naik, Assistant Manager, Kamran Cinema, Kurla, said, "My cinema hall falls in an area which has a majority of North Indians and so it was expected that we will get a good response. During the first week itself, it gained a consistent 100 per cent collection as compared to Jann-E-Mann's 80 per cent."
Suryakant Shivaji Honale, an official at Alankar Cinema, said, "One shouldn't compare Ganga with the other mainstream Bollywood films since there's a difference in the viewing audience. But as for Ganga's success, it's the big star cast and good plot that is responsible for over 90 to 100 per cent collections that it had got the whole week."
Manoj Tiwari Mridul, actor and singer in the film Ganga, said, "Bhojpuri films give their audiences what mainstream Bollywood films can't: the essence of our roots. The fact that Big B and Hemaji were part of the star cast, was a major attraction for Bhojpuriya people to see them star in a Bhojpuri film for the first time."
Deepak Sawant, the producer of the film said, "People have given my film a good response because of its story and of course Amitabh Bachchan, whose very presence has been drawing audiences to the theatres."
"When I conducted a survey of what exactly people didn't like about my film they didn't have a word to say. To get such a response from the audience at a time when we have two mainstream Bollywood films running simultaneously in the city is a pleasant surprise considering that most of the Bhojpuri crowds have flocked to their native places to celebrate Chhath Puja. I'm really grateful to the audiences who have loved my film," Sawant concluded.