Blame game begins: Ajay upset w/ UTV?

The year's most hyped film so far, Himmatwala, directed by Sajid Khan, has come a cropper. In fact, the film started sinking as soon as it hit the theatres on Friday. "The film garnered somewhat decent earnings in the first half of Friday, but the slump thereafter was stark, the film slipped by at least 20 per cent," a source from the trade told Mirror.

Officials from Fun Cinemas and Cinemax confirmed this and a Cinemax official added: "There has been a considerable drop in the box office collections on Saturday. Normally, Saturdays collections are better than Friday."

According to trade analyst Taran Adarsh, the film is not doing well overseas either. "Himmatwala falls in several circuits on Day 2. At several centres, the decline is substantial… Himmatwala is on a declining spree not just in India, but also in key markets overseas," he tweeted on Sunday.

Trade analyst Kumar Mohan said: "Sajid expected the film to do a business of around Rs 200 crore. However, his remake of the '80s film hasn't gone down well with the audience of 2013." He added the film has done somewhat better in single-screen theatres.

According to a leading distributor, the producers are to blame for the film's fate. "TV should not have compelled more single screens to take up the film. It scattered the audience and the occupancy per theatre decreased," he said. Reportedly, the relation between Ajay Devgn and UTV has soured over the way the film was marketed.

However, an UTV official rubbished the claim and said: "Ajay, Sajid and UTV are very much part of one team and marketing is always teamwork. A Rs 12-crore business on the opening day proves that the film was well marketed. We are happy with the results on the first weekend. As always, from Monday, the content and word of mouth will bring more people to theatres.

There are some movies meant for a mass audience, not represented in the English media. These films should get made. We have confidence in Sajid's vision of a mass entertainer." Talking on Devgn's behalf, his publicist also painted a rosy picture and said: "I don't know where these rumours have come from. We have worked as a cohesive team and everybody has done their job and the Rs12.14 crore collection is a reflection of that." Despite repeated attempts, Sajid remained unavailable for comment.