After a slate of recent flops like Guzaarish, No Problem, Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey, Break Ke Baad, Action Replayy and Jhootha Hi Sahi amongst other, the industry is looking at TMK to spread some holiday cheer at the Indian box office. Most of the so called big budget films that released this year, barring a few, have been disasters at the box office. Surprisingly some of the small films have done well and have been profitable.
Also releasing alongside TMK on 24 December is the Ajay Devgn and Kajol’s live action animation film – Toonpur Ka Superhero. An industry insider tells Businessofcinema.com, “Kids today would choose to go and watch a Sheila Ki Jaawani rather than a Toonpur Ka Superhero! I don’t think Toonpur Ka Superhero is going to work.”
Fun Cinemas senior vice president Deepak Saluja adds, “All the films that released in December have not performed well with around 15 – 20 per cent occupancy. Phas Gaye Re Obama has done better than the other films, even though we had limited shows. The occupancy has been steady with around 20 – 25 per cent in its third week as compared to the other films that are around 8 – 10 per cent. Tees Maar Khan is what we are looking forward to and according to me the weekend should be rocking.”
Inox Leisure associate vice president Rajender Singh Jyala says, “There’s a lot of pressure on Tees Maar Khan at the moment because people have huge expectations from the film. I think it’s going to be one of the biggest opening this year since the hype is great. It’s a good way to end the year. Having said that Toonpur Ka Superhero should work too since it is the holiday season.”
Big Cinemas COO South and West Ashish Saxena adds, “The buzz around TMK is terrific and the film looks awesome. We open advances on Wednesday and I think it’s going to do really well and could also be the biggest film of the year. As for Toonpur Ka Superhero, it’s an ideal time to release the film as kids have holidays and it should do well too.”
Producer of Tees Maar Khan, Shirish Kunder says, “We have done what we could do, we’ve put in a lot of effort and now I am only hoping the film does well!”
