MUMBAI: It was a dull week at the ticket windows for Bollywood, with only one film – Karan Johar’s ‘Student of The Year’, maintaining its firm lead.
Other old releases like ‘Chakravyuh’, ‘Ajab Gazabb Love’, ‘Rush’ and new releases ‘Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana’ are receiving very poor response, in terms of Box Office collections and audience reactions.
Karan Johar’s ‘Student of The Year’ starring Varun Dhawan, Siddharth Malhotra and Alia Bhatt is the clear winner amongst the current films, leading the pack with a two week total in the range of a good Rs 635 million (63.5 crore) net. The best business of the film has come from the northern regions of Delhi, UP, Rajasthan, Bihar, Bengal and Central India.
‘Chakravyuh’, though not even close to the figures SOTY is garnering, is a runner up in this marathon. The 10 day total collections for the Prakash Jha film, which stars Arjun Rampal, Abhay Deol, Esha Gupta, Manoj Bajpayee and newbie Anjali Patil, is a dismal Rs 172.5 million (17.25 crore) net.
‘Ajab Gazabb Love’ is seeing the least favourable response at the ticket windows, with the film collecting only Rs 65 million (6.5 crore) net in its first week. The film is produced by Vashu Bhagnani and stars his son Jacky Bhagnani and debutant Nidhi Subbaiah.
Visibly, all the current releases have slowed down due to the anticipation building up for superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’. For Shah Rukh fans, the news of Ajay Devgn’s Ffilms losing the plea against Yashraj Films has also created an added frenzy.
Adding to this woeful scenario is the mammoth release from Hollywood ‘Skyfall’. The latest James Bond flick, starring Daniel Craig and directed by Sam Mendes, is eating into the business of the above films. ‘Skyfall’ is dominating at the Box Office, and critics and audiences alike have unanimously given this 007 film a thumbs up.
Though the front runner, even Karan Johar’s SOTY is beginning to given into the sluggishness. Its third weekend figure of Rs 30 million (3 crore) net, brings its total to Rs 665 million (Rs 66.5 crore) net.
New release ‘Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana’, has also got a very bland opening. On its first day it collected a poor Rs 12.5 million (1.25 crore) net, and its three day weekend total only reached in the range of Rs 60 million (Rs 6 crore) net.
The Diwali week will see films like ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ and ‘Son Of Sardar’ join in the fray, and this will most certainly hamper business for the smaller films.
‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ stars superstars Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma, and is late director Yash Chopra’s last cinematic outing. ‘Son Of Sardar’ is a big film too, starring Ajay Devgn, Sanjay Dutt and Sonakshi Sinha.
