Dev D Box Office Report | Dev D Collections

February 9th, 2009

Dev D has managed to tot up fair business on its first day in terms of nett business. The seat utilisation is low but it has been released on 500 cinemas which is huge for this type of film and this has enabled to film gross a reasonable 1.45 crore net on day one

The figure is more commendable as the terms with the multiplexes were settled very late and therefore its release ads did not appear in entertainment ads which led to the public not being aware of release at multiplexes.

There are some badly informed sources in the trade who believe the collections declined on day one but the truth is that collections were lowest in the morning shows and improved throughout the day with late shows having the highest collection at most places around the country.

It will be interesting to see what happens over the weekend and if the film can manage over 5 crore nett business it would a fairly good result for the film considering the cost of the film.

Bollywood Box Office Report January 9 - 16

January 22nd, 2009

The big release of the previous Friday, Nikhil Advani's Mithun Chakraborty, Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Gordon Liu and Ranvir Shorey starrer, CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA, failed to embark on the flying start that it was expected to. Released at around 103 cinemas of Bombay-Thane by Warner Bros. Pictures (I) Pvt. Ltd., CC2C had a fair opening to show. The film has taken an excellent opening in some circuits like Delhi-U.P., East Pun­jab and C.I. but its start in some of the other circuits has been from average to fair. Trade predicts that considering its heavy cost, CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA will entail losses to its makers (who are also its worldwide distributors) because it has absolutely no strength to sustain. In the Overseas, the film has performed decently in the US grossing $685,798 (4-days), but is quite ordinary in the UK with a weekend gross of just $404,404.

The performance of the first releases of 2009, namely KAASH... MERE HOTE, BAD LUCK GOVIND and the English film THE PRESIDENT IS COMING is nothing to write home about. While the first two films, KAASH... MERE HOTE, and BAD LUCK GOVIND, barely managed to get to 10-15 lakhs a piece from India, THE PRESIDENT IS COMING went on to collect 25 lakhs from Bombay, 1.10 lakhs from Pune, 6.40 lakhs from Delhi city, 1.65 lakhs from Noida and 2 lakhs from Gurgaon. Needless to add that all the three January 9 releases have failed badly, with THE PRESIDENT IS COMING faring somewhat better, netting around 60 lakhs from India..

Meanwhile the Murugadoss directed Aamir Khan starrer GHAJINI continues its dream run. The film is still doing very well all over collecting 2.10 crores from Bombay, 52 lakhs from Ahmedabad, 2.25 lakhs from Nadiad, 24.35 lakhs from Baroda, 3 lakhs from Himmatnagar, 1.65 lakhs from Valsad, 16.75 lakhs from Rajkot, 5.25 lakhs from Jamnagar, 3 lakhs from Bhavnagar, 2.75 lakhs from Gandhidham, 53.75 lakhs from Pune, 5.75 lakhs from Kohlapur, 3.65 lakhs from Solapur, 2.75 lakhs from Sangli, 9 lakhs from Nasik, 13.65 lakhs from Goa, 1.25 crores from Delhi city, 14.10 lakhs from Noida, 21.45 lakhs from Ghaziabad, 13.75 lakhs from Kanpur, 23.45 lakhs from Lucknow, 9.15 lakhs from Agra, 10.35 lakhs from Varanasi, 3.25 lakhs from Allahabad, 4.50 lakhs from Dehradun, 7 lakhs from Meerut, 4.45 lakhs from Moradabad, 2.75 lakhs from Aligarh, 6.50 lakhs from Gorakhpur, 2 lakhs from Muzaffarnagar, 3 lakhs from Amritsar, 3.45 lakhs from Chandigarh, 20 lakhs from Gurgaon, 7 lakhs from Faridabad, 1.30 lakhs from Panipat, 26.50 lakhs from Calcutta, 2.75 lakhs from Guwahati, 21 lakhs from Nagpur, 3 lakhs from Amravati, 2 lakhs from Akola, 10.15 lakhs from Raipur, 2.25 lakhs from Bhilai, 1.50 lakhs from Wardha, 3 lakhs from Chandrapur, 11.75 lakhs from Indore, 2.25 lakhs from Sehore, 1.50 lakhs from Ujjain, 31.50 lakhs from Jaipur, 3.65 lakhs from Jodhpur, 5 lakhs from Ajmer, 2.20 lakhs from Bikaner, 2.10 lakhs from Kota, 41.50 lakhs from Hyderabad, 3.30 lakhs from Aurangabad, 1.05 lakhs from Nanded, 5.15 lakhs from Mangalore, 1.15 lakhs from Devangere and 1.75 lakhs from Coimbatore. Adding another 14 crores, GHAJINI has so far netted an astonishing 105-106 crores in just three weeks from India. The Aamir Khan, Asin and Jiya Khan starrer is now a blockbuster hit in India. In the Overseas, GHAJINI has already become the biggest hit of Aamir Khan's career, grossing $2,444,668 from the US and $1,051,809 from UK.

Our last entry of the week is yet again Aditya Chopra's Shah Rukh Khan starrer RAB NE BANA DI JODI, which has another very steady week. The film collected 40 lakhs from Bombay, 17 lakhs from Ahmedabad, 1.50 lakhs from Himmatnagar, 5.15 lakhs from Rajkot, 1.50 lakhs from Jamnagar, 1.65 lakhs from Pune, 1.60 lakhs from Solapur, 1.25 lakhs from Nasik, 29.50 lakhs from Delhi city, 4.10 lakhs from Noida, 3.15 lakhs from Ghaziabad, 2.15 lakhs from Kanpur, 5.50 lakhs from Lucknow, 3.15 lakhs from Agra, 1 lakh from Allahabad, 2 lakhs from Aligarh, 1.15 lakhs from Gorakhpur, 4.75 lakhs from Gurgaon, 2 lakhs from Faridabad, 1 lakh from Calcutta, 1.15 lakhs from Guwahati, 5.75 lakhs from Nagpur, 1.75 lakhs from Jabalpur, 1.35 lakhs from Amravati, 1.25 lakhs from Akola and Raipur, 4.15 lakhs from Indore, 1.25 lakhs from Bhopal, 13.65 lakhs from Jaipur, 27.60 lakhs from Hyderabad, 2.20 lakhs from Aurangabad and 1.15 lakhs from Mangalore. With another 2.90 crores during its latest run, RAB NE BANA DI JODI has so far netted a very impressive 83-85 crores in five weeks from India. The film is now the highest ever grosser for Yash Raj Films. Needless to add that the SRK, Anushka and Vinay starrer has now touched the all time blockbuster status, given its ROI (Return on Investment). RAB NE BANA DI JODI is a blockbuster hit in the Overseas, like most SRK starrers, with a gross of Rs. 40 crores. Just for records, in the US RNBDJ has grossed $2,078,956 (till January 15) while UK has a gross of $2,189,817 to show.

Maska rakes in 10 crore in first week

January 20th, 2009

The big budget mass entertainer Maska starring Ram, Hansika Motwani and Sheela hit the screens for Sankarnthi and the film garnered fantastic openings. The film is produced by MS Raju and directed by B Gopal.

The film was released with 300 prints in 500 theaters through Suresh Distributors. The racy youthful entertainer has raked in nearly 10 crore in the first week of its release according to producer MS Raju.

The delay in the release of Arundathi by two days also helped Maska considerably to rake in the moolah. With the release of Arundathi and the film getting super hit talk, the collections for Maska are slowly dipping now.

Chandni... choked

January 19th, 2009

It’s just three days after the release of Chandni Chowk to China, and trade pundits are already debating whether to call it a ‘hit’ or ‘not a flop’.

Hit ya miss
Wonder why? Consider the math: CC2C was made on a budget of Rs 80 crore — as stated by actor-producer Akshay Kumar — plus it spent another Rs 7 crore on publicity in India, and organised seven premieres around the world, for which the expense figure is not yet known. Then, the 1,200 prints each cost Rs 50,000. All this adds up to almost Rs 100 crore in outgo. Against this, the film had solid bookings across the country only in the first two days of its release and its 650-odd paid previews. All told, this figure comes to about Rs 10-12 crore, say trade analysts.

What the heck?
Since yesterday, the film’s box-office takings have started declining. This is not what was expected from Hollywood giant Warner Bros big collaboration with Bollywood, especially after Aamir Khan Ghajini made Rs 200 crore.

Multiplex owners, who allotted the maximum number of shows to CC2C, are now moaning over their miscalculation. “The first two days registered an occupancy of 70 per cent, but it seems to have declined from Sunday morning,” says Munish Sharma of Satyam Cinemas. The story of cinema chain Adlabs is no different.

“The opening was average. Can’t say much for this week,” says Tushar Dhingra, COO, Adlabs Cinemas. Fun Cinemas, which has 16 screens across Delhi and NCR, saw 70-75 per cent sales in the first three days. “We had opened our advance booking on January 11. So we are saved for this week.

However, Monday onwards, the bookings have dropped to 25-30 per cent,” says Deepak Taluja, VP, Fun Cinemas. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh has the last word: “Once again, it is proved that it’s neither Akshay nor marketing but the script that is the real king.”

Has Akshay lost it?

January 19, 2009

Chandni Chowk to China was supposed to start Akshay Kumar's success run this year. It had all the ingredients of a hit film -- cool kung fu action, Bollywood masala, the flavour of the season Deepika Padukone the backing of Hollywood studio Warner Bros, and of course, a bankable star in Akshay.

But all it really did was get bad reviews and a poor box office response.

In fact, people hated the film so much that Shekhar Suman wanted a refund on his ticket money. 'Indian cinema should declare January 16 (the day CC2C released) as a mourning day because it is the day cinema died,' he told Mumbai tabloid Mid-Day.

Now, we don't know why Shekhar Suman made such a statement. Some insiders say that Suman was afraid that CC2C would eat into the business of his son Adhyayan's new film, Raaz.The Mystery Continues, releasing this week.

But we can't help but wonder whether Akshay will ever be able to challenge the supremacy of the Khans.

'Slumdog Millionaire' makes $43 mn to jump back in US Top 10

January 19th, 2009

Washington (IANS): Following its sweep of the Golden Globe Awards, British director Danny Boyle's hit film "Slumdog Millionaire" has jumped back into the North American Top Ten with a 56 percent increase in its weekend sales.

With an estimated gross of $5,900,000 over the January 16-18 weekend, the Mumbai-shot and set film in its tenth week even surpassed the total grosses of Akshay Kumar's "Chandni Chowk to China", Aamir Khan's "Ghajini" and Shahrukh Khan's "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi" combined in the US.

Running in 582 theatres across US, down 19 from last weekend, the film based on Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup's novel "Q&A" registered a per-theatre average of $10,137 to take its total gross to a staggering $42.74 million.

With more mainstream multiplexes interested in playing the film with Golden Globe winning music by Indian music maestro A.R. Rahman now, Fox Searchlight plans to expand its run this Friday to about 1,300 theatres.

After the Golden Globes, the heart warming story of an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who goes on to win a staggering 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" game show, is expected to score multiple Oscar nominations when Academy Award nominations are announced January 22.

Meanwhile, in a Sunday editorial Washington Times described it as "the kind of movie Hollywood used to make - a film that transmits eternal verities and has universal appeal."

Calling the film "a stinging indictment of a Hollywood culture that is bereft of decent values," the US daily said: "The movie instructs as much as it entertains. It will have enduring value for providing a vivid snapshot of a nation undergoing tumultuous modernization."

The film "stands in sharp contrast to the typical Hollywood fare that encourages promiscuity, greed, individualism and cynicism," it said comparing it with others nominated at the Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture, Drama: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "The Reader," "Revolutionary Road," and "Frost/Nixon."

"Each has artistic merit, but the films are about dreary subjects and have protagonists who have dubious morals at best," the Times said. "'Slumdog Millionaire' demonstrates that if American filmmakers are unwilling to highlight our core values, others will rise to fill that void."

Ghajini Latest Box Office Report , Ghaini Rs 200 Cr Breaks Box Office Records Collection

January 9th, 2009

Bollywood has shot to a new high, thanks to 'Ghajini'. When booking for the movie opened at a theatre in the UK on Wednesday, the film became the first to gross Rs 200 crore at the worldwide box office. What's more, the mark has been achieved in little less than two weeks. It has grossed Rs 162 crore in the domestic market and Rs 39 crore has come from overseas till Thursday.

An ecstatic Madhu Mantena, the Ghajini producer, admits to being "overawed'' by the record but trade consultant Amod Mehra is apparently not surprised. "The film was very strong from Day 1. It has been galloping like a onehorse race and, in my estimate, it will cross the Rs-250-crore (gross) mark very easily,'' Mehra said.

Bollywood producer Punkej Kharbanda is also not surprised that a Hindi film has broken all previous box-office records. "In the last year alone, there has been a 40% increase in cinema screens and also a rise in the cinema-going population, especially in the age group of 18-35. With most of the theatres recording good numbers on Ghajini, the Rs-200-crore mark is hardly a surprise,'' Kharbanda said.

Ghajini released with the maximum number of prints in India (1,200 digital and analog versions) and it made inroads into even provincial towns where films never get released on the same day as the rest of the world. A trade source said, "The film is set to take over the mantle of the highest domestic Bollywood earner from Anil Sharma's Gadar-Ek Prem Katha.'' In the overseas market, the film is, till now, second only to Karan Johar's Kabhie Alvida Na Kehna.

Ghajini has also reportedly earned Rs 4 crore from gaming rights (a first for a Bollywood film), Rs 21 crore for satellite rights for India and overseas and something to the tune of Rs 10 crore for home video and music.

Bollywood Box Office Report : Ghajini 64 Croros in 8 Days

January 8th 2009

Bollywood Box Office - For the week 25 /12//08 - 31 /12/08
Rank	Movie	No. of weeks	Current Weeks Collections	Total net Gross
1	Ghajini	1	64,41,00,000	64,41,00,000
2	Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi	3	9,28,00,000	76,08,00,000
3	Jumbo	1	1,95,00,000	1,95,00,000
4	Dostana	7	6,00,000	44,42,00,000
5	Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!	5	3,00,000	6,13,00,000

Box Office Report - Ghajini

December 31st, 2008

• Day 1 collections worldwide on Christmas i.e 25th December - 33 crores (gross)! Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi managed about 18 crores worldwide on Day 1.
• Day 1 collections in India is around 10 crores (nett gross) while Rab Ne.. managed 7 crores.
• Ghajini is expected do somewhere between 38 - 40 crores in its intial weekend. SRK's Rab Ne did 25 crores.
• The full 7 day week nett gross of Rab Ne was 44 crores, Singh Is King was 43 crores and Golmaal Returns was 38 crores. Ghajini is expected, if it sustains on Monday, to hit 65 crores in its extended first week (8 days).
• The percentage of occupany, which is very close to 100%, can only be compared to the 2001 blockbuster Gadar - Ek Prem Katha. While Gadar released on 290 screens, Ghajini has released on 1100 screens!!!
• The overall Nett gross in India could touch 100 crores for the first time. Om Shanti Om (2007) with 86 crores and Dhoom 2 (2006) with 85 crores occupy the first and second spot currently.
• On the other hand, unfortunately, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi which was enjoying a decent run at the Indian boxoffice in its 2nd week, has been badly affected by the Ghajini storm. Will Rab Ne pick up after the Ghajini intial remains to be seen.