Box Office Update - Mixed Response To Diwali Releases

Blue arrived with the biggest of expectations of all the Diwali releases and at least delivered on its promise of a big opening. Starring Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Lara Dutta and Zayed Khan – the actioner took a big start on opening and things looked good for the majority of the Diwali weekend. However, since audience and critical response was taking a beating it came as no surprise when collections fell heavily after the holiday period was over.

Currently with a first week haul of 30.5-32.5Cr – Blue’s collections can be counted as strong considering the competition has made around the same in collections. However, it’s quite clear the film is already showing signs of running on low fuel and a big second week drop is expected. All things the same, Blue is very much in the same category as Kambakht Ishq – a hyped film that could be destined to underperform as early as the second week.

All The Best

All The Best had a poor start considering the publicity and casting. Despite this, the Ajay Devgan, Sanjay Dutt and Bipasha Basu starrer is the surprise package of Diwali with a stunning turnaround through the week. The collections are bountiful and the second week will be huge too. Word of mouth picked up quickly after the weekend and favourable reviews were a bonus considering the comedy genre usually takes a beating from critics.

Week 1 All The Best [ATB] vs Week 1 Golmaal Returns [GR]

Mumbai -43% means GR is 43% MORE than ATB in Week 1

Mumbai -43%

Ahmedabad -9%

Shrirampur -57%

Sangli -1587%

Gandhinagar -22%

Naroda 3%

Baroda -19%

Surat -79%

Anand -93%

Bharuch -69%

Nadiad -40%

Vapi 36%

Mehsana 6%

Navsari -13%

Bardoli -102%

Rajkot -91%

Jamnagar -17%

Bhavnagar 14%

Junagadh -72%

Porbandar -20%

Himmatnagar 8%

Pune -89%

Goa -102%

Kolhapur -193%

Solapur -30%

Satara -153%

Sangli -135%

Miraj -145%

Nasik -41%

Gurgaon -524%

Faridabad -638%

Nagpur -652%

Raipur -936%

Indore -68%

Sehore -39%

Jaipur -454%

Kolkatta -4073%

Ajmer -93%

Aurangabad -1562%

The cumulative centre total in 39 centres for ATB = 12.61Cr (ignored 1 centre)

The cumulative centre total in 39 centres for GR = 20.63Cr (ignored 1 centre)

This means that ATB is 61% of GR’s total (12.61/20.63 = 61%)

Using GR’s Week 1 total of 39.0Cr, ATB’s Week 1 = 61% * (39.0) = 23.8Cr

A similar exercise with Sarkar Raaj and Welcome yields 25.1Cr & 24.6Cr respectively

All The Best 1 Week Total = 24.0-25.0Cr(Week 1) = 24.0-25.0Cr

Verdict – Good Opening Week

All The Best is very much a tale of two halves. The first half of the week started on a low note – mainly due to the huge initial response to Blue but once the audiences got a feel of the two films it is All The Best that is clearly emerging victorious. The second half of the week has seen huge collections and the overall first week haul is good and could have been even better if a solo release was given to the film. A total of 50Cr is not a stretch and would constitute a hit total if reached.

Main Aurr Mrs Khanna

It is rare a Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor starrer could get so sidelined in a clash but that is the case with Main Aurr Mrs Khanna. Though the truth really is the film faltered on advertising the romance as a full Salman release when really it was a Sohail Khan starrer. Collecting only 7.0-7.5Cr, Main Aurr Mrs Khanna is almost certainly a flop after a hugely disappointing week at the box office both critically and audience response wise.

Past Releases

Wake Up Sid

Not surprisingly Wake Up Sid fell massively in its third week. A huge fall of 85% is surprising though and the film has an opportunity to capitalize on Blue’s faltering performance in the current week. Adding a further 1.2-1.3Cr Wake Up Sid now has collected 25.0-25.9Cr – qualifying the Ranbir Kapoor starrer as an above average performer.

January 2009

Chandi Chowk to China : 24.5 – 26.2Cr (Disaster)

Raaz – The Mystery Continues : 22.5 – 23.8Cr (Below Average)

Slumdog Millionaire : 4.8 – 5.5Cr (Flop)

Luck By Chance : 16.3 – 17.9Cr (Flop)

Victory : 1.2 – 1.5Cr (Disaster)

February 2009

Dev D : 16.0 – 17.2Cr (Hit)

Billu : 22.7 – 24.1Cr (Flop)

Delhi 6 : 32.7 – 35.0Cr (Flop)

Kisse Pyaar Karoon : 0.4 – 0.5Cr (Flop)

Siddharth – The Prisoner : 0.1 – 0.2Cr (Flop)

March 2009

Dhoondte Reh Jaoge : 7.5 – 8.1Cr (Flop)

13B : 7.4 – 8.2Cr (Flop)

Gulaal : 3.5 – 4.1Cr (Flop)

Jai Veeru : 1.5 – 2.0Cr (Flop)

Little Zizou : 1.1 – 1.2Cr (Average)

Aloo Chat : 4.0 – 4.7Cr (Flop)

Aa Dekhen Zara : 3.9 – 4.3Cr (Flop)

Ek – The Power of One : 4.3 - 4.7Cr (Flop)

April 2009

8x10 Tasveer : 11.5 – 12.5Cr (Flop)

May 2009

99 : 11.9 – 12.5Cr (Above Average)

Detective Naani : 0.6 – 0.7Cr (Flop)

June 2009

Maruti Mera Dosst : 0.2 – 0.3Cr (Flop)

Team – The Force : 1.5 – 1.7Cr (Flop)

Kal Kissne Dekha : 5.6 – 6.0Cr (Disaster)

Paying Guests : 6.9 – 7.5Cr (Flop)

New York : 42.5 – 44.4Cr (Hit)

July 2009

Kambakkht Ishq : 43.8 – 45.9Cr (Below Average)

Short Kut : 7.0 – 7.6Cr (Flop)

Sankat City : 0.4 – 0.5Cr (Flop)

Jashnn : 1.8 – 2.0Cr (Flop)

Luck : 21.5 – 22.8Cr (Flop)

Love Aaj Kal : 63.6 – 66.0Cr (Hit)

August 2009

Agyaat : 5.1 – 5.4Cr (Flop)

Teree Sang : 1.7 – 1.9Cr (Flop)

Life Partner : 21.6 – 23.8Cr (Above Average)

Kaminey : 42.9 – 44.7Cr (Above Average)

Shadow : 0.4 – 0.5Cr (Flop)

Sikander : 0.4 – 0.5Cr (Flop)

Daddy Cool : 3.6 – 3.9Cr (Flop)

Kissan : 1.2 – 1.4Cr (Flop)

September 2009

Fox : 1.5 – 1.7Cr (Flop)

Aagey Se Right : 2.9 – 3.1Cr (Flop)

Three : 0.7 – 0.8Cr (Flop)

Vada Raha : 0.2 – 0.3Cr (Flop)

Baabarr : 0.4 – 0.5Cr (Flop)

Wanted : 55.8 – 58.9Cr (Hit)

Dil Bole Hadippa! : 20.0 – 22.5Cr (Flop)

What’s Your Raashee? : 13.2 – 15.3Cr (Flop)

October 2009

Wake Up Sid : 25.6 – 26.5Cr (Above Average)

Do Knot Disturb : 16.7 – 18.0Cr (Flop)

Acid Factory : 2.8 – 3.0Cr (Flop)

Blue : 30.5 – 32.5Cr (Good Opening Week)

All The Best : 24.0 – 25.0Cr (Good Opening Week)

Main Aurr Mrs Khanna : 7.0 – 7.5Cr (Disastrous Opening Week)