Box Office Round Up

As I sit to write this, I get the shocking news that my old friend and collaborator Kundan Shah is no more. He was a friend, who would drop in on the sets of ‘Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman’ often, and we had always wanted to do a film together. Alas it was not to be, but he will always walk the Hall Of Fame, if only for one single cult film ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron’.

‘Chef’ has bombed on the first day itself, collecting a horrifically low figure of less than just one crore. This has become a norm, and though we will analyze this phenomena of all our veteran stars (with the notable exceptions of Aamir Khan and Akshay Kumar) giving us underwhelming disasters this year, undoubtedly we are facing a crisis.

Many films were released with ‘Chef’ on Friday, like ‘Tu Hi Mera Sunday’, ‘Call for Fun’ etc, but again the edge will be with Blade Runner 2047, though it has been deliberately released on a low key level.

It’s ‘Judwaa 2’ that’s hit the jackpot clearly and unambiguously and has taken the lion’s share of cinemas, shows and audience even in Week 2. The film had everything going for it, an in-form Varun Dhawan, a hit producer, the director of the original hit, a subsidy from the UK, a four day weekend with Dassera and Gandhi Jayanti, a breezy story line, a great support cast including Zakir Hussain, Rajpal Yadav, Pavan Raj Malhotra and of course Jacqueline Fernandez and Taapsee Punnu!

The film opened with an approximate 16 crore day one, crossed 20 crore on both Saturday and Sunday and flew into Monday with a 50+ weekend, collecting a whopping 18 crore on Gandhi Jayanti Monday. It is heading for a lifetime 150 crore business, and as I write it has crossed 108 crore by its second Saturday, a lifetime best for David Dhawan and Varun Dhawan, establishing Varun as the real No 1 teeny bopper star, with two 100 cr hits in 2017, now only facing Ranveer Singh in ‘Padmavati’ to challenge him on December 1, 2017.

The less said about the dark and gloomy numbers of the dark and gloomy films about the dark and gloomy underworld people, ‘Haseena Parkar’ and ‘Daddy’, the better. Both films underperformed and though (hopefully) they were made on controlled budgets, there was no profit for anybody. Of course both Shraddha Kapoor and Arjun Rampal got their plaudits for their respective title role performances, but for the rest, there were neither guts nor glory.

‘Bhoomi’ was also a damp squib, in spite of a bravura performance from Sunjay Dutt, and ‘The Final Exit’, exited without a trace. Even ‘Kingsman Golden Circle’ was not a patch on the first part and by mid-week it was clear that it was not going anywhere.

‘Newton’ has kept its head above water and is still on many screens, though with one or two shows only. However, the Oscar announcement came in at the right time to ensure that ‘Newton’ is looking for a 25 crore lifetime, a very respectable score, and it is feasible too, since it has already crossed the 19 crore mark.

After ‘Vivegam’ and ‘Vikram Vedha’, it’s another two movies from the south that have hit the ball straight out of the park! Mahesh Babu’s ‘Spyder’ and ‘Jai Lava Kusa’ have both individually crossed the psychological global 150 crore mark and are thundering on!

Meanwhile the trailers of ‘Ittefaq’ a joint production between Dharma Productions, BR Productions and Red Chillies Entertainment was released, as was the trailer of the new Irffan film ‘Qarib Qarib Singlle’ (hopefully I have the spelling right), but the response is still slow, since Diwali is in the air, the PM is making sure that GST simplifications are all over the media and the Ranveer Singh ‘Padmavati’ poster has stolen everyone’s thunder!

Again there are no major films to look forward to in the pre Diwali week, and ‘Golmaal Again’ has decided that they will flood the hoarding sites and give the walkie talkie public an eyeful. Let’s hope this strategy works, since on Diwali they will be pitted against ‘Secret Superstar’, made by the formidable Aamir Khan, who is never to be underestimated.

Wishing you all the best for the festive season ahead, Happy Diwali!