Box Office: Himmatwala Opens Well At Single Screens, Fares Badly At Multiplexes

Himmatwala, starring Ajay Devgn & Tamannaah and directed by Sajid Khan, has opened to predictable numbers at Indian box office on Friday. On day one it collected around 12 crores nett in India. However, it’s not a great number for big film released on a holiday with large number of prints. As expected it did quite well at the single screens at the mass centers across the country, especially in UP. And the business at the multiplexes remained low as it was expected. The movie was panned by critics just like every other Sajid Khan movies. But this time around the criticism was at its peak as several critics heavily criticized his brand of movies without any mercy. Moreover, the audience also didn’t seem to enjoy the movie as it was made fun of on twitter on the day of its release. But then a movie like Himmatwala was unabashedly made with conviction given the original 1983 film was an even bigger critics failure. So, the bad press was kind of expected for this movie. However, since it failed to shatter records of any kind, it could be an indication that audience have different things in their mind right now.

Coming back to the business, Delhi & Punjab multiplexes registered very low collections. And in the rest of circuits it was an average performer. Despite that the movie did quite well in U.P. Since mass movies don’t usually register a huge growth on Saturday the movie is expected to continue in the same fashion over the weekend unless there is a huge drop on Saturday & Sunday. If it is able to improve a bit in multiplexes on Saturday it may have a good chance to have a good total in the long run. However, it’s unlikely considering the bad word of mouth for the film. Himmatwala is also doing well at the mass centers like Bihar & Rajastan as well. Himmatwala stars Ajay Devgn, Tamannaah, Paresh Rawal & Zarina Wahab.

Watch this space for more updates.

Tags: Ajay Devgn Box Office Himmatwala Sajid Khan Tamannaah

Box Office: Special 26 & ABCD Any Body Can Dance Have A Similar Opening

Neeraj Pandey’s (of A Wednesday fame) second directorial Special Chabbis (Special 26) starring Akshay Kumar & Choreographer turned director Remo D’Souza’s ABCD – Any Body Can Dance opened at Indian box office today (February 8). Special 26 is an edge of the seat thriller like Neeraj’s first film and ABCD Any Body Can Dance is India’s first 3D dance film. As expected Special 26 opened to very good reviews whereas ABCD Any Body Can Dance opened to mediocre reviews. Today at the box office ABCD opened to 50-60% collection during the morning & after noon shows whereas Special 26 opened to 30% response. ABCD had youngsters flocking in to the theaters all thanks to the colorful song & dance promos. Although Akshay Kumar is a big star Special 26 registered lower collections due to the fact that it isn’t a mass film. It is a sensible film made for those who like well made thrillers.

As for the number of prints, Special 26 obviously had a wider release since Akshay Kumar is a big star. But in case of ABCD Any Body Can Dance, the movie is in 3D and the revenue will be comparatively high considering the charge for 3D glasses.

However, like a real suspense thriller things took a U-turn toward the evening. ABCD Any Body Can Dance collections dropped to 30% whereas Special 26 jumped to 50-60% range. Considering the word of mouth as well as the critics reviews are in favor of the movie, Special 26 will most probably have a better weekend figure. In the end, both the movies stand at a 40% day 1 figure. The exact day 1 collection figure is not available at the moment and we will update on the same by tomorrow. Watch this space for more information.

Coming to the last week releases, Kamal Haasan’s Vishwaroop dominated the rest. The movie ended up collecting an approximate figure of 11.5 crores nett in week 1. The movie maintained very well on the weekdays. The controversy surrounding the release of the movie in Tamil Nadu helped the Hindi version of the movie.

Bejoy Nambiar’s multi-starer David starring Neil Nitin Mukesh, Vikram & Tabu failed to make any impact at the box office. It collected mere 3.86 crores nett in Week 1. David is a big disappointment for everyone involved with the project. Neil Nitin Mukesh has been part of several flops and David is the latest movie on that list. Tamil super star Vikram once again failed to make a difference in Bollywood after his dismal start with Mani Ratnam’s Raavan before.

On the other hand Abbas Mastan’s Race 2, which is in its 3rd week now, comfortably crossed the 100 crore mark in India making it the first blockbuster of the year. Race 2 featuring an ensemble cast fetched 24.35 crores nett in week 2. It’s the biggest hit of both the heroes Saif Ali Khan & John Abraham. Race 2 also features Anil Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Jacqueline Fernandez & Amisha Patel. Given the movie is a hit the announcement of the 3rd part should come out very soon. Race 2 a huge success at overseas as well. The movie has so far collected 6 million dollars in the international market.

Tags: ABCD Any Body Can Dance ABCD Any Body Can Dance Box Office Report Akshay Kumar Anupam Kher Box Office Neeraj Pandey Remo D'Souza Special 26 Special 26 box office report Special Chabbis

Box Office: David, Deewana Main Deewana, Mai & Vishwaroop Open Dull

Four movies got released today (Bejoy Nambiar’s stylish David, the long-in-the-making Govinda-Priyanka starer Deewana Main Deewana, Asha Bhosle’s acting debut Mai & Kamal Haasan’s controversial Vishwaroop) and all the four opened to poor response at the Indian box office. Vishwaroopam took the lead as the collection was slightly better than other three films. Deewana Main Deewana & Mai were so poor that we can already write them off – these two most likely won’t pick up over the weekend.

As for Kamal Haasan’s much-in-the-news Vishwaroop (Vishwaroopam in Tamil), all that controversy surrounding the release of the film in Tamil Nadu seems to have helped the movie a bit. The movie showed improvement during the after noon shows and it is expected to pick up over the weekend. Having said that, the reviews have been average for the movie.

Coming to Bejoy Nambiar’s (director of Shaitan) David starring Vikram, Tabu, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Monica Sharma Dogra & Isha Sharvani, it opened to poor numbers at the box office. The stylishly shot movie is meant for a niche audience (especially city based audience, or in other words multiplex audience) and it may pick up over the weekend if the word of mouth is strong enough. As for the reviews, they are not particularly encouraging as most of them gave average reviews.

Asha Bhosle’s acting debut Mai is a small film and it wasn’t expected to open big. The movie is, once again, made for a niche audience and if it hits the right chord with its target audience it may become a profitable venture for the producers.

Last but not least Deewana Main Deewana featuring Govinda & Priyanka Chopra was long in the making and the movie holds no buzz in today’s time. We’ve to appreciate the producers for finally releasing it against all the odds!

Last week’s bumper release Race 2 collected 76.10 crore in week 1 (according to Taran Adarsh). The weekend business was excellent as it fetched 51.35 crore but the movie started sliding from Monday onward. Luckily, the dull opening of this week’s releases has worked in favor of Race 2 as it remains the number 1 choice of moviegoers this week as well.

Watch this space for more box office updates (With day 1 figures) of the new releases!

Tags: Box Office Box office report David Deewana Main Deewana Mai race 2 Vishwaroop