Silver lining ahead?

The only Hindi release last week, Shakal Pe Mat Ja, failed to rouse any interest among the audience. With no other major release last Friday, Rockstar was expected to rake in some more moolah over the weekend. The reason to blame seems to be the not-so-positive response towards the second half of the film.

Meanwhile, Adventures Of Tintin continued to hold strong in its second weekend, despite competition from the animated film Happy Feet 2 and George Clooney’s Ides Of March. According to Komal Nahta, trade analyst and editor, koimoi.com, calling Shakal Pe Mat Jaa “horrible, would be an understatement.” As for Rockstar, he says that it wasn’t up to the mark in the second week. After netting about 50 crore during the first week, the Ranbir Kapoor starrer dropped in the second week, earning about Rs 9-10 crore in the second weekend, as compared to Rs 33 crore in the first.

Pointing out the audience’s reaction to the film, Nahta says, “They had moral issues about a married woman entering into an affair,” adding, “Shree Ashtavinayak Cinevision went over-budget, so that part is lost. Otherwise, Eros will make its money.”

On a similar note, trade veteran Amod Mehra says that individual distributors will lose money but adds, “Though not half as heavily as for RA.One. Last Monday (November 14) was decent but that could be due to Children’s Day, because from Tuesday, the numbers have only been dropping. This happens essentially when you pre-sell satellite rights for a lesser amount,” he explains. Nonetheless, he’s quick to declare, “Rockstar established Ranbir as a big star. That’s the only plus about the film.”

Equally disappointed is the head honcho of a multiplex chain. He points out, “We were expecting the average occupancy in the second weekend to be about 55-60 per cent. But only about 35-40 per cent tickets were sold.”

On the other hand, Tintin continued to hold strong even in the second weekend. Nahta says that the English version continued to do “superb business,” while Happy Feet 2 is decent with about “25 per cent occupancy.” Immortals isn’t finding many takers, despite Freida Pinto featuring in it. George Clooney’s Ides Of March is not faring too badly with 20 per cent tickets sold.

Now, all eyes are on the Akshay Kumar-John Abraham starrer, Desi Boyz that opens in cinemas this Friday. While Nahta feels the Rohit Dhawan film that also stars Deepika Padukone and Chitrangada Singh is “looking good,” another distributor hopes, “It should take a good opening for its masala quotient.”

Hiren Kotwani

Middday