Bollywood box-office report of the week

The coming Friday will witness a clash between two delayed projects, Afzal Khan's Sanjay Dutt and Ajay Devgan starrer MEHBOOBA and Mani Shankar's Samir Dattani starrer MUKHBIR and also Rituparno Ghosh's KHELA. None of the new releases are expected to create much of an impact, though MEHBOOBA may achieve a little at single screens and small centres and MUKHBIR some critical acclaim. The week will once again belong to last Friday's JAANE TU... YA JAANE NA.


The much awaited, first major clash of the second half of 2008 between Harry Baweja's LOVE STORY 2050 and Aamir Khan's (production) JAANE TU? YA JAANE NA turned out to be by and large in favour of the latter that is the Imran-Genelia starrer. Released at 70 cinemas of Bombay city and suburbs through PVR Pictures, JAANE TU... YA JAANE NA had an excellent opening. In other circuits, the start was pretty good in multiplexes almost everywhere. On the other hand, the Priyanka Chopra and Harman Baweja starrer, LOVE STORY 2050 was released at 82 cinemas of Bombay city and suburbs through Big Pictures and had a fair start. In other circuits the opening was alright at some places and dull at others. Collections did pick up during the night show. Trade predicts that JTYJN will work big time. It will prove class A1, with chances of AA in Bombay and South. However, the picture is not so bright for LS 2050 and the gloss and richness may not be able to save the film at the box-office, due to lack of a good script and the heavy prices. In the UK, LOVE STORY 2050 has grossed $97,354 as compared to $59,843 by JAANE TU... YA JAANE NA. In the US, the Imran-Genelia starrer has grossed an impressive $214,360 (upto 6th July).

The collections of Yash Raj's Kunal Kohli directed THODA PYAAR THODA MAGIC began to slide from the fourth day onwards. During its first week, the film collected 3.45 crores from Bombay, 75 lakhs from Ahmedabad, 1.10 lakhs from Himmatnagar, 1 lakh from Patan, 2.40 lakhs from Jamnagar, 2.85 lakhs (gross) from Bhavnangar, 2.15 lakhs from Gandhidham, 1.20 lakhs from Adipur, 16.25 lakhs from Pune, 1.30 lakhs from Solapur, 1.60 lakhs from Sangli, 7.10 lakhs from Nasik, 2.20 crores from Delhi, 30.25 lakhs from Noida, 32.05 lakhs from Ghaziabad, 10.50 lakhs from Kanpur, 26.50 lakhs from Lucknow, 6.15 lakhs from Agra, 3.35 lakhs from Meerut, 1.70 lakhs from Bareilly, 4 lakhs from Aligarh, 42.10 lakhs from Gurgaon, 16 lakhs from Faridabad, 3.20 lakhs from Panipat, 66 lakhs from Calcutta, 3 lakhs from Guwahati, 22 lakhs from Nagpur, 1.10 lakhs from Akola, 1.35 lakhs from Raipur, 20.50 lakhs from Indore, 1.35 lakhs from Sehore, 27.40 lakhs from Jaipur, 3.10 lakhs (gross) from Ajmer, 2.05 lakhs from Bikaner, 41.35 lakhs from Hyderabad, 2.65 lakhs from Aurangabad, 1.40 lakhs from Nanded and 4 lakhs from Mangalore. In its opening week, THODA PYAAR THODA MAGIC has netted around 16.75 crores from India. It is now clear that the 20 crore, Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji starrer is all set to be another losing proposition for Yash Raj Films. The film has also been rejected in the Overseas, grossing $473,706 from UK and only $335,874 from the US.

Fizz Entertainment's THODI LIFE THODA MAGIC is very poor. It could not complete even a week's run at many places. With less than 5 lakhs from India, it is one of the biggest disasters of the year.

NFDC's VIA DARJEELING has quite dull collections to show. The film collected 8.25 lakhs from Bombay, 5 lakhs from Delhi city, 1.50 lakhs from Noida, 2.10 lakhs from Gurgaon and 1 lakh from Hyderabad. Netting barely 30 lakhs in its opening week from India, VIA DARJEELING will be lucky to even cover its low cost.

E Niwas's Aftab, Ritesh and Ayesha starrer, DE TAALI, is on its way out. The film crashed badly during the second week as it collected 30 lakhs from Bombay, 6.40 lakhs from Ahmedabad, 2 lakhs from Pune, 1 lakh (approx) from Rajkot and Solapur, 10.20 lakhs from Delhi, 2 lakhs from Noida. 3 lakhs from Ghaziabad, 1.05 lakh from Kanpur, 1.75 lakhs from Lucknow, 2.45 lakhs from Gurgaon, 1.15 lakhs from Faridabad, 2 lakhs from Nagpur, 1.50 lakhs from Amravati, 2.25 lakhs from Jaipur and 3.50 lakhs from Hyderabad. Adding another 1.45 crores in its second week, DE TAALI has netted nearly 9 crores in two weeks from India and has failed at the ticket window. The loss though will not be too heavy.

Priyadarshan's Akshaye-Genelia starrer MERE BAAP PEHLE AAP is on its last lap. The film collected 9.20 lakhs from Bombay, 10 lakhs from Ahmedabad, 1 lakh (approx) from Himmatnagar, Gandhidham and Pune, 1.35 lakhs from Jamnagar, 18 lakhs from Delhi, 2.05 lakhs from Noida, 3.55 lakhs from Ghaziabad, 1.30 lakhs from Kanpur, 5 lakhs from Lucknow, 1.50 lakhs from Meerut, 3.50 lakhs from Gurgaon, 1.20 lakhs from Faridabad, 1.10 lakhs from Calcutta, 2 lakhs from Nagpur, 1 lakh (approx) from Amravati and Dhule, 1.25 lakh from Indore, 12.05 lakhs from Jaipur and 4.30 lakhs from Hyderabad. With an additional 1.50 crores, MERE BAAP PEHLE AAP has netted a surprisingly decent 23 crores in three weeks from India. The Shemaroo venture is now an above average fare, which has also impressed in the UK, grossing $500,757.

During its fourth week, Ram Gopal Varma's SARKAR RAJ collected, 14.15 lakhs from Bombay, 5 lakhs from Ahmedabad, 1.15 lakhs from Pune, 11 lakhs from Delhi, 2 lakhs from Noida, 1.30 lakhs from Ghaziabad, 2.30 lakhs from Lucknow, 1 lakh from Agra, 3.70 lakhs from Gurgaon, 1.50 lakhs from Nagpur and 5.10 lakhs from Hyderabad. Adding another 75 lakhs, the Amitabh, Abhishek and Aishwarya starrer, SARKAR RAJ, has netted 34 crores in four weeks from India and is now ending its run. The film has turned out to be a losing venture for most of its distributors, barring Bombay and has not impressed in the Overseas, despite a decent US gross, due to its heavy procurement price.