Star cast,budget or average performance no longer a deterrant for the movie buffs,who are rushing to multiplexes after a two-month long wait After lights and camera all this while,its action time for the box office,which is on a roll again post the multiplex owners- distributor strike. Despite the average movie reviews and the not-so-strong star cast,the response for the first film Kal Kissne Dekha has been overwhelming- thanks to the long wait that made the moviegoers all the more eager to visit the multiplexes. After having recorded 80 per cent occupancy during the day shows,Friday at E Square ended with a houseful show. And considering the fact that over the past two months,the collections had dropped to almost 20 per cent of the usual numbers,the management is relieved with a great restart. "On Friday we were playing Kal Kissne Dekha on a smaller screen and in a theatre with a seating capacity of 190 people. Looking at the response,yesterday,we shifted the film to a bigger screen with a seating capacity of 598," says Pramod More,duty manager,E Square. Experts had predicted that irrespective of the commercial aspects of the film such as the star cast,budget or for that matter the promos,any film released on this weekend would pull in big collections. Lalit Ojha,general manager,INOX says,"The numbers on the past two day are extremely encouraging. Though I would not be able to disclose the statistics,we are running near houseful,which is double the numbers that we had predicted." He further adds,"Besides the Hindi film,two English films- Bridewars and 17 Again have been doing extremely well." Citypride,Kothrud has over years emerged as a hub for Marathi cinema,and the management claims to have incurred lesser losses compared to many other multiplexes,predominantly because of the Marathi films such as Me Shivaji Raje Bhosle Boltoy and Gallit Gondhal. Happy with the response over the past two days,Rishikesh Chaphalkar,partner,Citypride says,"More than this weekend,I am looking forward to June 26 when New York,a Yashraj film is releasing. Terminator and Kamhakht Ishq will also be great crowd pullers. We are expecting a combined collection of 20-25 lakhs from New York and Terminator during the first week. The bonus in monsoon is that the students,the real moviegoers,who are currently on vacation will return to the city." Considering the fact,that cinema is the major crowd puller for other commercial activities that multiplex as a business unit incorporates; this weekend has been a great reliever for them all. "A combined effect of slowdown had resulted in a 50 per cent decline on business. From a daily business of Rs 20-25,000 our collection had dropped to Rs 10,000 during the last month. We utilised the slack period to come up with better products and are back to almost the same collections that we had dropped from," says Rohit Kendre,manager,Red Moments,one of the gift shops at E Square. And then it's a big day for all those moviegoers who have been waiting eagerly to get a big screen glimpse of their favourite stars. "Past two months have been a long wait and I am happy to be back in the cinema halls. More than the film,it is the multiples experience that I am here for today. I am an Akshay Kumar fan and waiting eagerly for June 26 when Kambakht Ishq is releasing," says Manas Dhande,student. With over 35 big banner films waiting in the queue for the release,the happy days for the multiplexes are sure to be here again. The Damage* Citypride Kothrud recorded a business of only 10-15 per cent during the strike* E Square business dropped to 20 percent from usual* INOX incurred significant losses* Rahul Cineplex collected average of 3 lakh per week from 6-7 otherwise* Many multiplexes announced pay cuts and cut down on staff members* Popcorn sale came down to 40 per cent across all the multiplexes* Footfall in food courts reduced to 30 per cent thanks to walk-in customers the number of which remained unchanged Extra shotsThe strike between distributors and multiplex owners began on April 4 wherein the multiplex owners demanded 60 per cent share of the profit. The final settlement came on June 5 where distributors and multiplex owners agreed for a 50-50 per cent share of the profits.
