Ranbir rocks the box-office

Rockstars phenomenal opening weekend collection heralds the Kapoor scions arrival as a superstar,while 'Tintin' breaks records to become the highest opening animation film in India.

Written by Chaya Unnikrishnan

November 18, 2011 02:49 PM IST

5 min read

Its official. Ranbir Kapoor is the ‘Rockstar’. While trade pundits peg the opening weekend collections of this Imtiaz Ali- directed film at ’34 crore net in India,Eros International,which co-produced the film with Ashtavinayak,has announced a gross collection of ’64 crore worldwide. Eleven crore have been garnered from overseas while in India it has grossed ’53 crore with the net collection rounding off at ’37 crore. This abides well for the Kapoor scion who puts his last film Anjaana Anjaani,which was a wash-out,firmly behind him. Not only that,’Rockstar’ has got Ranbir his biggest opening so far. As trade analyst Amod Mehra says,’Rockstar’ has proved that Ranbir the superstar has arrived. Adds trade expert Komal Nahta,It has established that Ranbir is a star who commands a good opening. Shyam Shroff of Shringar Films,a leading distributing agency,goes so far as to put Ranbir in the same league as Aamir Khan irrespective of the films fate at the box-office.

While accolades are being showered on Ranbir,the movie itself was doing well both in the multiplexes and single theatres till Sunday after which there is a mixed report. Rakesh Sippy,a distributor and exhibitor said that though the weekend collections were fantastic,the film registered a drop in the multiplexes from the Sunday night shows with 60-65 per cent occupancy which is not a good sign. According to him,people are disappointed with the second half of the film. However,Prakhar Joshi of PVR Cinemas said that ‘Rockstar’ opened with a 80-90 per cent occupancy and reached a 100 per cent occupancy on Saturday and Sunday. There is no fall in the Monday morning shows either, he maintained. Another highly placed source of a leading multiplex chain said that after a slow start on Friday the film picked up with word-of-mouth and is going phenomenally strong. The footfalls on Sunday was equivalent to the second day of Diwali, he observed.

In single theatres too,the film took an opening of 100 per cent but,according to Manoj Desai of Mumbais G7 and Maratha Mandir it had dropped to 80 per cent on Monday. Tradesmiths feel that there are chances of it dropping further. Says Mehra,The youth has loved it but not the the masses and family,which is why it has crashed at single-screens after a good opening. Shroff agrees,pointing out that the film is doing better in multiplexes. With no big releases this week,Nahta feels that ‘Rockstar’ may continue its good run. Thats exactly what the producers are hoping for. Says Nandu Ahuja,Sr. VP,Distribution,Eros International Media Ltd said,With colleges re-opening this week,we are looking at the film remaining steady at the box-office through the week.

Ranbirs competition was the comic hero Tintin who,with The Adventures Of ‘Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn’,garnered the biggest opening for an animated movie in India. While trade experts are of the view that the film has collected ‘5 crore in the opening weekend,Sony Pictures India,which has distributed it,put the figure at ‘7.35 crore gross. It breaks the record of ‘Kung Fu Panda 2’ that collected ‘5. 5 crore in the opening weekend in May this year. ‘Tintin’ released with a record-breaking number of over 350 prints for an animated film in both English and Hindi and in 3D,2D and IMAX 3D formats. Kercy Daruwala,Managing Director – Sony Pictures India,said,’Tintin’ is unique in the sense that the franchise is enjoyed and appreciated by a very wide audience right from kids to adults who grew up reading the comics. There is an amazing passion for both the franchise and the film in India with even celebrities like Aamir Khan giving it an enthusiastic thumbs-up. Agrees a source from a multiplex,Its a brand that people can associate with and the films content is good.

The same,however,cannot be said about the other Hollywood release ‘Immortals’. There were no takers for Freida Pintos virgin oracle act in the Greek mythology that Immortals was based on and the film,according to analysts,has been a wash-out.

All eyes will now be on the other big Hollywood franchise ‘Happy Feet 2’ as well as ‘Ides Of March’ that will hit the theatres this week. Bollywood hasnt much to offer except for a small film in ‘Shakal Pe Mat Ja’.