Off to a flying start

2 States

A best-selling novel, fresh new pair and two big producers —Karan Johar and Sajid Nadiadwala coming together raised a lot of expectations about 2 States. Evidently, the film has performed very well, and continued to remain steady even on Monday. Another release, Dekh Tamasha Dekh failed to enthuse the audience.

Third highest opening for 2 States

Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt starrer, 2 States had the third highest opening of the year, after Jai Ho and Gunday. “It was a youth oriented love story with all the traditional Indian ingredients packaged to contemporary tastes. The film took off on a good note, opening to almost packed houses at multiplexes,” says trade expert Vinod Mirani. The fact that it released on Good Friday, a holiday for most people worked to the film’s advantage. The collections slightly dipped on Saturday as compared to Friday, but the Sunday collections remained as good as Friday. One of the reasons that contributed to the film’s success was the popularity of author Chetan Bhagat’s book among the masses. “Among the authors, Chetan Bhagat is quite popular with the masses. He has a wide readership base. The story of the book was something anyone in India will connect to. That’s one of the reasons why the film did phenomenal business for an Alia Bhatt-Arjun Kapoor starrer, considering that both are relatively new,” says Akshaye Rathi of Rathi Group of Cinemas. And according to trade expert Girish Johar, the film was also marketed and packed very well. With all these factors coming into play, the film has managed to garner Rs. 38.02 crore at the box-office in its opening weekend. Another release, Dekh Tamasha Dekh, despite critical acclaim had a negligible opening. Meanwhile, Bhoothnath Returns holds steady and made Rs. 28.1 crore at the end of the second weekend. The Hollywood release Transcendence failed at the box-office, giving little competition to 2 States.