Off to a flying start

2 States has performed exceptionally well, clocking an opening weekend of Rs.38.06 crore

Written by Ankita R Kanabar

Mumbai | April 25, 2014 01:00 AM IST

4 min read

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.

New releases

This Friday sees the release of Subhash Ghai’s Kaanchi, Kangana Ranaut starrer Revolver Rani, and Rajshree Productions’ Samrat and Co starring Rajeev Khandelwal. “All three films are of different genres, so it’s difficult to predict which one will work. It all depends on the audience,” says Johar. However, with the success of Queen, Revolver Rani gets an upper hand. “The success of Queen has made the forthcoming Kangna Ranaut starrer Revolver Rani, a movie to look forward to. The exhibitors expect the film to do more business than the other two releases,” says Mirani.

ankita.kanabar@expressindia.com

Screen Forecast

Our Verdict

In the April 18-24, 2014 Screen issue, we had predicted that since 2 States is an adaptation of a popular novel written by Chetan Bhagat, with a fresh ensemble cast, and good music, the film will have around 60-70 per cent occupancy on the opening day. But since it was a Good Friday, and a holiday, the film almost had an 80 per cent opening. What we’d also estimated, is that the film will do well in both metropolitan and small cities, which has come true. The fact that the new releases of this week, don’t have a good buzz, 2 States will sustain well through the coming week as well, according to trade experts, something that we had also predicted.

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