Women-centric films continue their sway at the box-office

Ragini MMS 2 released in 1500 screens, and opened to a tremendous response on Friday, especially in mass-dominated circuits. “Horror, sex and good music is a lethal combination, and the presence of Sunny Leone added to the appeal. We expected the film would open well. I think it’s really good, because Ragini… had no hero, and it did well despite the on-going T20 worldcup,” says trade expert Taran Adarsh. The fact that the film’s music, especially the songs—Baby doll and Chaar botal vodka were a hit among the audience has also worked in the film’s favour. According to trade expert Girish Johar, “The audiences are finally back into the theatres, despite the exam period, and Ragini … has performed better than the other films.”
Experts, however predict that the film may not sustain through the week. Sanjay Dalia, President, Cinemax India Ltd, said that the occupancy of Ragini… on Saturday was 15 per cent higher than that on Friday. “But, the Sunday collections were less than Saturday, may be because of the cricket match. Queen, too continues its good run.” Trade expert Vinod Mirani says, “Ragini… had an eventful opening, and served the purpose of casting Sunny Leone in the lead, who drew the audience into the theatres. But the film isn’t expected to sustain further.” According to koimoi.com, the film clocked Rs.24 crore in its opening weekend.
Meanwhile, Ankhon Dekhi which received rave reviews met with a lukewarm response, but the word-of-mouth has been very strong. Dalia adds, “The word-of-mouth has been really strong, which has transformed into more occupancy. On Friday, the occupancy was 15-20 per cent, but on Saturday, it was about 70 per cent at our cinemas.” The low collections could also be because of the fact that the film released in only 250 screens. “However, more than the number of screens, it’s also about the number of shows. There were only one or two shows running in the multiplexes.” The fate of other films like Gang of Ghosts and Lakshmi has been dismal.

Hollywood releases

Muppets Most Wanted and Need For Speed, were the Hollywood releases last week, but none of them managed to make a mark. “Both the films were average performers, and did not make a dent on the collections of Bollywood releases. There’s a lot of buzz, though around the latest Hollywood release Noah, and we are expecting it to do well,” says Dalia.
New releases
Harman Baweja starrer Dishkyaoon, Jackky Bhagnani’s Youngistaan, and Atul Agnihotri’s O Teri, starring Pulkit Samrat, and newbie Bilal Amrohi, are the new releases this week. With no big stars to garner a good opening weekend, it all depends on the content and word-of-mouth, believe trade experts. “All the films are very different from each other, while Dishkyaoon is out-and-out action, O Teri looks like a fun film, so it’ll be interesting to see which one works,” says Johar.