F.A.L.T.U leads at b-o

“The current scenario is such that the Indian audience is looking forward to watch only light films,for eg – Tanu Weds Manu,Yamla Pagla Deewana,Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji etc. Also,if a film has one hit song then it acts as a crowd puller,like Tinku jiya in Yamla …or Munni badnaam in Dabangg. But Game lacked these elements. It was a thriller,and if we see in the past,thrillers have hardly succeeded in Bollywood. Also,the film lacked good music. Though F.A.L.T.U. had all newcomers in the lead,their characters were strong whereas the known faces in Game were simply wasted. While Kangna Ranaut was a total miscast,Shahana Goswami was wasted,” explains Yadav.

“Lack of promotions and cold trailers played spoilers for Game. The film,made at nearly Rs 35 crore,took a poor opening on Friday and Sunday and was a total washout on Saturday,the day of the World Cup final. With such conditions,the movie may lose 50 per cent of its production cost,” exclaims trade analyst Amod Mehra.

Vashu Bhagnani sounds extremely happy (his Kal Kissne Dekha,the launch vehicle of his son Jackky Bhagnani had bombed at the box-office). He says,“I was very confident and this film has met my expectations. Over the long weekend,including Monday,which was the auspicious day of Gudi Padwa,it has covered the production cost,and the money that the movie gains after this simply adds up to the profit.” Agreeing to this,Sunil Punjabi,CEO,Cinemax,says that it was because of the youth connect that F.A.L.T.U. did well. As for Game,its only attraction could be that it was shot well at exotic foreign locales,he added.

All the four shows of F.A.L.T.U. that were screened on Friday and Sunday,got 100 per cent response; except for Saturday when it saw 38 to 40 per cent audience at Bandra’s Gaiety theatre in Mumbai.

Talking about single screens,Kiran Shantaram,owner of Plaza theatre,Dadar,Mumbai,says,“We are only screening Game and it is doing an average business. Now that the World Cup is over,we are looking forward to the film’s better business.” And according to Manoj Desai,executive director of Maratha Mandir and G7 multiplex,both the films are doing well at the box-office.

As per trade analyst Komal Nahta’s website,koimoi.com,F.A.L.T.U. garnered 10.5 crores over the weekend (Friday,Saturday,Sunday) while Game collected 2.8 crores. When contacted Ritesh Sidhwani,producer of Game,did not share the figures,though he rubbished the numbers quoted and messaged saying that Eros has reported much higher figures. When contacted,the spokesperson at Eros also didn’t reveal the figures.