Friday releases record disappointing figures

Third installment of Narnia fares better than Hindi films at box-office.

Third installment of Narnia fares better than Hindi films at box-office.

At multiplexes,The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,the third instalment of C S Lewis Narnia series,saw the maximum number of footfalls among all the movies that released last Friday (December 3). Sunil Punjabi,CEO of Cinemax,India said all three versions of the film,3D,English and Hindi,saw tremendous response from the audience. Narnia 3 was marketed very well and is a saleable property. We recorded almost 40 to 45 per cent occupancy for the movie, he said.

Last weeks most-anticipated release,Ashutosh Gowariker’s Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey failed to light up the box-office. According to trade analyst Amod Mehra,Khelein.. has recorded the lowest collections. It’s a major disappointment and a worrying factor for Gowariker who has delivered his second successive dud after What’s Your Raashee? he said.

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Ashish Saksena,COO of Big Cinemas,said,The collections of Khelein.. are very disappointing. The film registered occupancies between 15 and 20 per cent over the weekend. The simple truth is the movie has not worked. According to Mehra,the movie collected Rs 3.25 crore over the weekend. Trade analyst Komal Nahata concurred and said the movie’s collection touched Rs 3.5 crore against an estimated production of Rs 35 crore.

However,there are no plans to reduce Khelein..’s number of shows currently. We will take a decision after today (Monday) but as of now there are no plans of changing the programming, Saksena said. Punjabi concurred and said,Even though Narnia 3 is doing better than all the other movies,we are not reducing the number of shows for any movie.

Two other releases,Rakht Charitra 2 and Phas Gaye Re Obama also released along with Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey but didnt do any better. Punjabi said,None of the releases this week have worked. We were expecting at least one film to do well but unfortunately,nothing worked. Punjabi blamed poor marketing and tepid promotions for the dismal collections of Khelein.. and Rakht Charitra 2.

All the films reported dismal occupancy figures over the weekend, Punjabi informed. Saksena also said that Phas Gaye Re Obama recorded about 50 per cent occupancy. He explained that the movie had fewer shows,which helped the spike in its occupancy rates.

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While there have been reports that the blood-and-gore filled Rakht Charitra 2 fared well at single-screens,Manoj Desai,who runs Maratha Mandir and G-7 in Mumbai,clarified that the movies collections are better than the others. It does not imply that the movie is doing well,he told Screen. Rakht Charitra 2 opened with 30 per cent occupancy on Friday and rose up to 50 per cent on Sunday, Desai informed.

According to Nahata,Rakht Charitra 2 collected around three crore against a production budget of about Rs 18 to Rs 20 crore. Mehra informed that Phas Gaye Re Obama collected about Rs 1.5 crore in its opening weekend across the country. Denzil Dias,Deputy Managing Director (Theatrical),Warner Bros. Pictures India. which distributed Phas Gaye Re Obama said,The net weekend collection of Phas Gaye Re Obama is Rs 1.2 crore. It was a controlled released with 80 35mm prints and 100 digital prints. The film was made on a three crore budget.

Multiplexes and single-screens are now looking forward to this Fridays releases viz.,Band Baaja Baaraat and No Problem. Both movies have a positive buzz that will hopefully translate into better footfalls next week, Punjabi said.

Despite repeated calls and messages,Kamal Gianchandani,CEO of PVR Pictures,which co-produced Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey and Madhu Mantena,co-producer of Rakht Charitra 2 respectively,remained unavailable for comment. Directors Ashutosh Gowariker and Ram Gopal Varma also could not be contacted.

priyanko.sarkarexpressindia.com