Ready for a hit

Salman Khan-Asin starrer Ready raked over 40 crore on its opening weekend,making it the highest opening weekend in 2011.

The audience,which was spellbound by Salman Khans performance in Dabangg,seem to have fuelled Readys success as well. Just four days into its release,the film has already captured the box-office booty. And if one goes by the figures from Universal Communications who are handling the publicity of the film- Ready has already collected over 41 crore nett across multiplexes and single-screen theatres in India,in its opening weekend itself. This total figure has set the film on course to surpass the collection by 3 Idiots in its opening weekend. But,the film has failed to overtake Dabanggs collections of 47 crore in the opening weekend.

Ashok Ahuja,director,Anand Ahuja amp; Company,says that irrespective of a non-festive season opening,the film has surpassed all expectations. It has recorded a collection of around Rs 41 crore in three days. Thats a huge opening at least going by the trend in the box-office. The film is doing extremely well in metros,small towns and rural India. It has cut across the masses and the classes.

Single-screen theatre owners add that they were surprised when the audience were up on their feet at the screening whenever there was a song-and-dance scene or an action sequence. Manoj Desai proprietor of G7 and Maratha Mandir in Mumbai says,On Saturday and Sunday,I saw almost an 100 per cent occupancy in my theaters including Gaiety and Galaxy among others. The credit should go entirely to Salman Khan. During the shows,the audience went beserk and used to yell,scream and dance in the theatre. But,one has to wait and watch for the collections this week to decide whether the film will be a hit.

Bhushan Kumar,producer of Ready,who couldnt have been happier with the b-o collection,says,I am thankful to Salman Khan for the superb human that he is. When you sign him on,you dont sign an actor. You are with a man who thinks of the film every moment and gives the film his 200 per cent. That is what makes the film. Like we stated in the promos,Salman Khan is Ready. It is a tailor-made film for Salman and he has outshone himself! No words can describe my joy. Real success for a film is when the masses acknowledge our efforts.

According to statistics from T-Series,Ready has debuted with the highest opening ever in 2011 and even Hollywood films like Kung Fu Panda,Pirates Of The Carribean: On Strange Tides and Hangover-2,which had released in the preceeding weeks did not erode Readys run at the b-o.

The films collection on Friday was Rs 13.5 crore. Saturday saw a slight decline in the box-office collections with Rs 12.5 crore but on Sunday the film was back on track and had a collection of Rs 15 crore,as per the information received from Universal Communications.

But trade analysts have a different take. They say that the figures have been hiked up slightly. Trade analyst Amod Mehra says,I am not sure whether the film crossed Rs 45 crore in the opening weekend. But it would have easily made Rs 40 crore. The film had a great start and that helped it pick up. On Friday itself the collections recorded were great. I think on Saturday the collections dipped a little,but on Sunday they picked up immensely. This film looks like a definite turner. If the film does well throughout the week,then the film is on its way to becoming a sure-shot hit.

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Bhushan Kumar adds,We had expected a weekend business of 43 crore with all the hype surrounding Salman Khans performance in Dabangg. But,the film has surpassed our expectations. This is a non-festive season 8211; Dabangg had a weekend collection of Rs 47 crore when the film released during Eid- and such a high collection comes as a surprise. The success of the songs including Dhinka chika and Character dheela helped boost Readys box-office ratings. We were expecting the collections to dip this week,but as per the information that we have got the collection has just dipped by 20 per cent. Thats outstanding. The public review is very good and we are hoping that the word-of-mouth publicity helps the film have a steady run at the box-office. The films success is also translating into the music sales people downloading Ready ring-tones have spiralled.

Readys cast and crew is planning a success party soon,But Salman Khan is currently shooting for Bodyguard at Patiala. Once he is back we will celebrate, concludes Bhushan Kumar.