Awareness and Popularity<br><br><br><p class=clear>&nbsp;</p>Let’s begin with the trends that MOVIEmeter at IMDB.com (The Internet Movie Database) have to indicate. (MOVIEmeter rankings provide a snapshot of what movies – worldwide - are hot i.e. they invite high level of public awareness and/or interest in the title or person. #1 on MOVIEmeter means that the movie is hottest) <br><br><br><p class=clear>&nbsp;</p>As per the week beginning 28th October 2007, ‘Om Shanti Om’ is ranked #1288 on the MOVIEmeter. On the other hand ‘Saawariya’ stands far behind at #2313; almost double the ranking of ‘Om Shanti Om’. Clearly, ‘Om Shanti Om’ is far ahead in the race here when it comes to sheer public awareness/popularity. <br><br><br><p class=clear>&nbsp;</p>If one looks at a global quarterly jump (August, September, October) for both the films, ‘Om Shanti Om’ has jumped by 72% from #4630 to #1288. ‘Saawariya’ follows a similar patter too (though the numbers are on a lower side) with it’s rating jumping by 69% from #7512 to #2313. <br><br><br><p class=clear>&nbsp;</p>However, a starting fact comes to the forefront when one digs deeper down into the data available. As per that, in the month of October, popularity of ‘Saawariya’ has gone down with ‘Om Shanti Om’ seeing a journey up. Numbers clearly indicate that while ‘Saawariya’ fell by 17% from it’s 7th October ranking of #1979 to #2313 on 28th October, ‘Om Shanti Om’ took a positive route by moving up from #1548 on 7th October to #1288 on 28th October – an increase by 17%! A completely inverse trend (of an equal degree) for both the films here! <br><br><br><p class=clear>&nbsp;</p>While these comparisons were from the film perspective, even the STARmeter at the site indicates an extremely wide gap. Though it is unfair to actually compare the newcomers with Shahrukh Khan, from sheer statistical interest, Ranbir Kapoor (#6555) and Sonam Kapoor (#6541) are leagues behind Shahrukh Khan (#890). <br><br> <br><p class=clear>&nbsp;</p>Though no one challenged this equation even before the numbers were disclosed, the fact remains that on a day of clash, this adds to the parameters which would eventually make a difference to the box office prospects of the two films.