The last few days as also the next few weeks will be tough on Bollywood. The holy month of Ramzan makes a dent in film business since a sizable section of the audience abstains from watching movies. Besides, Ganeshotsav affects film business during evening and night shows.
But box-office can be quite predictable at times. ROCK ON!! continued to score in its second weekend at all major centres, while A WEDNESDAY also picked up dramatically over the weekend. Kabhi-kabhi chhoti filmein bahut badi baat keh jaati hain.
Let's talk of HIJACK first. It's a polished product, very Hollywoodish in terms of concept and execution, but the film failed to take off despite Eros spending a packet on its pre-release promotion. Actually, solo hero films can be dicey business propositions. Shiney Ahuja is a capable actor, but carrying the film entirely on his shoulders? Impossible! Hence, expecting HIJACK to start with a bang was asking for too much.
Also, the word of mouth scuttled its prospects. When the performance on Friday and Saturday is way below the mark, Sunday cannot salvage the show, howsoever good the business may be. Monday onwards, HIJACK has witnessed a severe fall; at places shows had to be cancelled due to no audience [like CHAMKU]. Kunal Shivdasani is a fine storyteller and here's hoping he meets with a better fate in his second outing.
A WEDNESDAY brought smiles on the faces of those who invested in its ticket [the word of mouth is tremendous] and in turn, also brought smiles on the faces of those who invested faith and money in this project [UTV, Shital Bhatia, Anjum Rizvi]. The film, expectedly, started slow, but picked up dramatically at several 'A' class centres on Friday evening itself.
The meteoric rise continued on Saturday and Sunday, while mini-metros remained steady on the lower side. Monday onwards, it's maintaining in the 15% - 20% range on limited shows. A WEDNESDAY is a remarkable film and am confident, it would perform well in its second weekend as well. In terms of economics, the theatrical business + Satellite rights + Home Video rights should ensure decent profits, although the revenue from Overseas would be bare minimal given the fact that it's not an 'Overseas film'.
TAHAAN caters more to the festival circuit and also to a miniscule section of moviegoers of select metros. Its theatrical business, therefore, remained uninspiring.
