With the advance booking for DARNA MANA HAI being very encouraging, Mumbai distributors Raksha Enterprises are expecting the film to do excellent business in Mumbai. According to Rakesh Sippy, the advance booking is better than that of BHOOT. "The extra-ordinary opening response for BHOOT came more from the current booking, but in this case, the audiences already seem to have made up their minds that they want to see the film," says Rakesh.
As against their earlier plan of releasing the film at select theatres, the Mumbai distributors of the film are expected to release it with a good 71 prints in Mumbai circuit. "The promos and the overall publicity of the film have generated a good deal of curiosity and we felt that there was a need for an increased number of prints," he adds.
WILL THE CLASH LEAD TO A CRASH?
The month of August will witness around 3-4 films releasing every week. The reasons for this clash could be many, but the clash may result in the business getting divided. If spaced out releases is the answer, why are film-makers releasing more films than what the market can absorb?
Says Dhirubhai Shah [THE HERO], "3-4 films releasing on the same Friday is a major cause for concern. The producers should discuss among themselves and accordingly plan their releases, as the common man does not have the capacity to watch 3-4 films in a week."
Saawan Kumar [DIL PARDESI HO GAYAA] endorses the statement. "Every film-maker thinks his product is the best, so they don't bother about other films releasing on the same date and ultimately, the collections get hampered. But, if your film is really good, it can survive any opposition," he states.
But Ashish Bhatnagar of iDreams has a different point of view. He says, "Releasing two films on a Friday is okay, like DEVDAS and BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM were released on the same day and both survived. But releasing around four films on the same day is suicidal. That's precisely the reason why we postponed the release of our film SAMAY-WHEN TIME STRIKES to September 5."
However, Vivek Singhania of Pantaloon [NA TUM JAANO NA HUM, CHURA LIYAA HAI TUMNE] feels differently. "If you have two or more films of the same actor or films of the same genre releasing on the same day, then the collections will be affected, otherwise I don't see any problem with 3-4 films releasing on the same day. The industry has witnessed GADAR and LAGAAN release on the same day and both doing superb business."
But Bunty Walia [MAINE DIL TUJHKO DIYA] has a suggestion to make. "There should at least be a gap of two weeks between two releases, so that the producers can recover most of their investment. Coming back to the issue, the main reason of the clash is the producer's ego. Most of them think 'why should I back out, I don't fear his film. Let him back out.' It is a very sad situation."
'JAAL – THE TRAP' MIDWEEK REPORT
MUMBAI: The opening was fair. While the film opened to a weak response at multiplexes, the 'mass-oriented' theatres had a 70% opening. However, the collections continued to drop as days progressed.
GUJARAT: Ahmedabad opening was very dull. The collections have dropped subsequently. Even multiplexes are weak.
MAHARASHTRA: Pune opening was ordinary. Collections are average. Heavy drop was witnessed from Tuesday.
DELHI, UTTAR PRADESH: The opening was okay in Delhi. However, the collections have been affected due to heavy rains. But the film dropped quite a bit from Monday. The situation in U.P. is better, with the film faring well at several centres.
KOLKATA: The opening was dull. Collections are poor at some cinema halls, while a 30% to 40% drop was noticed at some suburban theatres.
C.P. BERAR: In Nagpur, the film was quite okay on the first day, dropped slightly on Saturday, picked up on Sunday, but dropped again on Monday and Tuesday.
RAJASTHAN: The film had a good start in Jaipur and the first three days were encouraging. But Jodhpur is not strong.
SOUTH: In Hyderabad, the opening was very good. Comparatively speaking, the business is better here.
