It's a crucial Friday. Whether one likes or detests it, the comparisons are inevitable. Those eyeing the two new releases of this week - U ME AUR HUM and KRAZZY 4 - would be monitoring their movement at cineplexes with a magnifying glass. The two films are helmed by debutantes - Ajay Devgan and Jaideep Sen, respectively. Naturally, not just money, but even careers are at stake this Friday. Let's keep our fingers crossed!
NEAT PROFIT
Both, producer Harish Dayani and director Samar Khan were well aware of the ground realities before the release of SHAURYA. Dayani and Khan, both experienced and well aware of the box-office trends, knew all along that their film would start on a slow note, but gather speed if the word of mouth was positive.
SHAURYA, as reported earlier, fetched a lazy start, but picked up at select plexes of metros on Friday itself. Saturday too saw an upward trend and Sunday was positive as well. Of course, SHAURYA isn't the kind of film that would work at hinterland or grassroots. Yet, Monday and Tuesday were at par [and at places, better] than Friday, which is a positive development.
What really matters are the economics when it comes to medium-budget fares. Having cost its makers around Rs. 7.75 cr. [includes the cost of prints and promotion], the revenue accrued from theatrical business + Overseas [75 lacs] + Satellite rights [Moser Baer is expecting 5] + Home Video [75 lacs - 1 cr.] + Music rights [50 lacs] and the first-time producers, Moser Baer, would've made a neat profit on the film.
Nari Hira is an institution. Having been in the business for quite a few decades, one expected him to go all out to promote his debut feature film BHRAM. But there wasn't much awareness and the quality of promotion was uninspiring as well. The sorry fate at the ticket window, therefore, doesn't come as a surprise. BHRAM isn't a bad product, but it definitely deserved a better release!
KHUDA KAY LIYE is art house cinema and therefore, caters to a niche audience. The positive reviews helped the film to an extent. The film showed improvement at select plexes on Saturday and Sunday [better], but I wish the pre-release promotion was super-strong and very, very aggressive. Anyways, KHUDA KAY LIYE should open the doors for Pakistani films, but not the dacoit-based fares and violent sagas that Lollywood is famous for!
