Yash Raj Films, the premier production house, has an enviable track record. D.D.L.J., DIL TO PAGAL HAI, MOHABBATEIN, MERE YAAR KI SHAADI HAI, SAATHIYA, HUM TUM, DHOOM and VEER-ZAARA, all money spinners, have only consolidated the production house's status over the years.
Therefore, it was a foregone conclusion that Yash Raj's latest offering BUNTY AUR BABLI, starring the two Bachchans together for the first time, would open to a historic start everywhere. The Yash Raj brand, coupled with the fact that the father-son jodi had been paired for the first time, generated tremendous curiosity prior to its release.
Almost every person I met was unanimous that BUNTY AUR BABLI would embark on a much better start than KAAL, which holds the distinction of taking the best opening of 2005 so far. But the opening of BUNTY AUR BABLI ranged from excellent [multiplexes of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, big centres] to average to dull [single screens]. It wasn't 100% everywhere, as was expected.
What did come as a surprise was the fact that BUNTY AUR BABLI didn't fetch that cent per cent opening everywhere. Yash Raj's past few films -- HUM TUM, DHOOM and VEER-ZAARA -- had taken a 95% + start almost everywhere. In the case of VEER-ZAARA, it had embarked on an earth-shattering start everywhere, despite the fact that the Diwali week had witnessed the release of three more biggies, AITRAAZ [Subhash Ghai, Abbas-Mustan], NAACH [RGV] and K. Asif's evergreen classic MUGHAL-E-AZAM.
KAAL, released a few weeks before, had taken a mind-boggling start at every station throughout the country. The brand 'Karan Johar' and 'SRK' had played a pivotal role in the grand opening of KAAL, so going by this logic, why didn't Yash Raj's BUNTY AUR BABLI generate a stupendous, record-breaking response?
While the first weekend business of BUNTY AUR BABLI has been excellent at multiplexes, the film, expectedly, started sliding downwards at several single screens from Monday.
As thing stand today, the first week figures of BUNTY AUR BABLI are expected to be excellent at metros, but not as strong in some circuits.
" alt="Not As Expected!" /> 
