What a royal mess it has turned out to be! The Friday gone by witnessed not two or three, but around half-a-dozen Hindi films vying for audience attention. If that wasn't enough, there were Hollywood and non-Hindi films too. Does it make business sense? We don't witness so many films during Diwali, Eid or Christmas, so why now? What was so special about this week?
The story doesn't end there. On one hand, there's a barrage of fresh films and on the other, the glorious run of holdover titles like BHAAG MILKHA BHAAG and recent releases RAMAIYA VASTAVAIYA and D-DAY has resulted in a chaotic situation to grab the screens and shows. It must've been a challenge of sorts for exhibitors to accommodate so many films last week.
Now let's look at how the films fared. Expectedly, the Hollywood import, THE WOLVERINE, dominated the weekend, while the Punjabi biggie, BEST OF LUCK, grossed excellent numbers in North. Amongst Hindi releases, BHAAG MILKHA BHAAG continues to gallop steadily, overpowering the new opponents by a wide margin. BAJATEY RAHO [North circuits] and NASHA [single screens] were slightly better, but their outcome would've been much better had so many films not clashed in a single week.
The forthcoming week again has a number of films slated for release, but how many films will eventually make it to theatres this Friday, let's wait and watch.
Let's get one thing straight! The screens and show timings at cineplexes are finalized on the perception as well as the buzz that's hovering around the film. Post weekend, the programming team replaces the weaker lot with films that perform better at the ticket window. It's the low cost films [without the backing of studios] that face rough weather these days. Wooing the audience comes later. Wooing the programming team of cineplexes has become a priority these days.
