Mixed Response! : Bollywood News

There was widespread speculation within the industry that Yash Raj's BUNTY AUR BABLI will have the biggest opening in Overseas [after VEER-ZAARA], but the film has met with mixed response.

The 4-day Memorial Weekend seems to have benefited BUNTY AUR BABLI in U.S.A. and its opening weekend collections have been excellent, but its business in U.K. [3-day weekend] is not as promising. The screen average in U.K. is almost half of U.S.A.

Now to hardcore statistics:-

When compared to Big B's releases in U.K. [since 1999], the weekend average is lower than WAQT, VEER-ZAARA, AANKHEN, K3G, EK RISHTAA and MOHABBATEIN. BUNTY AUR BABLI was expected to be lower than V-Z, K3G and MOHABBATEIN, but the average being lower than WAQT, AANKHEN and EK RISHTAA has caught everyone by surprise!

In Abhishek's case, BUNTY AUR BABLI is his career's second biggest opener, after HUM TUM [sp. app.] in U.K.

In Rani's career, BUNTY AUR BABLI is lower than VEER-ZAARA, HUM TUM, KAL HO NAA HO [sp. app.], CHALTE CHALTE, MUJHSE DOSTI KAROGE, K3G and HAR DIL JO PYAAR KAREGA in U.K.

In Yash Raj's case, the Numero Uno production house has produced eight films since MOHABBATEIN and BUNTY AUR BABLI occupies the fifth position [see chart below] in U.K.

In U.S.A., BUNTY AUR BABLI has had a much better run. Its opening average is next to VEER-ZAARA here [see chart in U.S.A. section below].

Weekend: May 27 - 29, 2005.

U.K. BOX-OFFICE

BUNTY AUR BABLI has debuted at No. 9 position. In its opening weekend, the film has collected £ 149,640 [approx. Rs. 1.19 crores] on 30 screens, with the per screen average working out to £ 4,988.

YASH RAJ FILMS IN U.K.

FILM	OPENING WEEKEND [£]	SCREENS	AVERAGE [£]
Bunty Aur Babli	149,640	30	4,988
Veer-Zaara	484,993	60	8,083
Dhoom	61,838	25	2,474
Hum Tum	131,741	23	5,728
Saathiya	41,951	20	2,098
Mujhse Dosti Karoge	204,490	32	6,390
Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai	70,492	21	3,357
Mohabbatein	246,368	26	9,476

WAQT - THE RACE AGAINST TIME [last weekend: No. 16, this weekend: No. 21]: In its sixth weekend, the film has collected £ 20,274 on 17 screens, with the per screen average working out to £ 1,193. Total: £ 836,701 [approx. Rs. 6.66 crores]. Excellent!

JO BOLE SO NIHAAL [last weekend: No. 17, this weekend: No. 26]: In its third weekend, the film has collected £ 10,625 on 8 screens, with the per screen average working out to £ 1,328. Total: £ 149,045 [approx. Rs. 1.18 crores]. Rock-steady!

KYAA KOOL HAI HUM [last weekend: No. 38, this weekend: No. 46]: In its fourth weekend, the film has collected £ 2,561 on 3 screens, with the per screen average working out to £ 854. Total: £ 48,619 [approx. Rs. 38.70 lacs]. The weekend average is better than last week.

NAZAR [last weekend: No. 30, this weekend: No. 49]: In its second weekend, the film has collected £ 2,298 on 5 screens, with the per screen average working out to £ 460. Total: £ 15,674 [approx. Rs. 12.47 lacs]. Disaster!

MAIN AISA HI HOON [last weekend: No. 34, this weekend: No. 52]: In its fourth weekend, the film has collected £ 1,850 on 7 screens, with the per screen average working out to £ 264. Total: £ 66,946 [approx. Rs. 53.27 lacs].

KAAL [last weekend: No. 37, this weekend: No. 56]: In its fifth weekend, the film has collected £ 1,476 on 5 screens, with the per screen average working out to £ 295. Total: £ 239,398 [approx. Rs. 1.90 crores].

NETAJI SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE - THE FORGOTTEN HERO [last weekend: No. 61, this weekend: No. 72]: In its second weekend, the film has collected £ 203 on 1 screen. Total: £ 2,397 [approx. Rs. 1.90 lacs].

TOP FILMS IN U.K.

[Based on screen averages]

RANK	FILM	AVERAGE
1	BUNTY AUR BABLI	£ 4,988
2	JO BOLE SO NIHAAL	£ 1,328
3	WAQT - THE RACE AGAINST TIME	£ 1,193
4	KYAA KOOL HAI HUM	£ 854
5	NAZAR	£ 460
6	KAAL	£ 295
7	MAIN AISA HI HOON	£ 264
8	NETAJI SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE -THE FORGOTTEN HERO	£ 203

U.S.A. BOX-OFFICE

[4-day weekend: May 27 - 30, 2005]

BUNTY AUR BABLI has debuted at No. 16 position. In its opening weekend, the film has collected $ 435,767 [approx. Rs. 1.90 crores] on 51 screens, with the per screen average working out to $ 8,544.

YASH RAJ FILMS IN U.S.A.

FILM	OPENING WEEKEND [$]	SCREENS	AVERAGE [$]
Bunty Aur Babli [4-day Memorial Day weekend]	435,767	51	8,544
Veer-Zaara	903,010	88	10,261
Dhoom	102,860	32	3,214
Hum Tum [4-day Memorial Day weekend]	348,149	43	8,096
Saathiya	71,400	29	2,462

NEW YORK CITY BOX-OFFICE

In its opening weekend, BUNTY AUR BABLI has debuted at No. 13 position, collecting $ 53,213 on 2 screens, with the per screen average working out to $ 26,607.

WAQT - THE RACE AGAINST TIME [last weekend: No. 32, this weekend: No. 38]: In its sixth weekend, the film has collected $ 4,254 on 1 screen. New York total: $ 40,984.

KAAL [last weekend: No. 42, this weekend: No. 52]: In its fifth weekend, the film has collected $ 1,157 on 1 screen. New York total: $ 23,635.

AUSTRALIA BOX-OFFICE

[4-day weekend: May 26 – 29, 2005]

In its opening weekend, BUNTY AUR BABLI has collected Australia $ 52,349 [approx. Rs. 17.12 lacs] on 7 screens, with the per screen average working out to $ 7,478.