After last week's Valentine fare with romantic themed films hitting the screen, this week too we see a follow up with four releases viz. LOVESHHUDA, DIRECT ISHQ, ISHQ FOREVER and NEERJA, of which the fourth is based on a true story. Despite a cluttered release schedule, it is the Sonam Kapoor starrer NEERJA that has been the talk of the town, compared to others films.
Reports suggest that both NEERJA and LOVESHHUDA have taken off to a slow start with approximately 25% and 15% occupancy rate during morning shows, while DIRECT ISHQ and ISHQ FOREVER do not feature any morning shows. As for NEERJA, the film which tells the story of Neeraj Bhanot has received glowing reviews from the critics, deals with a serious subject and will be more of a word of mouth based film. While LOVESHHUDA that features a couple of catchy tracks might entice the young audiences to venture into theatres.
On the whole, while business for both NEERJA and LOVESHHUDA is expected to pick up over evening and night shows, the overall business for NEERJA will depend heavily on positive word of mouth to drive collections upwards. In this regard, even if the opening day/ weekend collections seem a bit low, business is expected to be slow yet steady. However, DIRECT ISHQ and ISHQ FOREVER with little to no hype and hardly any promotions, seem to be lost in the crowd.
