Apelaboo.....!

There is still a lot of uncertainty over the release dates of new films owing to the ongoing dispute between multiplexes and producers/distributors over the sharing of revenues, and so from this Friday onwards, there is no major film listed for release. Yes, we do have names like MERI PADOSAN and the dubbed ONE MAN ARMY... ONG BAK 2 that will hit the screens.

Last Friday's major release, Percept Picture Company's Akshay Kumar and Ayesha Takia starrer, 8 X 10 TASVEER, which was expected to provide the industry a much awaited success, disappointed and shocked with its performance. The Nagesh Kukunooor directed film which was released at 91 cinemas of Bombay-Thane (thru Aum Exhibitors), had an ordinary start. Outside of Bombay 8 X 10 TASVEER had quite a dull opening almost everywhere. Trade predicts that given its high price and the dull start, 8 X 10 TASVEER will prove to be a losing proposal for all concerned. The film has also been rejected in the Overseas, grossing just $62,038 from UK.

Meanwhile the Nana-Bobby starrer, EK- THE POWER OF ONE, has not done well in its first week. The film collected 80 lakhs from Bombay, 25 lakhs from Ahmedabad, 8 lakhs from Baroda, 6.50 lakhs from Surat, 3 lakhs from Anand, 1.75 lakhs from Bharuch, 2.50 lakhs from Vapi, 2 lakhs from Palanpur, 1 lakh from Himmatnagar, 5.50 lakhs from Rajkot, 2 lakhs from Jamnagar, 2.20 lakhs from Bhavnagar, 1.50 lakhs from Gandhidham, 18 lakhs from Pune, 2.15 lakhs from Kolhapur, 3 lakhs from Solapur, 1.50 lakhs each from Malegaon and Ahmednagar, 2 lakhs from Sangli, 4 lakhs each from Nasik and Goa, 23 lakhs from Delhi city, 3.75 lakhs from Noida, 4 lakhs from Ghaziabad, 2.50 lakhs from Kanpur, 7.50 lakhs from Lucknow, 2 lakhs from Agra, 1.50 lakhs from Allahabad, 1 lakh from Gorakhpur, 4.50 lakhs from Gurgaon, 1 lakh from Faridabad, 1.50 lakhs from Calcutta, 7 lakhs from Nagpur, 1.15 lakhs from Akola, 1.75 lakhs from Raipur, 2.25 lakhs from Indore, 1.20 lakhs from Bhopal, 4 lakhs from Jaipur, 1.05 lakhs from Bikaner, 25 lakhs from Hyderabad, 3 lakhs from Aurangabad, 1.50 lakhs from Nanded and 1.15 lakhs from Mangalore. Netting around 4.50 crores during its opening week in India, EK- THE POWER OF ONE has a tough battle ahead, even for a recovery.

The film which released with EK- THE POWER OF ONE, the Bipasha-Neil starrer, AA DEKHEN ZARA, is also below the mark. The film collected 65 lakhs from Bombay, 28 lakhs from Ahmedabad, 1.50 lakhs from Mehsana, 7 lakhs from Rajkot, 2.15 lakhs from Jamnagar, 3 lakhs from Bhavnagar, 1.50 lakhs from Gandhidham, 1.15 lakhs from Solapur, 2 lakhs from Belgaum, 56 lakhs from Delhi city, 13.15 lakhs from Noida, 14 lakhs from Noida, 4.50 lakhs from Ghaziabad, 9.50 lakhs from Lucknow, 1.75 lakhs from Agra, 2.15 lakhs from Gorakhpur, 3 lakhs from Gurgaon, 6 lakhs from Faridabad, 2.75 lakhs from Calcutta, 2.50 lakhs from Nagpur, 2.15 lakhs from Bhopal, 2 lakhs from Jaipur, 26 lakhs from Hyderabad and 2 lakhs from Aurangabad. In its opening week, AA DEKHEN ZARA has netted around 4 crores from India and looks like a certain loser for all concerned.

The third release of the same week, Deepa Mehta's VIDESH (HEAVEN ON EARTH) has been out rightly rejected, as expected. The film collected 13 lakhs from Bombay, 2 lakhs from Ahmedabad, 1 lakh from Pune, 8 lakhs from Delhi city, 1.25 lakhs from Noida, 3 lakhs from Gurgaon and 2.50 lakhs from Hyderabad. With less than 50 lakhs in its opening week, VIDESH is an unmitigated disaster.

Moving on to ALOO CHAT, the film has crashed badly all over. The Aftab Shivdasani starrer collected 14 lakhs from Bombay, 4 lakhs from Ahmedabad, 2.50 lakhs from Pune, 14 lakhs from Delhi city, 3 lakhs from Noida, 2.05 lakhs from Lucknow, 1.25 lakhs from Chandigarh, 6 lakhs from Gurgaon, 1 lakh from Faridabad and 3 lakhs from Nagpur. Adding another 1.10 crores, the Bobby Grewal directed ALOO CHAAT has netted around 4.35 crores in two weeks from India. The film has turned out to be a big failure at the box-office.

The two Naseeruddin Shah starrers, BARAH AANA and FIRAAQ, crashed out totally in the second week. While BARAH AANA is a disaster, FIRAAQ is a flop!

Anurag Kashyap's GULAAL too is breathing its last with just 6 lakhs from Bombay, 1.30 lakhs from Ahmedabad, 2.60 lakhs from Delhi city, 1.35 lakhs from Noida and 1 lakh from Gurgaon. With a further 25 lakhs, GULAAL has netted just about 4.50 crores in three weeks from India. And that is less than the first week total of Anurag's last successful venture, the Abhay Deol starrer DEV D! Needless to add that GULAAL is a total loss.

Concluding this weeks report with Madhavan's 13B, the film that is one of the rare, though small success of 2009. The film collected 5.10 lakhs from Bombay, 1 lakh each (approx.) from Ahmedabad and Gurgaon and 1.70 lakhs from Hyderabad. Adding a further 20 lakhs, 13B has netted close to 8.20 crores in four weeks from India. The film is sure to end its run as a below average to average fare.