The much-talked about Akshay Kumar movie Boss finally released last week, and since it was a Wednesday release, the film enjoyed a five-day super weekend but the box office collections remained tepid.
Another release last week was the critically-acclaimed Shahid. Surprisingly, despite the high entertainment factor in Boss, and the quality cinema that Shahid was, both these films haven?t really met box-office expectations, even though Boss opened well. We bring a detailed analysis.
Did Boss dominate?
According to early estimates and official sources, Boss did a business of Rs 45.5 crore in its first five days. In fact, with the opening day collection of Rs 14.5 crore, the film has become Akshay Kumar?s biggest opening ever as per official reports. But from day two, the collections dropped. This film promised full-on entertainment, had good music, and Akshay Kumar doing what he does best; backed by a heavy promotional strategy. Which is why, despite the high box-office figures, the film hasn?t really met expectations. According to trade analyst Taran Adarsh, ?Logically speaking, all these factors should have contributed towards a thunderous start at the ticket window. What?s surprising and has baffled many, is that the word-of-mouth is positive, but it hasn?t translated into box-office numbers.?
Trade expert Amod Mehra says, ?The opening in the single screen was strong, but at the multiplexes, it was dull. On Saturday it was 40 per cent lesser than the opening day. Thus, Boss hasn?t done as well as it should have and the mid-week release didn?t help. In fact, it went against it, because on Thursday, the collections fell down, and it also lost out on the collections on Friday and Saturday. Besides, the cricket matches between India and Australia were also very exciting, so that may have affected the film. The collections at multiplexes did not improve. So, the film will lose money which is disappointing as far as Boss is concerned.? But, since this Friday doesn?t have any big releases, Boss may have a long run at the box-office, and the collections may eventually improve.
Only critical acclaim for Shahid
Shahid has been touted as one of our finest films, and has got everyone from the industry talking about it. Albeit, the box-office numbers belie the fact that Shahid is a brilliant piece of cinema. It collected Rs. 2.05 crore in its opening weekend, according to Taran Adarsh. ?Shahid was a small film. There was buzz about it, considering the critical acclaim it got before the release, but that didn?t match the numbers as far as the audience is concerned. It was a very average Friday, with a slight improvement on the other two days. The word-of-mouth didn?t help the film either, because it was a very dry subject about lawyers and terrorists. It wasn?t even like The Lunchbox where the family or women will go. When you don?t have women audience for a film, it doesn?t really do well. Films like Shahid or Madras Cafe, are mainly seen by the male audience,? says Mehra.
Gravity succeeds
While the Hindi releases aren?t creating wonders, the Hollywood releases are doing exceptionally well. Mehra adds, ?Among the Hollywood releases, Captain Philips and Escape Plan have done extremely well. And of course, Gravity is a phenomenal success, especially in the Imax 3D format. So, it?s not like people are not going to the theatres, they?re going, but only good cinema is being watched.?
Upcoming releases
This Friday sees few releases, but none of them are big ones or star-dominated. There?s Mickey Virus, with Manish Paul making his debut, along with the Vir Das-starrer Sooper Se Oopar, Ram Gopal Varma?s Satya 2, and Ishk Actually starring Rajeev Khandelwal. But there?s no buzz as such, as of now surrounding any of these films.
Pre-Diwali lull
The month of October has been extremely thanda as far as the box-office is concerned. A case in point being Besharam. A number of big releases also didn?t manage to shine. The film earned a domestic total of Rs.59.80 crore in its two-week run, despite being a mid-week release. Last week?s release War Chhod Naa Yaar, failed too. Boss too also hasn?t met expectations. Mehra believes, ?There?s a pre-Diwali lull, but then, that?s not the only reason why the films haven?t done well, because Hollywood releases are doing well. There?s an audience, even in the pre-Diwali period, just that good cinema is needed.?
November galore
A number of highly-anticipated films shall see a November release, and most of them have created a huge buzz and curiosity. Starting with Krrish 3, on November 1, there?s Ram Leela, Gori Tere Pyaar Mein, and Bullett Raja in November. And hopefully, these films may put an end to the slack period at cinema halls.
