‘Krrish 3’ was one of the most anticipated film of the year and opened to a very good response, as is evinced by the box office collections. The Hrithik Roshan starrer was eagerly awaited by loyal fans of the superhero Krrish who thronged the theatres, breaking the opening day record set by the previous Diwali releases.
Pre-Diwali lull
?Krrish 3 released during the pre-Diwali phase, which is considered to be the worst period of the entire year for the business of cinema. Still, it could manage to deliver a record breaking performance. In fact, the film?s day one collections have been the biggest for any film that had a non-holiday release,? says trade analyst Amod Mehra. According to him, Krrish 3 collected Rs 26 crore on day one. With Rs 24 crore being garnered from the Hindi release and the rest Rs 2 crore from the Tamil and Telugu versions.
Considering the success of its sequels, single screens had given 100 per cent of their screen space to the superhero film. Confirms Manoj Desai, Executive Director of Maratha Mandir, Mumbai, ?All the four shows of Krrish 3 are running housefull, with 100 per cent occupancy.?
While the film is doing extremely well at single screens, comparatively, the occupancy has not been so good at the multiplexes. Desai, who also handles G7 multiplex, says, ?I was expecting the film to do extraordinarily well, but the pre-Diwali phase is actually affecting it, when it comes to its performance in the multiplexes. We have given 100 per cent space to the film in all our theatres, but the occupancy rate has been 95 per cent.?
Mayank Shroff, Manager Programming and Film Marketing , Cinepolis India is facing a similar problem. He says, ?We have given 90 per cent of our screens to Krrish 3, and received an opening of about 90 per cent.?
Success ahead
Although initially, the film did not have 100 per cent occupancy at the multiplexes, at the time of going to press, on Saturday, Mehra was optimistic that the film?s business would only grow from here. ?The pre-Diwali phase as I mentioned earlier is the dullest for business. Despite that, the film managed to be the biggest opener. From Monday (November 4) sky is going to be the limit,? said Mehra. He also mentioned that the film had a limited release on November 1. He said, ?Limited release means in many single screens, the film will release on Monday (Nov 4) because, most of the theatre owners during pre-Diwali phase keep their theatres shut for doing puja etc. Thus, if the film in C.I. (Central India) has had a release in 47 screens (on Friday), on Monday it will be released across 63 screens.?
Krrish 3 ranks third amongst films that have been the top openers, with Chennai Express leading with Rs.33.12 crore and Ek Tha Tiger following with Rs.32.93 crore. Otherwise, the film has done maximum business on its opening day, as compared to the other Bollywood releases during Diwali like Jab Tak Hai Jaan which opened with approximately Rs.15 crore, or Ra.One that garnered Rs.14.7 crore on their first day. (Figures are approximate, referred from boxofficeindia.com and koimoi.com)
Still running at the BO
With Krrish 3 taking up most of the screen space, there was hardly any scope for previous releases. Mickey Virus however was holding its ground at several multiplexes. ?The Manish Paul-Elli Avram starrer received an average occupancy of 25 per cent across Cinepolis India on Friday, the day Krrish 3 released,? says Shroff. The Saurabh Varma directorial, as per Bollywood Hungama report collected an amount of Rs.7.1 crore, in its first week.
Also playing at the multiplexes were international films Gravity and Captain Phillips. The Sandra Bullock starrer Gravity received 25-30 per cent occupancy on Friday, while Captain Phillips also saw significant amount of footfalls.
*Considering the Diwali holiday, trade story in this issue highlights just the opening day performance of Krrish 3
SCREEN Forecast
Our Verdict
In the issue dated November 1-7, 2013, Screen had predicted that the Diwali weekend release would prove successful for Krrish 3. Though affected by the pre-Diwali phase, the Hrithik Roshan starrer managed to have a grand opening, thanks to the family audience and the kids who thronged to the theatres. With an impressive opening day collection, it remains to be seen whether the film will make a profit, over and above its estimated production cost that is 120 crore, and does a record breaking business ahead.
