The coming Friday will see the release of the Dutt, Arshad, Riteish and Aashish starrer Dhamaal and Ram Gopal Varma's Fardeen-Esha starrer, Darling. Of the two Dhamaal is expected to take a better start due to a better cast (and Indra Kumar's past record in comedy), as compared to Darling.All the three releases of last Friday failed to impress the paying audience as well as the critics. Ananth Narayan Mahadevan's Victoria No 203 looks like a half hearted attempt and expectedly the opening was poor across India. A definite disaster and there are no surprises in that outcome. Pooja Bhatt's Dhokha is a good attempt gone wrong in execution and publicity. Though a few of the critics liked the movie, the opening was dull to weak and the makers cannot hope for more than a fair performance. Coming to Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag, the film which released at 75 cinemas of Bombay-Thane got of to a weak start. Outside of Bombay, the opening was below the mark almost everywhere, but good in several centers of U.P. But as the weekend progressed, the film weakened further. In fact, as we had predicted in our last column, the still quite strong older releases like Chak De India and Heyy Babyy were the first preferences for most of the audience during the week. To sum it up, Ram Goapl Varma Ki Aag may have something for the single screens at 'B' and 'C' centers but precious little for the multiplex and 'A' centers and there is where the moolah comes from.
Coming to Sajid Nadiadwala's Akshay, Fardeen, Riteish and Vidya starrer, Heyy Babyy, the movie capitalised on a good start and has done very well both in India and Overseas. In the first week Heyy Babyy collected 4.96 crores from Bombay (18 unrecd.), 1.15 crores from Ahmedabad, 5.15 lakhs from Himmatnagar, 3.75 lakhs from Valsad, 15.15 lakhs from Rajkot, 7 lakhs (gross) from Jamnagar, 2.35 lakhs from Adipur, 1.75 lakhs from Karad, 3.40 lakhs from Solapur, 4.85 lakhs from Sangli, 11.85 lakhs from Nasik, 1.45 lakhs from Miraj, 2.48 crores from Delhi city, 45.25 lakhs from Ghaziabad, 20.75 lakhs from Faridabad, 20.32 lakhs from Ghaziabad, 34 lakhs from Noida, 16.80 lakhs from Kanpur, 33 lakhs Lucknow, 3.60 lakhs from Agra, 3.80 lakhs from Bareilly, 28.75 lakhs from Nagpur, 3.90 lakhs from Jabalpur, 3.50 lakhs from Amravati, 2.40 lakhs from Akola, 15.90 lakhs from Raipur, 3.50 lakhs from Bhilai, 1.10 lakhs from Durg, 1.40 lakhs from Wardha, 2.60 lakhs from Chandrapur, 1.25 lakhs from Yavatmal, 29 lakhs from Indore, 2.45 lakhs from Sehore, 1.70 lakhs from Ujjain, 9.70 lakhs (gross) from Ajmer, 31.30 lakhs from Jaipur, 2.85 lakhs from Guwahati, 90 lakhs from Calcutta, 3.35 lakhs from Aurangabad and 58 lakhs from Hyderabad. In its first week Heyy Babyy netted an impressive 27.50 crores from India and the movie is on way to a second (consecutive) 2007 success for Akshay Kumar. Heyy Babyy also continues its impressive overseas run, having grossed $1,207,620 in the US while the UK collections for this weekend are unreceived.
Smita Thackrey's Kasiey Kahein... is a washout despite its low 2 crore budget. It has barely managed to collect 10 lakhs in its opening week from India.
Yash Raj's Shah Rukh Khan-Vidya Malvade starrer, Chak De India, continues to be strong, specially in the cities and with tax-exemptions coming into effect in many states, the movie is set for a long and fruitful run. In the third week, Chak De India collected 1.75 crores from Bombay, 30 lakhs from Ahmedabad, 3.10 lakhs from Rajkot, 3.10 lakhs from Jamnagar, 1.25 lakhs (gross) from Bhavnagar, 1.30 lakhs from Solapur, 3.40 lakhs from Nasik, 1.15 crores from Delhi city, 26.50 lakhs from Gurgaon, 9.35 lakhs from Faridabad, 6.60 lakhs from Ghaziabad, 20.80 lakhs from Noida, 3.30 lakhs from Kanpur, 14 lakhs from Lucknow, 3.10 lakhs from Aligarh, 10.80 lakhs from Nagpur, 1.50 lakhs from Amravati, 1.40 lakhs from Akola, 2.35 lakhs from Raipur, 11 lakhs from Indore, 4 lakhs from Bhopal, 3.70 lakhs from Jaipur, 1.90 lakhs from Ajmer, 1 lakh from Guwahati, 23.75 lakhs from Calcutta, 2.10 lakhs from Aurangabad and 28 lakhs from Hyderabad. During the week, the Shimit Amin directed movie collected around 8.25 crores for an all-India total of around 44 crores. Given its distribution cost, Chak De India is now a superhit in India and still has a lot of steam left. Even in the Overseas, the movie continues to improve and has so far collected. $1,053,099 from US while the UK collections for this weekend are unreceived.
Meanwhile David Dhawan's Govinda, Salman, Lara and Katrina starrer Partner continues to earn for its makers. In its sixth week the movie collected 12 lakhs from Bombay, 4.15 lakhs from Ahmedabad, 2.55 lakhs from Delhi city, 1.20 lakhs from Noida, 1.80 lakhs from Kanpur, 3.40 lakhs from Lucknow, 1.80 lakhs from Agra, 1 lakh from Nagpur, 1.15 lakhs from Amravati, 3.10 lakhs from Jaipur and 1.60 lakhs from Hyderabad. During the week Partner added almost a crore for a six week all-India total of nearly 62 crores. The movie is a blockbuster hit. In the Overseas, Partner has grossed £ 822,630 from UK and $1,062,840 from the US and is a good hit.
