Bollywood Business Talk With Taran Adarsh

By Bollywood Hungama News Network

I’ve often said that the Friday business is very unpredictable. The best of actors, the most renowned movie makers, the most conducive release period -- nothing can guarantee success. Forget success, no one can guarantee a cent per cent response on Day 1 across the nation.

Let’s talk of HALLA BOL. Raj Santoshi is a reputed film-maker, having helmed several interesting films over the years. Ajay Devgan is an A-lister as well; the actor is synonymous with qualitative performances and interesting projects. But their new outing together, HALLA BOL, didn’t create any halla at the box-office.

Pointing the finger at any one reason for its tepid start would be erroneous. A large number of people feel that HALLA BOL came at a time when comedies are calling the shots and this genre [hard-hitting, issue-based themes] has already passed the ‘expiry date’ mark.

Another opinion is that why would the common man pay-n-watch a solo Ajay Devgan starrer, when, two weeks later, you can watch the same actor with a bigger combo [SUNDAY] for the same money? Debatable issue indeed!

Of course, other reasons are being cited as well. From the school exams to the cold wave to the cricket match [India versus Australia], we never run out of excuses. The blame-game starts on Day 1 itself.

Despite a positive word of mouth, HALLA BOL hasn’t found many takers and the business clearly reflects this fact. Of course, no one expected HALLA BOL to embark on a 90% + start, but the 30% start [at places, 10% - 15%] made people break into a cold sweat. The business remained static, in the same range, during the weekend, while the weekdays had a sorry story to tell.

As things stand today, HALLA BOL has failed to cut ice with the moviegoers.

The second release, MY NAME IS ANTHONY GONSALVES, cut a pathetic picture from Day 1 itself. Again, none of us ever expected a flying start for this film, but a 5% - 10% start did send shock waves. With the word of mouth being negative, expecting the film to gather steam was out of question. This one’s a total loss!

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