Bollywood Business Talk With Taran Adarsh

By Taran Adarsh Bollywood Hungama News Network

First WANTED. Now VEER. Some commonalities first...
# Like WANTED, VEER had an excellent start at single screens.

# Like WANTED, VEER performed poorly at plexes.

# ike WANTED, VEER failed to take off in the international markets.

Now some dissimilarities between WANTED and VEER...
# WANTED enjoyed extremely positive reports and grew from strength to strength with each passing day. Saturday was better than Friday, while Sunday was better than Saturday and Monday was better than Sunday. VEER showed a drop on Saturday and a drastic drop on Monday. While Tuesday [26th January; Republic Day holiday] was good, I foresee a heavy drop on Wednesday and Thursday.

# WANTED was released during the Eid festivities and the dream run spilled over to its second weekend [no major opposition] and also third weekend [2nd October; Gandhi Jayanti holiday]. VEER has found appreciation amongst the single screen section, but that's not enough. Plus, there's no holiday in its second weekend. Instead, it has two major oppositions to compete with [RANN and ISHQIYA].

Any film that carries the burden of a heavy price tag ought to have long legs, ought to work wonders at plexes and single screens both and also fetch great returns from key international markets. The revenue from plexes is poor and I foresee the multiplexes giving preference to RANN and ISHQIYA, since VEER hasn't worked at plexes. As for the international market, the revenue generated from U.K., U.S.A. and Australia is dull.

Ideally, VEER should've collected at least Rs. 24 cr. to Rs. 27 cr. in its opening weekend [it collected approx. Rs. 19 cr. to Rs. 20 cr.] in India, while Week 1 should close at approx. Rs. 30 cr. to Rs. 32 cr., as per estimates. The revenue boost from plexes is clearly missing here. Assuming that Week 1 closes at approx. Rs. 31 cr., the distributors go home with a share of approx. Rs. 18 cr. to Rs. 20 cr., in view of the fact that the share from single screens are much higher.

Of course, Week 2 plays a crucial role now. However, two factors go against the film. One, the word of mouth isn't mind-boggling. Two, the exorbitant price tag [Rs. 70 cr.]. Let's not forget, it's not the film, but the price that fails!

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