Box office report...

The opening day box-office collections for new releases "Sheesha" and "Chahat..." were dismally low. In Mumbai, both films averaged below 30 percent collections.

The exhibitors and single-screen theatre owners are likely to continue screening Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Black" that has collected Rs.17 million ($385,000) in Mumbai, according to trade observer Taran Adarsh.

The Rani Mukherjee-Amitabh Bachchan film is a critic's delight and word of mouth can help the film in a major way. Pritish Nandy Corporations' release - "Shabd" - starring the beautiful Aishwarya Rai opposite Sanjay Dutt and Zayed Khan - had a weak opening all over India.

"If the ratio of flops rose to an all-time high in the first month of 2005, the first week of February ('Black', 'Shabd') has not really reversed the trend. The opening day or weekend figures of a majority of films are pathetic, the business of most films is dismal, the economics of the film industry has gone haywire," he says.

That also holds true for Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgan's "Insan", Suniel Shetty-Ajay Devgan's "Blackmail" and multi-starrer "Padmashri Laloo Prasad Yadav". Subhash Ghai's "Kisna" has turned out to the filmmaker's biggest flop ever.

The only heartening performance was of "Page 3" that continues to do good business in A class centres even if it was rejected in the B and C class centres. Being a low-budget film, the revenue it earned in multiplexes was enough for it to sail through.

The weeks ahead are not likely to change the tide. Coming up on Feb 18 is "Zameer" by producer Eklavya Visions P. Ltd. The film stars Ajay Devgan, Amisha Patel and Mahima Chaudhary.

"Jurm" by director Vikram Bhatt and starring Bobby Deol, Lara Dutta, Milind Soman and Gul Panag; "Socha Na Tha" with newcomers Abhay Deol and Ayesha Takia; "Chehraa" with Bipasha Basu, Dino Morea, Preeti Jhangiani and Irrfan Khan are likely to be released on the same day.

Before the end of the month, the lid is likely to go off "Bewafaa" which is generating audience interest on account of its soulful music. The Dharmesh Darshan film casts Anil Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Manoj Bajpai, Kareena Kapoor, Sushmita Sen, Shamita Shetty and Kabir Bedi.

"Bewafaa" is an intense romantic drama and the best bet for Bollywood's dismal exhibitors and distributors. If it is successful, then love will once again be credited for making work go around in Bollywood. Like they say, love conquers all.

IANS