Box Office Summary by Taran Adarsh ...

As a kid,

I remember visiting my parents in Mumbai during the annual vacations

and the only ‘hobby’ I indulged in during my adolescence was watching

movies and more movies. I distinctly remember standing in serpentine

queues to watch the new releases at New Talkies, Neptune, Nandi, Bandra

Talkies and Gaiety-Galaxy in Bandra. The one memory I can never erase

was that of the junta whistling away to glory the moment the censor

certificate of the film flashed on screen. If it was an 18-reeler, the

whistles would be strong and if it happened to be a 20-reeler, the

auditorium would be filled with loud cheers, claps and whistles.

Watching a 20-reeler then made people euphoric.

A few days ago, as the censor certificate of UMRAO JAAN flashed on

screen and truth dawned upon viewers that it was a 20-reeler, a group

of ladies seated alongside couldn’t control their gasps, sighs and

moans. “Heavens, it’s a 3-hour film,” someone remarked, making me

realize once again that times have changed. A 20-reeler is more of a

bane than a boon in today’s time and age. That’s one of the prime

reasons why J.P. Dutta’s films suffer at the box-office.

I distinctly remember watching J.P.’s directorial debut GHULAMI

almost two decades ago and the first thing the producer asked me once

the screening concluded was, “Film kaisi lagi?” My reply was rapid,

“The director is the actual star of this multi-starrer.” When I compare

J.P.’s output in GHULAMI or YATEEM [even though this didn’t work] with

UMRAO JAAN, I sincerely feel J.P. is not in form of late. As a

storyteller, he knows the grammar of film-making right. As a

technician, he’s fantastic. But as an editor, sorry, either he’s too

passionate about his work and forgets all about editing or he has lost

objectivity.

The disastrous opening of UMRAO JAAN sent shock waves within the

film industry. And the blame-game began on Friday itself. “J.P.

should’ve promoted the music for at least a month more,” someone

suggested. Here’s another one, “The youth of today is not interested in

costume dramas/period films.” And another, “Abhishek and Ash make a

lovely pair, but they’re unlucky as far as box-office goes: DHAAI

AKSHAR PREM KE, KUCH NAA KAHO and now UMRAO JAAN.” But why are we

overlooking the chartbuster ‘Kajra Re’ from BUNTY AUR BABLI?

Back to UMRAO JAAN. The opening was 25%-30% at most places, while

certain centres reported as low as 10%-15% occupancy, which sets you

thinking. “We were expecting a slow start,” a prominent distributor of

UMRAO JAAN told me on Friday afternoon. But things didn’t improve on

Saturday, while the evening shows on Sunday showed better occupancy at

some multiplexes. On Monday and Tuesday, the business plummeted

completely.

Take, for instance, an ‘A’ class centre like Indore [one of the

barometers in the industry]. The comparative collections of UMRAO JAAN

are sure to give you a clearer idea of how the mighty fell:

THEATRE Friday Sunday Tuesday

PVR 55,000 64,000 12,300

Inox 32,000 46,200 9,800

Adlabs 28,000 57,600 8,600

Velocity 24,000 42,300 6,050

Note:- Friday was approx. 20% occupancy, so just do your

calculations for Tuesday.

As things stand today, the heavily priced UMRAO JAAN has emerged a

setback for the industry, making its distributors poorer by a couple of

crores.

THIS WEEK IN 2005
[Weekend: November 4-6, 2005]

The verdict on the Diwali releases was out: The sole ‘cracker’ that

burnt the brightest was GARAM MASALA. The film recorded extra-ordinary

collections in its first five days and Monday onwards, had been holding

very well. The business of SHAADI NO. 1 did get a boost thanks to the

5-day weekend. But it was a definite disappointment from the badshaah

of entertainers -- David Dhawan.

Everyone was disillusioned by the response to KYON KI… and two vital

reasons were being attributed to its tepid start: The thanda promos of

the film and moviegoers’ non-interest in watching sad endings during

the festive season, when the mood is upbeat.

THIS WEEK IN 2004
[Weekend: November 5-7, 2004]

With the film industry going through a rough patch, all eyes [and

hopes and prayers] were pinned on the four prominent Diwali releases --

VEER-ZAARA, AITRAAZ, NAACH and the evergreen classic MUGHAL-E-AZAM.

Beginning this week, an exciting phase was about to unleash. Will the

fortunes change for the better? Will the festival of lights spread

brightness in our lives? Will the ratio of hits show an upward trend?

Will the producers and distributors heave a sigh of relief?

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