"People were complaining that Singh is Kinng didn't get an opening" - Vipul Shah

By Joginder Tuteja, Bollywood Hungama News Network

Vipul Shah is plain amused that even after a record breaking opening at the box office, there have been quite a few trade pundits/other notable names from the film fraternity who believed that Singh Is Kinng hadn't quite got an opening. And that too when the film has now officially beaten the biggest of first week openers at the box office and sits pretty much at the top of the heap with more than Rs. 40 crores just from India.

"Even as the first weekend numbers were officially out, there were people complaining that SIK didn't get an opening", smiles Vipul Shah who is now the only filmmaker in the 21st century to have delivered four successful films in a row - Aankhen, Waqt, Namastey London and now Singh Is Kinng, "Some of them called up directly while many confessed in whispers stating - 'Yaar, collections toh theek hai par opening nahi lagi'. Of course, they were referring to percentage occupancy of people which was over 80%. Their grudge was that why wasn't it 100% on the opening day itself in spite of all the hype."

Since the film was floated on close to 1000 prints in Indian market itself, it was quite obvious that expecting cent percent audience in 15-20-25 shows wasn't quite a feasible task. "Exactly", agrees Shah, "One has to look at the bottom line which means to make sure that your film is THE film which is being watched by the audience in the week of its release. In case of Singh Is Kinng that is exactly the case. And for the uninitiated, we did manage 100% at majority of centers across the country over the first weekend. In fact in Mumbai, we did much more than even Om Shanti Om if we look at the opening day numbers. First week collections which have been out more than justify our stand as well."

But why such negative attitude by an industry which is in fact thirsting for a bona fide box office success? "They didn't spare even Om Shanti Om and said that there was a drop in collections as days progressed. What were they smoking then? As we know, it is the biggest ever money spinner made. See, such a phenomenon is visible in stock market as well where there would be bulls and bears. If something is going up and supported by a bunch of people, the others would try to pull it down. Just like people who stand behind you, there are negative people in the industry as well. One should not really pay any heed and move on by stating - 'Ok, good for you; let the numbers come'. Now that the first week results are out, I guess everyone is invited to join the party celebrations," concludes Vipul with a glee.

• Movie News