MUMBAI: The tradition was that no films released during ‘shraaddh’ as it was considered inauspicious. The exhibitors, in such an event, had to feed the cinema halls with either repeat run of old hits or dubbed films from southern India. The tradition has been shelved in the new scheme of things.
The week saw numerous new film releases, most of them could not even manage a decent exploitation as in playtime. A few shows at odd times which, too, failed to draw footfalls in most cases.
*Of the new releases, Banjo, a musical about a street-side banjo player who has been noticed by an American talent scout, offered best hopes, if any, to the exhibitors to feed this dull period. However, the film did not have much to offer merit-wise to do well even in the best of periods. A routine story of an underdog, this musical lacked what was needed the most: hit music.
The film opened with a poor response with opening day collections barely managing to cross a crore-mark. Saturday remained as bad while Sunday improved only marginally. The film collected Rs 4.45 crore for its first weekend.
*Days of Tafree: In Class Out Of Class, a Hindi remake of the Gujarati hit, Chhello Divas, failed to repeat its success. This youth-oriented college campus fun film did not quite appeal to its target audience. In fact, there were no takers from day one as the collections showed. The film barely managed to collect Rs 50 lakh for its opening weekend.
*Parched, a critically acclaimed film, remains just that as the collections remained in the vicinity of Rs 50 lakh for its opening weekend.
*Dil Sala Sanki, Wah Taj, Chapekar Brothers flopped badly.
*Pink, which did well during its opening weekend, especially on Saturday and Sunday, started dropping on Monday to settle within the range such films have set: lifetime Rs 40-crore range. The film collected Rs 35.5 crore for its first week.
However, with all the new releases proving to be duds at the box office, the film’s collections stand to get a fillip in its second weekend.
*Raaz: Reboot could add little during the remaining four days after a poor opening weekend. The franchise was stretched a bit too far without caring for substance. The film ended its first week with a mere Rs 22.7 crore.
*Baar Baar Dekho added Rs 1.5 crore in its second week to take its two week total to Rs 27.6 crore.
*Freaky Ali collected Rs 1.25 crore in its second week taking its two week total to Rs 11.95 crore.
