NEW RELEASES BRING SOME RESPITE AT THE BOX OFFICE
After the major debacles of Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and Maidaan, the expectations for last week’s releases, Srikanth and Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes, were not much. But both these films have surprised and would collectively collect around Rs. 30 crores by the end of their first week.
Srikanth, starring Rajkummar Rao, had some buzz due to a good trailer and the song ‘Papa Kehte Hai’. Yet, the industry and trade expectation was that it would open at around Rs. 1 crore. However, it opened at Rs. 2.25 crores, which brought cheer in the trade. The opening is not huge but we need to consider that last month, a big-budget film like Maidaan opened at just Rs. 4 crores. Keeping that in mind, Srikanth’s opening was impressive.
Srikanth jumped to Rs. 4 crores on Saturday and Rs. 5 crores on Sunday. On Monday, it dropped to Rs. 1.65 crores which is not bad. The first week’s collections will be around Rs. 17 crores. There’s no major competition this Friday and if it manages to collect more than Rs. 10 crores in Week 2, it’ll have a healthy lifetime of around Rs. 35 crores or even Rs. 40 crores.
Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes, meanwhile, opened better than Srikanth. It started with collections of Rs. 3 crores. But the collections on Saturday and Sunday were flat – Rs. 4 crores. It has however held well on the weekdays and its first-week collections might be around Rs. 18-19 crores. This film, too, can cross the Rs. 30 crores mark if it holds as strongly in Week 2.
The major Hindi release this week is Kartam Bhugtam, starring Shreyas Talpade and Vijay Raaz. It’s directed by Soham Shah of Kaal fame. The buzz, sadly, is negligible and will face a tough time at the box office. The Garfield Movie, meanwhile, can surprise. The other Hollywood release, If, might work in certain pockets on the weekend.