Keeping in line with the box office decline, the latest three releases were near duds
'Youngistan'
None of the three films — 'Dishkiyaoon', 'O Teri' and 'Youngistan' — that released last week left an impression at the marquee. Simply put, big producers making small films didn’t really work wonders. Of the three, 'Youngistan' took the number one position at the box office followed by 'Dishkiyaoon' and 'O Teri'.
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Of the three Friday releases, 'Youngistan' (above) took the number one position followed by 'Dishkiyaoon' and 'O Teri' respectively
According to exhibitor Rajesh Thadani, it was one of the worst weekends in 2014. He says, “'Youngistan' raked in Rs 4 crore during the first weekend while 'Dishkiyaoon' collected Rs 3.5 crore and 'O Teri' touched only about Rs 2.25 crore. It was extremely poor for all three.”
Interestingly, directors of all the three films — Syed Ahmed Afzal, Sanamjit Talwar and Umesh Bisht — are debutants.
Vishal Anand of Fun Cinemas adds, “Although last weekend was the poorest week of March, overall the month was good with films like 'Queen', 'Ragini MMS 2' and '300'.” Trade analyst Amod Mehra has rated all the three films in the dumb-dumber-dumbest category. He says, “I cannot even talk about the numbers these films made. I can assure you that the numbers of all the three films put together will not cross Rs 10 crore. It was definitely an advantage for 'Queen' and 'Ragini MMS 2' which continued to bring in the numbers at the box office.”
The total collection of the Kangna Ranaut-starrer is currently pegged at Rs 55 crore while the Sunny Leone-starrer is going strong at Rs 43.5 crore. Not at all bad for woman-centric films.
First quarter collections
With the first quarter coming to a close, the industry is appalled with the performance of films at the box office. Of the 40 films that released from January to March, only about half a dozen did good business. Thadani says things might improve in the coming months. “The first quarter has not been very encouraging barring films like 'Yaariyaan', 'Queen', 'Ragini MMS 2' and 'Gunday' which was average. This period has not been good for the film industry. January to March has been a weak period, but good content always works and Queen’s working has proved it.”
Anand compares this calendar year with 2013. “The first quarter didn’t do that well due to poor content in February unlike last year when we had three hits — 'ABCD', 'Special 26' and 'Kai Po Che'.”
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