Boxoffice thread for the week 02/10/2008

Boxoffice thread for the week 02/10/2008 – 09/10/2008

Som |

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NG members are requested to put up this week’s Boxoffice related reports,updates and numbers of films in this one thread instead of consuming separate/individual thread. Thanks! BOI’s report:Kidnap All Set To Win Initial Eid Battle Kidnap looks set to win the first round of the Eid battle as all signs are that it will get a better opening than Drona. The multiplex chains are giving the better screens and more shows to Kidnap while the advance booking at single screens which opened yesterday was better for Kidnap. Despite Kidnap being a 20 crore film compared to the 50+ crore of Drona, in terms of release Kidnap is set to have a bigger release in all the circuits of India. The team of Drona have done a great job with its publicity campaign over the last week but exhibitors are favouring Kidnap. The multiplexes are going for Kidnap due to the popularity of Imran Khan with the urban youth while Sanjay Dutt gives it tremendous face value in the smaller centres. The advance at single screens of Kidnap is only behind Singh Is Kinng and Race for 2008. The first round is set to be won by Kidnap and it remains to be seen how the public reacts to both films and what Monday brings. Taran Adarsh:’Kidnap’ versus ‘Drona’ Now here’s one week everyone’s looking forward to. After a string of low-cost and medium-budget fares making a mark in the holy month of Ramzan, let’s get ready to embrace the biggies, starting from this week onwards. All eyes are on KIDNAP and DRONA. For various reasons… KIDNAP is crucial for director Sanjay Gadhvi as also Imran Khan. Gadhvi makes his first film outside Yash Raj and naturally, people are expecting the moon from Gadhvi’s new outing. Will KIDNAP be as successful as DHOOM and DHOOM 2? KIDNAP is also an acid test for Imran Khan, who has been cast in a role that’s in sharp contrast to the one in JAANE TU… YA JAANE NA. Will it work? Will Imran stand up to a giant like Sanjay Dutt, who has decades of experience behind him? Similarly, DRONA is crucial for Abhishek Bachchan and Goldie Behl. Abhishek has had a string of flops after GURU. JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM and LAAGA CHUNARI MEIN DAAG, produced by Yash Raj, have proved supreme disasters at the box-office, while SARKAR RAJ met with average success in Mumbai-Maharashtra and South. Elsewhere, it was a flop. Since DRONA rides on Abhishek’s shoulders, it’ll be interesting to see if the actor pulls in the audiences in its opening 4-day weekend. Also, Goldie Behl has to prove his abilities after he flunked the test in BAS ITNA SA KHWAB HAI. Thursday, October 2 holds the answers!

Weekly Box Office thread

A quick note on KIDNAP (Hindi, 2008)

My Name Is Khan Has Good Advance

Paa major circuit breadowns for first week !

VEER liked? Says who?

There Are 138 Responses So Far. »

Som 2 October 2008
09:01:33 pm

Kidnap to release with 936 prints worldwide

Mumbai: The Indian Film Company is releasing Kidnap with total of 936 prints worldwide in 1155 screens. Kidnap is directed by Sanjay Gadhvi and it stars Imran Khan, Sanjay Dutt and Minisha Lamba

Kidnap releases on Wednesday 1 October in the Middle East on the festive occasion of Eid. Several paid previews are also being organized in the UK & USA on 1 October. In India the film releases on Thursday 2 October.

In India alone, the film is being distributed with 411 physical prints and 350 digital prints. The movie will play in 975 screens across India. On the other hand, in the overseas Kidnap is releasing with 175 prints in over 180 screens.

As per information provided by The Indian Film Company, Kidnap is releasing in 600 more screens than Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na, which was Khan’s debut movie.

Som 2 October 2008
09:03:03 pm

Drona V Kidnap Early Box Office Ahmedabad

Kidnap has left Drona trailing in Ahmedabad in the first shows. The 08.25 show for Kidnap at Adlabs had 259 patrons while for Drona at the 08.15 show it was 124 patrons. Both screens are same size with 270 capacity.

Fun Cinema recorded 331 patrons for Kidnap at the 09.15 show while Drona recorded 61 patrons for 09.05 show. The screen capacities were different here with Kidnap capacity being 390 patrons and Drona being 290 patrons.

Som 2 October 2008
09:05:01 pm

Kidnap Leads Drona In United Kingdom

Kidnap and Drona were both released on Wednesday in United Kingdom due to Eid and it is Kidnap which has done much better business.

Kidnap grossed £65,000 while Drona grossed £35,000 on Wednesday. The tussle was expected to be much closer with most believing Drona would open much better Overseas.

Kidnap Opens To An Excellent Response All Over

Kidnap has opened to an excellent response all over. The morning shows ranged from 70-100% and afternoon shows are better ranging at 80-100%. The all India average looks set to be around 90% for the first day.

The best opening was in the Mumbai circuit as the morning shows at places like Pune and Surat opened to full or near full houses.

Som 2 October 2008
09:09:39 pm

Drona Box office Collections

Kidnap Box office Collections

Som 2 October 2008
09:11:05 pm

while there seems to be mixed reactions for this Sanjay Gadhvi’s Kidnap, Abhishek Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra starrer Drona — the magical adventure of a prince who is out to save the world — isn’t getting a royal treatment at theatres

Video

Som 2 October 2008
09:12:19 pm

Kidnap Easily Beats Drona On Day One

Kidnap has easily won the opening day Eid box office battle against Drona. Kidnap has managed around 85% collections on day one. The nett collections on day one were around 5.25 crore. Drona on the other hand started on a slow note in the morning shows but managed to do a bit better afterwards and managed collections of 55%. The nett collections for Drona on day one were around 3.25 crore.

Kidnap should emerge a success even though reports are mixed while Drona faces a huge uphill struggle at the box office as it has massive costs to recover and the opening has not been good and reports are also not encouraging.

Som 2 October 2008
09:13:38 pm

Indore Barometer Day One Drona v Kidnap

Kidnap is leading Drona at the multiplexes of Indore and also has added advantage of a good opening in 4 single screens while Drona opened poorly on one single screen. The Thursday collections from multiplexes are below.

PVR

Drona-1,38,100

Kidnap-1,52,600

Adlabs

Drona-1,00,000

Kidnap-1,34,300

Inox

Drona-73,330

Kidnap-99,100

Velocity

Drona-62,600

Kidnap-85,600

The first day total billings from Indore were 6.50 lakhs nett for Kidnap and 4 lakhs nett for Drona

johnnybrutal 3 October 2008
02:55:22 am

i never expected kidnap to open better than drona, i am actually shocked that drona isnt even decent, what was abhi smoking when he said he’s never been more confident?

rudresh 3 October 2008
04:17:51 am

Drona And Kidnap Figures Mumbai And CI

Friday 3rd October 2008 14.00 IST

Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network

Drona grossed 1.40 crore while Kidnap grossed 2.10 crore in Mumbai circuit on day one. The Mumbai/Thane city collections were 70 lakhs approx for Drona and 1 crore approx for Kidnap.

The figures for day one in CI were 7.35 lakhs for Drona and 11.45 lakhs for Kidnap.

satyam 3 October 2008
06:41:32 am

Here’s a BOC piece on Kidnap:

http://www.businessofcinema.co.....wsid=10189

they also claim a drastic drop on day 2..

Gabber 3 October 2008
07:11:45 am

Satyam, You have leased a new life to the thread.
Guru is the only solo hit film that Abhi has given, so obviously he is comparing the opening of Drona with Guru.
Abhishek may very well be right if Guru had a weak opening, but from what I know, Guru had picked up dramatically from Saturday post Abhi-Aish marriage news.
Additionally, do you think that with so much at stake, Abhishek will agree if the film faces a setback at the box office?
IMO, Kidnap is getting better reviews that it deserves just because it happens to be a shade better than Drona.

satyam 3 October 2008
07:49:53 am

Gabber: At allbollywood.com Drona is doing 37% and Kidnap 38%. so they have the same kinds of reviews.

On Abhishek saying that I think it would be a bit foolish on his part to insist on this if the film is tanking anyway because this would hardly matter. If Drona is opening better than Guru on day 1 that is not an inconsiderable opening given that Guru opened well (the idea that it was weak on Fri was the media playing up once again as was the idea that it picked up with the engagement story) and given that there’s another film in town as well.

But I don’t think it’s up to Abhishek to agree or disagree. You can’t call a flop a hit if that’s the case. With a SR there was a plausible scenario because so much of the media was and still calls it a success. But no one’s going to do that with Drona. The reason this is important is because the narrative on Abhishek’s films usually is ‘did not open well but picked up..’ They fill in the blanks with something or the other later. Or ‘did not open well and the numbers are there to see’. The good example here is JBJ. Supposedly it didn’t open too well but then made 20 crores in week 1 despite crashing completely from Mon! Saawariya opened magnificently but crashed even more and made less than 20 crores. But the media narrative was very different.

Ultimately if Drona is a tank day 1 does not matter to the overall picture but it matters as an index of what was happening on opening day itself with a certain star and a certain film.

getting back to the reviews it’s not the negativity that’s problematic but once again the utter vitriol. The Kidnap reviews are negative in a normal way. Most reviewers don’t like the film. But with films where there are these ‘emotional outbursts’ what is really going on is either a)the film simply not working for people at a conceptual level b)other kind of politics part of the mix (in this case anti-Bachchan)

To be clear once again, the film could have done 20% at allbollywood and I wouldn’t have had an issue. But most of the reviews have been unprofessionally done and there is a very ‘personal’ element to them. That’s the distinction. It’s as if you got certain usual suspects on the forum and asked them to pen reviews on Drona!

If Drona tanks completely this is indeed a big blow for Abhishek. He hasn’t had any real success since Jan ‘07 and Guru. And unlike JBJ this kind of film is harder to live down. having said he’s not going anywhere. He has Dostana is just a month. He’ll have D6 in March now but that’s not too far. The fact is he keeps doing enough films. When you have Mehra and Rathnam and Karan Johar and so forth ‘buzz’ or ‘attention’ are hardly in question. The glee with which each Abhishek failure is greeted by some here is an index precisely of the anxiety he provokes. Does anyone react when John Abraham has a flop?! But a special note here for the Hrithik fans — Abhishek will still have three more high profile releases before Kites releases! And ‘dissing’ Abhishek all day long does not change the elementary fact that no one calls Hrithik the top star and no one will either till he increases his volume and maintains the same level of success. The ire at Abhishek is misplaced. If it’s because ‘Satyam’ here rekindles some anxieties well ‘Satyam’ isn’t stopping!

For some here Abhishek has become Moby Dick who has to be hunted down. But as in the story this becomes a lifetime obsession that destroys one psychologically before anything else happens!

So yeah Drona being a bomb would hurt him quite significantly. And I am a believe in stars not losing their momentum completely more than anyone else here much as I also believe in overall narratives. Abhishek has taken steps back since Guru for sure. There is real danger for him here. he needs some back to back successes at this point and very major ones to make up for this lost time. Again not for survival but for ’star magnitude’.

As things stand today if Drona is a total washout I think the best possible recovery effort is to have dostana in a month which has all the makings of a blockbuster. Not my kind of film unfortunately but I think Abhishek will take the success! For the anti-Abhishek folks here there’s still hope. Call Dostana a John/Bobby multistarrer. LOL!

beld 3 October 2008
08:08:31 am

hmmm – the most vitriolic review of drona came from saket i think. i wonder if he thinks of abhishek as moby dick or any other dick for that matter!

i dont think the reviews are vitriolic – we saw similar reviews for LS2050/RGV ki aag/tashan etc etc. cmon sat – dont tell me u really thot abhishek suited this role. this had a distinct ‘disaster’ feeling written over it for a while with the genre/director/actor combo..
anyways – so u think dostana will be a BB.. interesting – when is it coming btw? if its really a gay flick – will it be made “A” rating. then lot of NG members wont be able to watch it

satyam 3 October 2008
09:10:15 am

Anything from Saket is welcome anytime!

Som 3 October 2008
09:11:07 am

Welcome To Sajjanpur Has Steady Week Two

Welcome To Sajjanpur has recorded collections of 3.55 crore nett in week two. The film is fairly steady as it has dropped around 45%. The two week nett business is over 10 crore which is good business considering the costs.

A Wednesday Has Excellent Week Four

A Wednesday showed a jump in collections in week four as compared to week three. In week four it grossed 2.01 crore nett while business in week three was 1.91 crore nett. The cumulative four week business stands at an impressive 9.73 crore nett. The film is heading for 11 crore+ business at the end of its run.

Som 3 October 2008
09:12:22 am

Kidnap First Day Collections Around India

satyam 3 October 2008
09:24:26 am

beld: It is actually a source of some distress to me that Karan Johar keeps pushing the right buttons on his target audience and the latter keeps responding. This might well be an enjoyable film but that’s beside the point. From the first trailer and the first song and what not his target audience has pretty much liked everything about this film. The gay theme might turn off many outside the multiplexes, even perhaps some of the family audience within the multiplexes but the audience this film is aimed at will assuredly love it. And if it’s enjoyable enough it might get others on board too. The point is a very big opening and a good enough follow through. This is ‘manufacturing’ a hit. From the ‘hot’ stars to the locales to the beach songs to the ‘peppy’ music it’s a pander of a film. And all of us enjoy manufactured films. it’s not that I’m discounting myself. But this is the way to keep producing hits. An actor can stick to genre and keep profiting this way. Since the subject is Drona here Abhishek can keep doing the BM ‘cool’ stuff once a year and have a guaranteed hit with that demographic (which dominates multiplexes).

The point is not ’stardom’ but how long it takes to get to a certain kind of stardom by kicking genre. Aamir took a long time (though to be fair the 90s didn’t offer him these opportunities). It’s not about having a hit or a flop. One is always better off having the former but the question is: what does a hit mean for one’s future? So SR, Drona, Dostana, D6, Rathnam’s Raavan, Balki’s Pa, Rohan Sippy film (probably), the Abhimaan remake are all completely different! Nothing common here. So the audience really has to take it film by film. No ‘natural’ genre advantage can accrue. If you have a Dostana followed by a similar film or at some point relatively soon then you really see the initial grow (SRK didn’t have a Yashraj/Johar every year but with fair regularity, Akshay does comedies one after the other, Hrithik in krrish, D2, now Kites more or less plays his strength genre, JA is a bit of an exception though it still allows Hrithik to play on some of his strengths but in any case there was a world of difference between the initial here and the one for Krrish or D2; initials in each case keep growing with regularity in terms of genre).

Abhishek is really following the Aamir model but doing so at the peak of his career (his age) and moreover doing a far greater volume. Sure, the multiplex system rewards different films but there are limits here. These seemingly ‘different’ films still have to conform to certain ideological predilections in many ways.

Abhishek’s bet remains open though it’s been a tough ride since Guru for sure and Drona if it tanks completely is a big hit. I don’t mince words either way. But what really kills a star once a certain magnitude is achieved is age. The only real enemy a star has. Unless there’s complete mismanagement of one’s career as we’ve seen stars do before. Ultimately the box office is what the industry looks at. So the Mehras and the Rathnams are great of paper but you need those films to work. No argument here. Which is why Abhishek’s bet remains open. He continues to attract some of the greatest prestige projects but time is really running out in a box office sense. Dostana will give a much required breather (unless it succeeds totally beyond expectations) but D6 becomes equally critical. he needs a run here. Consistency as Jay would say. His stardom is not the issue but even the biggest stars have to keep proving it every year at the box office. He will certainly be in the danger zone if Drona is a complete failure. Sure, as Jay points out one blockbuster changes fortunes overnight but this applies less to Abhishek because he doesn’t cling to genre.

satyam 3 October 2008
09:26:05 am

By the way Aag got these reviews not Tashan or LS2050. In fact Khalid Mohd was the one critic who gave Tashan that kind of vitriolic review and I called him on it here. The question is not one of negativity but about making things personal. It happens with other films and stars too at times but consistently with Abhishek starrers. Compare Tashan’s reviews to JBJs!

nithi_s 3 October 2008
10:02:35 am

“Anything from Saket is welcome anytime!”

So, who is not welcome??? Moderators please answer?

Do we need some gracious host welcoming every Member post? Really!!!

neelu 3 October 2008
10:29:23 am

nithi – I hereby welcome your post on this subject!

rks 3 October 2008
10:29:46 am

“Moderators please answer?”

The way I read the comment is that even negative comments from Saket has a high opinion in Satyam’s mind. You can draw inference that there are comments by other members which he doesn’t value. But I believe everyone has the same position vis-a-vis other members, nothing harmful?

neelu 3 October 2008
10:36:00 am

rks – any post from you is always welcome

saket 3 October 2008
10:55:16 am

This is a silly debate and the attempts to force humor are in bad taste. And not funny either.

neelu 3 October 2008
10:59:03 am

Ha Ha – I welcome any post from Saket too

Jesse 3 October 2008
11:08:46 am

“Kidnap has easily won the opening day Eid box office battle against Drona. Kidnap has managed around 85% collections on day one. The nett collections on day one were around 5.25 crore. Drona on the other hand started on a slow note in the morning shows but managed to do a bit better afterwards and managed collections of 55%. The nett collections for Drona on day one were around 3.25 crore.”

If those figures are true, isn’t the combined total(not how much each film takes, as Drona looks like its going to get squashed) fairly impressive? The combined total for OSO and Saawariya was ~60 cr which would be an average of 8-9 cr a day. And here we have about that much on day one which is actually a weekday. Assuming that things get better over the weekend and there is a not so drastic fall on Monday and adding on the extra day, shouldn’t both films combine for over 50 cr?

Som 3 October 2008
11:14:33 am

Jeese:A combined figure of 50 cr is pretty much possible,unless both have taken big falls from today after all these negative reviews and reactions.

Gabber 3 October 2008
11:27:52 am

I completely agree with Satyam and admire him even more now.
He is maintaining a dignified poise, the way Abhishek does.

One has to admit that Drona’s review does seems to have some form of personal element attached. I really liked Saket’s review and though I have not interacted with him much, he surely seems disappointed rather than getting mischievious pleasure.

Like many here, I too have always regarded Abhishek as highly competent. In fact I think he is a mix of Akshay and Aamir and that is huge. What he needs is a little bit of luck. Everyone needs it, but with Abhishek it looks like the lady luck is too thrifty.

I always had fears about Drona dee to Goldie. One needs a reliable director to make a 50 Cr movie. Replace him with Rakesh Roshan in Drona and one would have seen SIK’s record being broken.

Now I think Abhishek has cleaned his slate and is all set to give us some of the best films. Satyam has already shown the list and i do not think any other actor has such impressive followup. Drona was a joker in the pack. Unfortunately, it did not help. But if there is one actor who can survive this debacle, he is Abhishek.

Tango 3 October 2008
11:28:07 am

Som – I predict an 8-day figure of around 46-48 crores (nett) for Drona plus Kidnap from India.

Individual break ups I can give on Monday.

saket 3 October 2008
11:38:03 am

Gabber: I echo every word you said. Not the ones about me, but everything on Satyam. He’s a classy guy, if ever there was one.

Som 3 October 2008
11:39:04 am

Tango: See, if BOI numbers are to be believed, the total capacity for both movies in the 4 day weekend seems to be around 48 cr i.e 12 cr each day.”Kidnap” if records a good weekend anything around 80-85% on an average should get close to 20-21 cr and “Drona” assuming it does 60-65% over the weekend should fetch 15-16 cr.This is how the 4 day weekend should look like in my opinion.

rks 3 October 2008
11:42:58 am

If we go by ratings/reviews, both movies would crash after the initial hype.

Som 3 October 2008
11:50:24 am

rks,It’s almost certain,BOC has already claimed of a fall in the collections of “Kidnap” on Friday which certainly does not give any good indication.”Drona” whatever I have read in the reviews and the reactions of audience on TV(which have been terrible)is on it’s way to tank.

beld 3 October 2008
11:56:07 am

>>He’s a classy guy, if ever there was one

yawn..time to sleep…

>>>In fact I think he is a mix of Akshay and Aamir and that is huge
lol – what crap. this guy has given one mediocre hit in Guru and look at all the comparisons. all this talk of vitriol etc is a little pathetic – especially coming from people who spew vitriol the maximum
yes maybe abhishek doesnt deserve the reviews he gets but hell he is not even that big an actor to get the reviews he does. baap aur patni ka pura isthamal kaise kiya jaye – isse seekho!

drona sucks – so what! big deal – doesnt change anything imo. abhi was a niche star – he remains a niche star

btw where are the ranbir fans – where does kidnap put imran vis-a-vis ranbir. satyam – any comments on that mr class…

rockstar 3 October 2008
11:59:39 am

yawn time to sleep some boring predictable comments

gabber: u r entitled to have ur own opinion so is anybody but personal digs from nowhere as usual indicates fucking nonsense

beld 3 October 2008
12:02:52 pm

rockstar – there was no personal comment. i called the statement crap – i dont believe there is anything personal in it. anyway u are entitled to ur opinion as u have advised gabber.
if its boring and predictable – why is ur blood pressure increasing btw

nithi_s 3 October 2008
12:08:05 pm

“The way I read the comment is that even negative comments from Saket has a high opinion in Satyam’s mind. ”

Oh oh! You can read it in however way it is convenient. But look at the words…. “Anything from Saket is welcome anytime!”

In other words, Saket is graciously allowed to comment on the topic by a higher authority.

Its apparent that Satyam presumes to owns the topic and is making allowance for others to express opinion.

And its indirectly expressed that opinions of NG members other than sandy and Saket are not appropriate enough to be worthy of welcomes.

This is damn funny IMO. The last time I came across such a preposterous statement was while reading ‘Catch 22′. Satyam you rock!

saket 3 October 2008
12:14:09 pm

Nithi: I first interacted with Satyam some 9 years ago! It’s perhaps the longevity of association that makes him value my opinion, when it’s not necessary for him to do so. I’d respect him and his encyclopedic knowledge, anyway.

rudresh 3 October 2008
12:17:08 pm

Both movies had crashed, if gone by NDTV report.
It saying both movies collections droped drastically from yesterday.
even the one onf multiplex guy clearlly admitted that the turnout for both has dropped drastically

rockstar 3 October 2008
12:25:06 pm

beld: really as far as i know i didn’t mentioned ur name anyway good to know u know more about my blood pressure i guess its a part of personal experience

someone who has a problem of high b.p understand that automatically

Gabber 3 October 2008
12:27:09 pm

‘Both movies had crashed’

Releasing this film on Thursday has backfired big time.
Cannot beleive that the weekend has just started because the reports are suggesting that weekdays are coming.

nithi_s 3 October 2008
12:29:03 pm

“. I’d respect him and his encyclopedic knowledge, anyway.”

What makes you think I don’t Saket? I am like Yossarian in this matter ….

‘Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle’

rockstar 3 October 2008
12:32:04 pm

“Anything from Saket is welcome anytime!”

omg what ashit is this

rks: my compain to u regarding this comment though this comment is not personal and is not directed at me but it indicates the manipulative phychology of commentator why has he not welcomed me please ban him this is a serious offence

nithi_s 3 October 2008
12:40:10 pm

rks,

Please don’t ban the commentator. I want to read more such absurdities to light up the day!

rockstar 3 October 2008
12:48:40 pm

no rks please ban the commentator he is higly biased and illogical like most of us

nithi_s 3 October 2008
01:50:02 pm

“But I don’t think it’s up to Abhishek to agree or disagree.”

– What else should he do?

“You can’t call a flop a hit if that’s the case.”

–Wow! What a reasoning!

“With a SR there was a plausible scenario because so much of the media was and still calls it a success.”

–So?

“But no one’s going to do that with Drona”.

— For no other reason other than it not being a success!!!

“The reason this is important is because the narrative on Abhishek’s films usually is ‘did not open well but picked up..’ They fill in the blanks with something or the other later. Or ‘did not open well and the numbers are there to see’. The good example here is JBJ. Supposedly it didn’t open too well but then made 20 crores in week 1 despite crashing completely from Mon! Saawariya opened magnificently but crashed even more and made less than 20 crores. But the media narrative was very different.”

— Saawariya was thrashed more brutally and it affected the first week. So?

“Ultimately if Drona is a tank day 1 does not matter to the overall picture but it matters as an index of what was happening on opening day itself with a certain star and a certain film. getting back to the reviews it’s not the negativity that’s problematic but once again the utter vitriol.”

– lol Negativity is not problematic??? But to whom?? Whose cause the writter is taking up? On whose behalf is this sentence said??? Tut! Tut! Lamenting on virtriol. A bad film will be trashed. What is the nees to make it a case of media brutality against Abhishek Bachchan (the poor victim)??? .

“The Kidnap reviews are negative in a normal way. Most reviewers don’t like the film. But with films where there are these ‘emotional outbursts’ what is really going on is either a)the film simply not working for people at a conceptual level b)other kind of politics part of the mix (in this case anti-Bachchan) ”

—– Oh oh! The entire world is conspiring against the poor Bachchans who are already down. That is why so much wrath. Now I understand. Pitiable indeed.

“To be clear once again, the film could have done 20% at allbollywood and I wouldn’t have had an issue. ”

— But who are you to have an issue in the first place??? Ain’t we all just viewers???

“But most of the reviews have been unprofessionally done and there is a very ‘personal’ element to them.”

– Look who is talking about Personal element…

“That’s the distinction. It’s as if you got certain usual suspects on the forum and asked them to pen reviews on Drona!”

– The usual suspects are criminals who willingfully do crime against the Bachchans. Their biggest crime is not accepting the legendery fame of Bachchans. This interior motive is what is forcing them to invent nasty stuff about Drona. Now I understand why sandy and saket have been welcomed inspite of negative criticism. The have to be intimated that they aren’t a part of the usual suspects.

“If Drona tanks completely this is indeed a big blow for Abhishek. ”

–That must have hurt to accept it. Again on whose behalf is this statement made???

” He hasn’t had any real success since Jan ‘07 and Guru. ”

—Poor baby. But who is to be blamed for it???

” And unlike JBJ this kind of film is harder to live down. having said he’s not going anywhere.”

– Delighted. Thanks for being the harbringer of the excellent news.

“He has Dostana is just a month. He’ll have D6 in March now but that’s not too far.”

— We have to comfort ourselves which such thoughts.

“The fact is he keeps doing enough films. When you have Mehra and Rathnam and Karan Johar and so forth ‘buzz’ or ‘attention’ are hardly in question.”

–Delighted that the world is being nice to poor little Baby, even after duds like Drona.

The glee with which each Abhishek failure is greeted by some here is an index precisely of the anxiety he provokes. ”

–HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! Abhishek provoked anxeity???

“Does anyone react when John Abraham has a flop?!John has understandable gone down after a flop.”

– Tinsel down is never nice to people who fail. John has been struggling to survive in Bollyland unlike Abhishek.

“But a special note here for the Hrithik fans — Abhishek will still have three more high profile releases before Kites releases! ”

—Now that’s wicked logic!

“And ‘dissing’ Abhishek all day long does not change the elementary fact that no one calls Hrithik the top star and no one will either till he increases his volume and maintains the same level of success. ”

— Ha hahah! The statement is more true to Abhishek rather than Hrithik.

“The ire at Abhishek is misplaced.”

– Thats an interesting way to put the spotlight of pity back to Abhishek.

“If it’s because ‘Satyam’ here rekindles some anxieties well ‘Satyam’ isn’t stopping!”

– Please don’t stop! I have had so much fun! I don’t want the jokes to stop.

“For some here Abhishek has become Moby Dick who has to be hunted down. ”

– Because Abhishek is a MOBY DICK. He sinks quicker than one might have expected.

“But as in the story this becomes a lifetime obsession that destroys one psychologically before anything else happens!”

– Confession of sorts! Applies precisely to writer.

“So yeah Drona being a bomb would hurt him quite significantly.”

–Does it take so much time to come to that conclusion???

“And I am a believe in stars not losing their momentum completely more than anyone else here much as I also believe in overall narratives. Abhishek has taken steps back since Guru for sure. ”

– Finally. Must have felt terrible to accept it.

“There is real danger for him here.”

– And whose behalf is this statement made??? The logic is appalling.

“he needs some back to back successes at this point and very major ones to make up for this lost time. Again not for survival but for ’star magnitude’.”

– Abhishek, listen to advice from your gaurdian angel!

“As things stand today if Drona is a total washout I think the best possible recovery effort is to have dostana in a month which has all the makings of a blockbuster.”

– Is this some kind of emergency plan of action??? Why are you making it on behalf of Abhishek???

“Not my kind of film unfortunately but I think Abhishek will take the success!

– Have we settled for a sub-standard hit??? All talks of the importance of respect down to drain??? Or that logic applies only to praise Aamir?

“For the anti-Abhishek folks here there’s still hope. Yeah! Call Dostana a John/Bobby multistarrer. LOL! ”

–Well this whole post is one BIG LOL!!

satyam 3 October 2008
02:08:30 pm

Gabber: You are far too kind.. thanks so much.. as you know the respect is mutual..

Nithi_s: hope you’re not expecting a response to that. It’s beyond my saner abilities!

imgr8 3 October 2008
02:09:43 pm

“Beld: btw where are the ranbir fans – where does kidnap put imran vis-a-vis ranbir. satyam – any comments on that mr class…”

belder I hope you are not implying anything bad about RK or else the swords are coming out

goodfella 3 October 2008
02:26:12 pm

Satyam – have you seen it yet? If not, tonight, I presume? It’s playing at the usual suspects in the city, but I’m a bit afraid to catch until a reliable opinion can recommend it!

neelu 3 October 2008
02:30:02 pm

ROFL! NG always makes my day. Nithi – I bow my head in respect, the Romanians must be feeding you some good stuff

Rocky 3 October 2008
02:36:34 pm

Re. hope you’re not expecting a response to that.

You are darn right ( wink) Joe six pack never again will we taken advantage of and sent to the bridge to nowhere, and
Satyam there you go again pointing backwards again.
Now doggone it, let’s look ahead..

LOL !!

Rocky 3 October 2008
02:37:40 pm

btw Satyam, what did you think of the debate??

Rocky 3 October 2008
02:41:53 pm

Beld-if its really a gay flick – will it be made “A” rating. then lot of NG members wont be able to watch it
LMAO !

beld you are king of one liners !

Rocky 3 October 2008
02:48:39 pm

Nithi itna gussa sehat ke liye achcha nahin.

nithi_s 3 October 2008
02:51:26 pm

gussa?

I am Rolling on the ground laughing!

Rocky 3 October 2008
02:57:33 pm

tab Theek hai !

Rocky 3 October 2008
02:59:42 pm

Song Of the Day-

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf2M-8xBMxo

LOL !!

Kunal27 3 October 2008
06:09:07 pm

I more or less agree that Drona got more flack from media than Kidnap, though both look like utmost trashy products. But it actually is easier to see why.

Kidnap, a 20 Cr. product, Kay Kay cost more than that to Drona, his purple cape, hair style (if there was one) cost 22 Cr. Moreover Imran’s 2nd movie, Minissha a new comer, only old actor, Sanjay Dutt, who has certainly lost the race long time ago. Don’t give Munna Bhai because nothing before or since has worked for him. A few performances here and there don’t really help a resume filled with Kaantes and Kahaniyas.

Whereas Abhishek is a bigger star than Imran, Sanjay and Minissha, all of them combined. Loads of experience, loads of publicity, hype and production cost, obviously raises the level of expectations from the movie. And when it falls so short of expectations, OFC it will get the flack.

If the question is if it got more flack than Tashan, I beg to differ, Tashan was hated, absolutely hated, Drona, people are still raving about Spl effects and Priyanka. Did it get more flack than Aag? no way, Aag was hated to an unimaginable degree.

So if your concern is that Abhishek is hated, well, I haven’t seen the movie, but from trailers all reviews seem bang on target. Same age old grumpy expressions. He just don’t suit running in a salwar kameez with those expressions.

a movie like this should be made with a light heart, where director abv failed. Not that Abhishek can not do light movies, he has shown that he can.

So stop complaining that media is being harsh on Abhishek, because they are doing nothing but expecting more from Abhishek, much more. Even many members over here make all his movies as next milestone in Indian Film industry, make him some kinda crowned prince. So you guys are as much on fault for us to hating the movie to such a degree.

No matter what anyone says over here, Abhishek is neither Aamir, nor Akshay nor Hrithik not even Shahrukh. The day all of us realize that, including members and media, we all might enjoy his movies a bit more.

if you are asking us why we don’t talk about John’s failures as much as Abhi’s then ofcourse it means that you put John and Abhi on the same pedestal of performance and following, I guess he is miles ahead of John, in every department.

But then what do I know? I liked race

Som 3 October 2008
07:01:30 pm

Abhishek to me has had always a great line up,it’s unfortunate that “Sarkar Raaj” and assuming “Drona” will tank have not really delivered for him and lived up to the expectations.”Drona” of course was a big gamble as he was trying something really different and his biggest film in terms of budget and canvas.Post “Guru” he has “Jhoom Barabar Jhoom”, “Sarkar Raaj” and now “Drona”,the movies which in fact don’t belong to any particular genre, something an “actor” should keep on doing in my opinion.It’s a different thing that his experimentation has rather been unsuccessful both in critical and commercial terms.What he needs now is a good commercial success which I guess “Dostana” should be able to bring for him and then he has Rakesh Om Prakash Mehra’s “Dilli 6″ and Mani’s film,both I guess have every possibility to be some kinda “buzz”films, the “prestige” hits so to speak.The failure of “Drona” should not be something that would debar him from keep experimenting and doing different films.Success and failure will always be there.

A C H I L L E S 3 October 2008
08:13:32 pm

Kidnal Trumps Drona on Release Day

Two big films, Drona and Kidnap, and an international film Hell Boy 2 hit the box-office on Thursday, ending a succession of two slack weekends.

Out of the three films to have released on October 2, a national holiday, Drona opened at 50%, Kidnap at 70% and Hell Boy 2 at 20-25% across theatres.

Weekend advance bookings indicate that Kidnap is ahead of Drona. Reportedly, both films had a high production cost; Rs 20 crore for Kidnap and close to Rs 50 crore for Drona.

Drona is a super-hero movie starring Abhishek Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra while Kidnap is Imran Khan’s second film. The actor shot to glory after his first film Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na.

Bhumika Tewari, AVP programming, Fun Cinemas, said, “The box office collection last week, when only Rafoo Chakkar and Hari Puttar released, wasn’t impressive. They were promoted very little and had complete new comers.” Hari Puttar and Rafoo Chakkar opened to a poor 5-10% response. Tewari said that Journey to the Center of the Earth and A Wednesday are still running strong at the box office with 55% and 60% respectively.

According to the Box Office India report, international markets have been eagerly waiting for Drona and Kidnap to rake in some money.

Currently, Punjabi films are dominating the scene there; Hashar did business worth Rs 50 lakh in its first three days and blockbuster Mera Pind hit Rs 4.25 crore in 24 days, the report says.

It goes to to add that another film, Hullu, is extremely dull and has collected Rs 15 lakh net in its first week. Saas Bahu Aur Sensex is also a disaster with collections worth Rs 55 lakh in week one. Welcome To Sajjanpur, on the other hand, recorded a decent Rs 6.50 crore during its first week.

http://www.financialexpress.co.....ay/369309/

Som 3 October 2008
08:21:22 pm

B.O. update: ‘Kidnap’ & ‘Drona’ – good & bad news

There’s good news and bad news! First, the good news…

Both KIDNAP and DRONA, the two major releases of the week, benefitted due to October 2 holiday [Gandhi Jayanti and Eid]. The collections of KIDNAP were strong across all multiplexes on Thursday, but not as strong at mini-metros and smaller towns. The first day [Thursday] all-India nett, according to Studio 18, is approx. Rs. 5 crores. However, the business had a 25% decline on Friday due to it being a working day, although the collections should’ve been strong due to the Eid festivities.

DRONA, on the other hand, was leading in U.P., where it opened to an excellent response. The film was running to packed houses at several key stations here. At other places, the opening ranged from good to average to ordinary. A decline was noticed on Friday.

Now the bad news…

Both KIDNAP and DRONA are enjoying negative reports and the high occupancy could be due to the holiday period. While the opinion on KIDNAP ranges from below average to bad, DRONA is carrying negative reports. It remains to be seen how the two films fare on Saturday and Sunday, but given the fact that the reports are far from positive, a fall [at several places] is expected on Saturday and more from Monday onwards.

In Overseas, DRONA collected 4,00,000 Dirhams in the Middle East on its opening day [source: Eros]… KIDNAP also collected 4,00,000 Dirhams on Wednesday and 3,50,000 Dirhams on Thursday [source: Studio 18]… KIDNAP collected £ 65,000 on Thursday and £ 44,000 on Friday in U.K… KIDNAP also opened in Pakistan on Eid [on Wednesday]. The Pakistan distributor has informed this writer that the collections are bigger than SINGH IS KINNG.

Now the economics…

Both KIDNAP and DRONA carry the burden of a heavy price tag. Industry talk is that Ashtavinayak has sold KIDNAP for Rs. 36 crores to Indian Films. Add to it another Rs. 4 crores for prints and promotions [TV promotions were done separately by Ashtavinayak], which means that the costing is around Rs. 40 crores. Since Studio 18 hasn’t sold the film and are distributing it across the country, it would be interesting to see what the outcome is after Week 1.

On the other hand, DRONA is an expensive film [industry pegs it at Rs. 45 cores to Rs. 50 crores] and add to it prints + promotion expenses. Eros too is distributing the film. Let’s await the outcome!

Tango 3 October 2008
08:40:58 pm

Som- “Tango: See, if BOI numbers are to be believed, the total capacity for both movies in the 4 day weekend seems to be around 48 cr i.e 12 cr each day.”Kidnap” if records a good weekend anything around 80-85% on an average should get close to 20-21 cr and “Drona” assuming it does 60-65% over the weekend should fetch 15-16 cr.This is how the 4 day weekend should look like in my opinion.”

My mistake and carelessness I actually meant 36-38 crores for both movies in 8-days, not 46-48 crores. Perhaps sleep got the better of me

Som 3 October 2008
08:42:57 pm

Top 5: ‘Sajjanpur’, ‘Wednesday’, ‘Rock On’ are rock-steady

Som 3 October 2008
08:52:14 pm

Tango: You still have not got my point. I only talked about the 4 day weekend, not for the entire week.

Kidnap first day was 5.5 cr,occupancy 85% which means 100% would be close to 6 cr.

Drona first day was 3.25 cr, occupancy 55% which again means a capacity of close to 6 cr.

Both movies had a combined capacity of 12 cr in one day, so 4 day weekend will have approx.48 cr as the total capacity.

Som 3 October 2008
09:00:54 pm

Kidnap Scores Over Drona

Drona opened below the mark at 55% response on day one and the collections fell badly to around the 30% mark on day two. The reports are poor and the film will be a huge flop unless a miracle happens over the weekend. UP is best. Expected four day weekend business approx 10 crore nett.

Kidnap opened very well at around 85% on day one but collections fell to around 55% on day two. The film was better in Mumbai, Delhi/UP, East Punjab and Mysore while drops were larger in CP Berar and CI. The reports are mixed. Overall the film will do better in the larger circuits and should emerge profitable but a big hit is unlikely. Expected four day weekend business approx 17 crore nett.

Click Here

Hari Puttar is poor as it grosses around 1.50 crore in week one.

Welcome To Sajjanpur did decent business in week two with collections of 3.55 crore. The film has crossed the 10 crore mark.

1920 adds another 1.50 crore to take its total to 10 crore. AVERAGE

A C H I L L E S 3 October 2008
09:02:48 pm

Tango Bhai – “I actually meant 36-38 crores for both movies in 8-days”

Agree with you … but imo the combined week 1 total of both will be below 35 crores.

Som 3 October 2008
09:04:25 pm

This is bad news.Both movies have almost tanked imo.10 and 17 cr in the 4 day weekend respectively is indeed horrible.

rks 3 October 2008
09:06:51 pm

Fashion recovers 50% investment through endorsements

Som 3 October 2008
09:08:50 pm

Weekly Collections on Indiafm

A C H I L L E S 3 October 2008
09:16:39 pm

About Abhishek, the fact remains he is a mediocre actor who has improved somewhat over the years, but lacks the essential screen presence, charm or charisma to be a star. He got the chance to improve himself over initial 16-17 Flops only because he is a Bachchan.

A couple of movies with Dad (BnB, Sarkar) in 2005, a couple of multistarrers (Dus, Dhoom) in that period, and Bluffmaster which was average at BO suddenly hyped him up beyond proportions … why? only because he is a Bachchan.

Come 2006, and he is lucky to be part of a KJO-SRK movie which became a technical hit because of SRK’s BO pull for a huge opening … and then he suffered the biggest setback as he was utterly disgraced by HR in D2.

UJ became the biggest disaster of 2006.

Jhoom Barabar Jhoom became the biggest disaster of 2007. LCMD was the other embarrassment in the same year.

Drona is on its way to become the biggest disaster of 2008.

Sarkar Raj? It was average in Mumbai, Mysore and Nizam … but Flop in all other circuits!

Only saving grace was a small 40 crore hit Guru, which came way back in jan 07. The critical acclaim (much more than a non-bachchan would have got) made up for the not so big collections. But then this is the only SOLO hit in abhi baby’s career!

But this is not the end of Abhishek. Why can he survive such debacles? Only because he is a Bachchan.

Bachchans and Gandhis are the saddest and sickest bloodlines of India.

sandy 3 October 2008
09:31:39 pm

Abhishek is still promoting Drona all over at different places. I don’t get this. Can’t he see this is a dud he’s acted in?

Som 3 October 2008
09:36:59 pm

“Rock On” has another rock steady week. “Wednesday” has been a superb trender..

shehriyaar 3 October 2008
10:40:59 pm

This is not meant to be a personal attack, but ACH your hatred for Abhishek comes to the fore each and everytime there’s something about him……. really not sure why? I agree the Bachchan name is there, but i think he has created a niche for himself in the industry. I have followed NG since it’s birth, and you have always been negative on the Abhishek issue, no matter what he does, i guess you have set a real high standard for him that he’s not able to catapult himself to. I think i will apologize on his behalf…. SORRY!!!

A C H I L L E S 3 October 2008
10:46:24 pm

I stated box-office facts, and the the counter argument becomes a personal comment on my preferences. I have nothing to add.

saket 3 October 2008
11:01:16 pm

“Bachchans and Gandhis are the saddest and sickest bloodlines of India.” Box office fact!

Som 3 October 2008
11:09:33 pm

Indore Barometer: ‘Kidnap’, ‘Drona’ crash on Day 2

By Taran Adarsh, October 4, 2008 – 10:39 IST

Shocking, shocking, shocking! The cracks have started appearing sooner than expected. This writer was the sole person to point out in the reviews of the two movies that the dip in business is expected in the initial days itself and that prediction has indeed come true. Both KIDNAP and DRONA have crashed on Day 2 [Friday] in Indore. The fall is very steep, if you look at the comparative figures. Let’s check out the Thursday and Friday figures at Indore, one of the key barometers of the industry:-

Inox
Kidnap: 99,100; 30,500
Drona: 73,300; 21,800

PVR
Kidnap: 1,52,600; 71,000
Drona: 1,38,400; 33,000

Velocity
Kidnap: 85,600; 28,800
Drona: 62,600; 16,000

Adlabs
Kidnap: 1,34,300; 41,000
Drona: 1,00,000; 26,000

beld 3 October 2008
11:40:56 pm

“This writer was the sole person to point out in the reviews of the two movies….”
LOL – how can you not love Taran. he is my hero – no 2 ways about it…

beld 3 October 2008
11:54:37 pm

so Rocky – i have been following the obama-palin race
i absolutely adore palin. cmon she is the only sense of humor in a pretty dour race at this point. i didnt see the debate but i heard that she winked galore…what a frigging idiot!
i know joe tried to score gentlemanly points – but hell i wish he had gone for the jugular and asked her about russia etc. i am sure jay leno/letterman would have then cancelled their shows and just re-run the debates!

so what say u – i saw somewhere that the latest state polls show that obama will win in a canter – something like 385 to 160 or something like that.

nithi_s 4 October 2008
02:56:52 am

As expected, my line by line commentary on Satyam’s pile of words… had been treated with contempt by a certain self acclaimed guard of decorum …

Before pity gets gathered, I would like to clarify.

I would like Satyam to THINK before spamming with nonsense about Abhishek and Bachchans … His craze has been getting out of hand ever since close contact with Bachchans through the blog. Its evident that he actually thinks of behalf of Abhishek. Something that even the most fanatic fans of NG would not try to be discreet about.

Yet, it shouldn’t have bothered me. There is a rational question there. “Why does it bother me?” … I cannot answer. So, I apologize. I am sorry that I have expressed what I have always wanted to while reading Satyam’s posts concerning Abhishek. Apparently it disturbs decorum of this place. I am very sorry about it.

sandy 4 October 2008
03:43:58 am

“As expected, my line by line commentary on Satyam’s pile of words… had been treated with contempt by a certain self acclaimed guard of decorum ”

I thought I was most polite Nithi and was just curious to know why someone’s affinity to a star in whatever capacity should irk you this way? As I can see, the question has lingered in your mind.
And this too was only an observation to your tirade on SB, where you commented you’d given Satyam a befitting answer and so on. It wasn’t something that I brought up.

jayshah 4 October 2008
03:55:44 am

shehriyaar – welcome to NG, hope you have a nice time

jayshah 4 October 2008
03:56:59 am

nithi what happened to your embargo on not going after abhishek – it didn’t last long

A C H I L L E S 4 October 2008
08:38:55 pm

Both big budget films like Kidnap and Drona were released midweek, keeping in mind four-day-long weekend but both the films have opened poorly at the box office. With Drona opening at about 55% and dropping to 30% in three days and Kidnap opening at 65% has dropped to 50%. Trade pundits insist that the Saturday and Sunday collections looked slightly decent only because of the advance bookings. Both the films will see a huge drop by Monday. Amod Mehra said, ” It is probably for the first time that the Eid weekend has had such a poor collection at the box office. It is certainly a black Eid for us.”

LINK

Som 5 October 2008
06:33:21 pm

LINK

Weekend Estimate in US

Kidnap:$120,000 from 60 theaters
Drona: $120,000 from 90 theaters

A C H I L L E S 5 October 2008
07:02:18 pm

LOL … just 120 K from 90 theaters for RONA in US????

A C H I L L E S 5 October 2008
07:04:24 pm

TOI: “Trade pundits are predicting a paltry Rs 8-10 crore for this mega-budget film (Drona) after a first week run.”

LINK

Som 5 October 2008
07:31:30 pm

The US numbers if correct are just bad.I was expecting at least $300K+ for both movies.

Som 5 October 2008
09:13:34 pm

What Are The Verdicts On Kidnap and Drona?

Q. When will the Karan Johar directed SRK-Kajol starrer My Name Is Khan release and what is the budget?

A. Shooting will start December and a release is expected in August 2009. Budget is not known yet but will be pretty high.

M Hussain, UK

Q. How is the music of Karzzz doing? Will it be the best seller in music passing Race?

A. It is doing extraordinarily well and it will be amongst the top sellers if not the top seller.

Jagandeep, USA

Q. I would like to ask that these news about Akshay Kumar being offered 71 Crores for a film and Salman Khan being offered 60 Crores for a Movie are true? Also I would want to know the producers offering this amount, Are these ventures Finanicially Viable, since 71 Crore for movie mean a movie above 100 Crores which need to be atleast a block buster to recver its cost?

A. All these numbers are false. the highest pay so far is Akshay for Singh Is Kiing which was 12 crore rumeration and 9 crore share of profits making a total of 21 crore.

Akhil Madaan, UAE

Q. What are the verdicts on Kidnap and Drona?

A. Drona is a disaster while we will have to wait for second weekend for Kidnap for its verdict.

Ashok Mishra, India

Som 6 October 2008
12:29:41 am

Drona Is A Horrific Disaster

Drona looks set to incur huge losses the sort which have never been witnessed before. The film has a budget of 50 crore and release costs of about 6 crore taking the total cost to 56 crore.

As of now the India theatrical share is heading for 10 crore (4 days nett 9 crore, 5 crore share) and Overseas for 3 crore (4 day gross 3 crore, share 1.75 crore) giving it theatrical revenue of just 13 crore and revenue from other sources may be about 10-12 crore. So the total revenue for Drona will be about 25 crore on a cost of 56 crore meaning massive losses in the region of 30 crore.

Drona is certain to be the grandmother of all disasters in terms of losses. Films like Umrao Jaan (2006) and RGV Ki Aag (2007) were amongst the biggest debacles ever but the losses on Drona will be more than the combined losses of those two disasters. Umrao Jaan(2006) lost around 10 crore while RGV Ki Aag(2007) lost around 15 crore. This year another super debacle Love Story 2050 also lost 15 crore but a 30 crore loss is double of we have ever seen before for any film.

Although most of the trade knew Drona was not going to be a huge hit as was being projected prior to release with the makers claiming to make Drona 2 as they were super confident of Drona, the sheer volume of losses has still shochked everyone.

Som 6 October 2008
12:31:55 am

Kidnap Grosses 15.50 Crore Over Extended Weekend

Kidnap has grossed 15.50 crore over the extended four day weekend. After a great start on Thursday with 85% collections. The film managed collections in the region of 55-60% over Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The Saturday and Sunday collections were lower than expected but overall it may recover costs. In Overseas the film has performed well in United Kingdom and Pakistan but North America is poor. The total overseas collections are around the 4 crore mark for the weekend.

rks 6 October 2008
12:39:11 am

I am not sure how kidnap is going to recover when it was sold for 36cr + 4cr (promotion). Link

As per the trend both the movies are losing money.

Som 6 October 2008
12:56:50 am

rks,I have no idea what the budget is Drona is, but the why BOI has made the commentary here, it definitely looks like there is an anti-Bachchan agenda at play here.They might be good with numbers, but when a movie involving a Bachchan flops,they kinda jump on to this like a starving vulture.

Kunal27 6 October 2008
01:11:12 am

I don’t think that its anything wrong in commentary. Its much like when Australians win a cricket match, its not a news, but when they lose, oh the hell breaks lose, how they become a mid table team, and how their players are getting old and what not.

Similarily, I believe SRK, Aamir, Akshay Kumar, HR are the top BO pullers right now, biggest brands of BW, if you may, in no particular order). Then is Abhishek Bachchan. Hence if Abhi fails, a top brand has failed and hence come the whole media circus along with it.

If SRK delivers a flop in RNBDJ, BOI will make every SRK fan bleed from their ears, eyes, noses or whatever

Its just regular media at play, no agenda of sorts. They are not false reporting numbers, they are just spicing up the news.

rks 6 October 2008
01:18:55 am

Kunal: With Bachchan’s in scene, BOI and IBOS are poles apart.

ps: Take the two reports (Drona, Kidnap) and see the difference in detail.

ideaunique 6 October 2008
01:30:01 am

“Similarily, I believe SRK, Aamir, Akshay Kumar, HR are the top BO pullers right now, biggest brands of BW, if you may, in no particular order). Then is Abhishek Bachchan.
”
Kunal – sorry, I disagree – barring Guru, none of AB’s solo starter has seen a HIT status – so how come he is a BO puller? Guru had Mani’s touch – that was I think a major factor too. So Jr. AB needs to smell the coffee and choose right scripts first – that will make him atleast a reliable actor – BO pulling will be next step…

A C H I L L E S 6 October 2008
01:33:15 am

RKS – Dont see the problem with BOI commentary. If you read between the lines, then all it says is that it looks like the producers and distributers of Kidnap will recover their investments (40 crores) from its theatrical run and other rights.

They have included the other rights for Drona too. And their estimation of 10 crores distributors revenue from india is far fetched, it will end up with even less. Overseas is looking bleak too. Even with all other rights (which will hardly be anything substantial due to the disaster at BO and as rightfully said by BOI), Drona will run losses of 30 crores … thats double the loss of even LS 2050!

If Abhi’s big movie fail like this, then its hardly a anti-bachchan agendo from BOI.

beld 6 October 2008
01:35:22 am

Am with idea here. Abhi is as much a puller as saif. You give him a good product and they can sometimes sell. Unlike the top 4 who can sell a bad product too or unlikr srk,hrithik and aamir who can make a product ‘good’.
Btw what’s with boi’s bachchan fanaticism – they do go overboard for a mediocre star

Kunal27 6 October 2008
01:39:41 am

TBH Rks, its really hard to trust anything from IBOS

Its too much Bachchan centric, its having promo of Drona at page load, what else you expect from them? they are not gonna bitch about their sponsors, are they?

And I lost my trust in them when they came out with the news that when 10 random theaters were sampled for SR, all were housefull, but the final numbers of opening were actually something else. So that was either pathetic sampling or a biased one, both ways they lose credibility

Yes, Drona has received way too much of flack, and even I didn’t hate the movie so vehemently, just because they tried something. But movie was utter stupid and since its a huge budget flop that too of one of the biggest brands of BW, it makes sense to me at least.

rks 6 October 2008
01:45:34 am

Ach: I am talking about the DP. I am very sure the way things are going Kidnap would be loser.

15.5cr NETT -> 8-9cr Share
Overseas -> same as drona.

I don’t see much scope for DVD, Satellite rights for flop films.

But agree the loss would be greater in Drona.

rks 6 October 2008
01:53:21 am

Kunal: You try to critique Masand not Khalid

Kunal27 6 October 2008
02:03:41 am

Ideaunique: I agree that barring Guru and one off hit here and there Abhi hasn’t really tasted success. But there can not be a doubt that he is one of the biggest brands of BW after these top 4-5, though I agree, not a BO puller.

I don’t think Shahid, Emran, John are anywhere close to Abhi as a brand. Though Saif might be slightly ahead or on par. I am strictly talking in terms of brand value, which is more to do with his complete family than filmography,
Rks

A C H I L L E S 6 October 2008
02:16:13 am

“Abhi as a brand”

No Kunal … thats not abhi brand but ‘Bachchan brand’ … any tom dick harry, who wud had been born as a son of amitabh wud have inherited the brand … nepotism is in the roots of indian systems … one look at the Gandhi clan and you know how it is … wud X or Y (no matter how good or bad he is) in place of abhi could have delivered more flops?

Dont think so.

Kunal27 6 October 2008
02:20:57 am

Again I can do nothing but agree with you Ach. Though for me atleast, Gandhi parivar never works, but Abhi actually comes off as a very decent person, so does Jaya Bachchan, hence he I value more than Rahul Gandhi, or any Gandhi for that matter.

But yes, if Abhishek hadn’t been Abhishek Bachchan or even that honest of a person he comes off in interviews and all, he would have been wiped off by now.

rockstar 6 October 2008
03:02:58 am

looks like boi has reached an orgasm here with the failure of drona

glad to see agenda is totally out in middle

so now they are patting themselves that they told drona is a failure remember what u told about tashan , sometime back u told kidnap as a bonnafide hit in the films which are about to suceed to was never a sure shot hit glad 2 year back they argued even bunty and bubli was not a hit and finally they had to change their verdict right

btw congratulation to marathi manoos ashok tilak and his team for the failure for drona

rockstar 6 October 2008
03:10:41 am

“rks,I have no idea what the budget is Drona is, but the why BOI has made the commentary here, it definitely looks like there is an anti-Bachchan agenda at play here.They might be good with numbers, but when a movie involving a Bachchan flops,they kinda jump on to this like a starving vulture”

som u said it perfectly

rockstar 6 October 2008
03:31:16 am

som: same site does the reporting about goal and fashion and write how they have recovered some part of investment by tieing up with various brands and forget about drona by declaring profit or loss

on to commentry u just can’t declare profit or loss when the film is still on its run ( its the other thing that it may crash )well this is first example of its kind and highly unethical

Som 6 October 2008
03:53:32 am

Midweek: ‘Kidnap’ is a failure, ‘Drona’ disaster!

Kidnap: Collects approx. Rs. 15 cr. + in its opening 4-day weekend, which is below the mark. Which means, the distributors’ share is approx. Rs. 7 cr. After a 70% + start on Thursday, the collections fell drastically on subsequent days. Recovering its Rs. 40 cr. cost [Rs. 36 cr. price paid by Indian Films to Ashtavinayak + Rs. 4 cr. print and promotion] seems impossible. Distributors might end up losing money. The film has crashed on Monday

Drona:Started with a bang in U.P., but elsewhere, was not as strong on Thursday. Fell all over from Friday itself. Collections have hit rock-bottom. Monday is very, very poor. Debacle

Welcome To Sajjanpur:Total so far [till Sunday]: approx. Rs. 10.75 cr. nett

A Wednesday:Total so far [till Sunday]: approx. Rs. 10.90 cr. nett

Rock On!! Hit

rockstar 6 October 2008
04:15:47 am

taran once again has been sensible in reporting

“Distributors might end up losing money. The film has crashed on Monday”

wasn’t kidnap a profitable venture as reported by boi yesterday

Som 6 October 2008
04:24:55 am

Boxoffice India might be consistent in reporting and numbers as they seem to be getting figures from the distributors, but when it comes to classification and giving verdicts on films, they have different set of rules and criteria for a movie involving the Bachchan and the rest. For Bachchans movies It is the distributor’s share vis-à-vis distribution cost and for the rest it is nett. Collections vis-à-vis distribution cost. Let me explain, when the distribution price of “Sarkar Raaj” was 17 cr(LINK) in India, they should have given it a Semi hit – Hit with a collections of close to 34 cr as it is exactly 2 times of the DP (the standard they have applied to the other movies) but they did not, instead they went for the distributor’s share which was hardly17-18 cr., so termed it as a flop. In short if a movie not involving the Bachchan does 2 times more than what the DP is, they don’t hesitate to give it a “Hit”, but when it is a Bachchan movie, the distributor’s share suddenly comes into play, I mean their share has to be the double of that they have invested in the movie. In Box office India’s words when the DP is 17 cr for SR, distributor’s share has to be 34 cr to be called as a “Hit” which can only be possible if the movie does close to 65 cr which sounds absolutely bogus when movies like OSO, SIK and Race with a much much higher DP are being termed as Blockbusters and Super hits with collections of 80cr+ and 70cr+ respectively. If they are indeed maintaining the same standard for every movies i.e distributor’s share vis-à-vis distribution cost, how come an OSO can be declared a blockbuster with a distributor’s share of 46 cr? Does that mean it’s DP was just 15 cr, so a the distributor’s share is 3 times of the DP, hence a blockbuster??! It certainly does not look right or make any sense.If anyone can explain,please do it.

rockstar 6 October 2008
04:25:22 am

so kidnap was sold for 40 cr( courtesy taran), its the other thing that some sources where busy terming it as profitable venture again just from its first week only and are busy calculting the loss of other films when they are still on their run

rockstar 6 October 2008
04:29:58 am

som:u r one of the most sanest head around in ng and i mean it these where the point i mentioned during sr time to and i will repeat it again

a kank with a distribution price of around 19 cr is hit by ur estimation at 46 cr then how can a movie at 34 cr( with dp of 17 cr) is judged flop by ur standard again u r contradicting urself

rudresh 6 October 2008
05:56:23 am

RKS:
why there is discrepency in Feedstats.
In feedstat on sep 10 it gives different number of vists, and on same time it saying max. visits on sep 10 but number is doulbe there????

ideaunique 6 October 2008
06:20:54 am

“I don’t think Shahid, Emran, John are anywhere close to Abhi as a brand. Though Saif might be slightly ahead or on par. I am strictly talking in terms of brand value, which is more to do with his complete family than filmography”

Kunal, sorry – again I disagree here. Shahid may not be a brand (I am not sure of this because he is choosy)but he has consistently delivered 3 solo hits and choosing his scripts right.
Emran also has given many solo hits along with flops.
John – well, he amazes me – the guy has tremendous potential – but still not choosing the right scripts – however, his future seems brighter than abhi to me….

rudresh 6 October 2008
06:49:41 am

rediff Box Office report

Som 6 October 2008
08:34:14 am

U.K. report card: ‘Kidnap’ falls, ‘Drona’ washout

Som 6 October 2008
09:18:58 am

What was meant to be a battle of two biggies turned out to be a fight for survival of two turkeys! Both the two big films, Kidnap and Drona, which were high on expectations were completely low on content and have got a fitting reply from the audience. But thanks to a better opening Kidnap can be termed as one up on Drona. The makers of both these films were expecting to make a killing at the box office timing their films with the Id Holiday and releasing their films on Thursday instead of Friday and thus also getting a longer weekend. But their hopes kept crashing down as Sunday arrived. Today on Monday the collections of both these films have plummeted down big time.

Here is taking a look at how the new releases faired in their opening weekend.

Read the rest from Website

Som 6 October 2008
09:23:43 am

Trade espresso: Ek down teen

Som 6 October 2008
09:28:17 am

IBOS:Drona beats Kidnap in USA, latter ahead in India, both trailing

The following are some early figures for first major releases of holiday season: Kidnap and Drona.

In USA, Kidnap has scored a $25,000 opening day trailing the $33,000 opening day figure for Drona.

In India however, the Imran Khan-Sanjay Dutt starrer took about a 4.9 crore opening day nett compared to 3.2 crores for Drona. As reported on IBOS earlier, the opening ratio in India was about 1.5:1 with respect to the Imran Khan-Sanjay Dutt multistarrer and Abhishek Bachchan’s solo release.

In Mumbai City, Kidnap opened best with 1 crore net to Drona’s 60 lakhs. However both are dropping rapidly. At this pace, the opening week Mumbai city net collections from the two films look to be between 3-5 crores.

Drona had excellent opening in UP and Bihar and CP Berar whereas East Punjab was fairly good also.

Kidnap had best opening in Mumbai, Delhi and South.

But the word of mouth on both films is not positive and both the 36 crore cost for Kidnap as well as the 45 crore cost for Drona look to be difficult to recover.

A C H I L L E S 6 October 2008
08:08:31 pm

While abhi fans keep looking for anti-bachchan agenda in BOI, where is some news from different sources to cheer them up:

Economic Times:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Media__Entertainment_/Entertainment/Drona_joins_big_losers_club/articleshow/3567796.cms

Indiaglitz:

“Hitting screens on Oct 2, Kidnap had collections of Rs 15.25 Crores during 4-day weekend. Well, producers of Drona were much wretched as it made half the collection amount of Kidnap. Alone, in India, reports have stated that Drona had pocketed collections of just Rs. 8Crores. And finally today, collections for both the flicks have abruptly devolved to lower extent.”

http://www.indiaglitz.com/chan.....42104.html

A C H I L L E S 6 October 2008
08:13:23 pm

BOI has infact estimated a distrinuter share of 10 crores for Drona’s thaetrical run in India! In other words their estimation is Drona will ends it run at around 18 crores, which I find too optimistic at this stage.

Going my the reports coming from all sources, Drona would hardly have a 12 crore opening week and looks destined to end its run at less than 15 crores net from India (the same amount that Kidnal has done in opening 4 days).

Hard chance of Kidnap to cross 25 crores from here though.

A C H I L L E S 6 October 2008
09:20:18 pm

Taran: Indore Barometer: Monday witnesses 70% – 80% fall

http://www.bollywoodhungama.co.....index.html

rockstar 6 October 2008
10:22:54 pm

again some generalization some ******* won’t change basic the so called refrence of abhi fans from no where never know how it come into picture anyway as a reply their conduct is much better than so called i****** hrithik fans whose only job in this forum is to bash certain actor or to take potshot at other members

on topic: its a basic common sense that these sources have talked about bo collection they are not idiotic enogh to calculate a movie’s profit or loss( even when it is on run ) when the picture about it is itself uncertain

rockstar 6 October 2008
10:35:30 pm

rks: some punters have the usual license to say whatever they want as i can see in this thread som( a logical and rational person) who posted about article first has been attacked from no where in this thread with label of this fans or that

A C H I L L E S 6 October 2008
10:36:51 pm

“their conduct is much better than so called i****** hrithik fans whose only job in this forum is to bash certain actor or to take potshot at other members”

As is evident from the above quoted comment, abhi fans does the same too

A C H I L L E S 6 October 2008
10:38:09 pm

`Kidnap` kills `Drona` in the UK

As in the other markets, the Studio 18 UK-released Kidnap has dramatically beaten Drona in the UK, which is regarded as the toughest international territory.

As in the other markets, the Studio 18 UK-released Kidnap has dramatically beaten Drona in the UK, which is regarded as the toughest international territory.

A glance at the box-office gross below:

Kidnap – Previews + Opening Weekend

£243′309 from 51 screens (Source: Neilsen EDI)
Per Screen Average £4′771

Drona – Previews + Opening Weekend

£117′854 from 56 screens (Source: Neilsen EDI)
Per Screen Average £2′104

The gross of Kidnap exceeds that of Drona by 106%
The screen average of Kidnap exceeds that of Drona by 126%

Other notable benchmarks:

a. Just the opening of Kidnap (£243,309) has beaten the lifetime gross of director Sanjay Gadhvi’s smash-hit Dhoom (£215,840), which had a radically bigger star cast [Source: IBOS Network]

b. Just the opening of Kidnap (£243,309) has beaten the lifetime gross of the film’s lead actor Imran Khan’s maiden hit Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na (£136,450) [Source: IBOS Network]

c. Just the opening of Kidnap (£243,309) has beaten the lifetime gross of the film’s lead actor Sanjay Dutt’s multi-starrer vehicle Shootout at Lokhandwala (£131,800) [Source: IBOS Network]

http://www.indiainfoline.com/n.....&lmn=1

rockstar 6 October 2008
10:39:52 pm

“As is evident from the above quoted comment, abhi fans does the same too ”

case of a crying baby start generalization and personal attack and then look for cover

A C H I L L E S 6 October 2008
10:48:02 pm

LOL … there is nothing to cry about when a sinner blames another for the same sin … its just funny

A C H I L L E S 6 October 2008
10:49:30 pm

And of course the sarcasm of a ‘crying face’ is beyond the understanding of fans whose idol has proved his superior intelligence by claiming Drona is his best ever.

No surprises there!

rockstar 6 October 2008
10:55:00 pm

hillarious to hilt

calling names , generalization , undestanding about the so called intelligence of a star and their crying face and relating it to people ROFLMAO

don’t know what next this is realy amusing

A C H I L L E S 6 October 2008
11:00:15 pm

Lets just hope Dostana turns out to really amusing for the disgrunted fans whose equanimity seems to have been severely disbalanced after the ordeal of watching rona-dhona till the end.

In the meantime lets get on with anti-bachchanism of different sources for calling Drona a disaster.

sv 6 October 2008
11:00:38 pm

Achilles,you should be more concerned about kites now.

Som 7 October 2008
01:07:30 am

Weekly collections on BOI

rudresh 7 October 2008
05:22:04 am

Karzzz is red hot

rudresh 7 October 2008
05:25:20 am

From Indian Television:
Top 10
star Plus loosing shine

Som 7 October 2008
05:32:55 am

Kindap’s nets Rs 152 million in India in 4 days; Drona lags

Som 7 October 2008
08:36:31 pm

Overseas Boxoffice:Big disappointments!

Som 8 October 2008
12:41:29 am

Kidnap Below The Mark Drona Very Poor

Drona is extremly poor with 1 crore in United Kingdom, 1.15 crore in North America and 1.50 crore in the rest of the world. The first weekend total is 3.65 crore

Kidnap is below the mark with decent business in United Kingdom and Pakistan only. In United Kingdom it grossed 2 crore, North America was 1 crore and the rest of the world added 2 crore for a first weekend total of 5 crore.

Gabber 8 October 2008
08:54:45 pm

Taran: How the mighty fell!

LINK

It’s with a heavy heart that I begin to put my thoughts for this business piece. There’s a tinge of sadness since the two biggies, KIDNAP and DRONA, have sunk at the box-office.

I presume, you must be well aware of how KIDNAP and DRONA opened last Thursday, on the festive occasion of Eid. We at ‘Bollywood Hungama’ have carried a series of as many as six articles since their release — B.O. Update, Midweek, Indore Barometer I, Indore Barometer II, U.K. Report Card and Overseas B.O. . Now let’s move on to the next level. The vital question. Will the films lose money? Of course, they’re losers, financially speaking. The theatrical business of both KIDNAP and DRONA came sliding downwards from Day 2 [Friday] itself, but crashed completely from Monday onwards. In the domestic market, the film has seen a 70% – 80% drop [at places, even 90%]. Imagine the shock the distributors must’ve got when they must’ve seen the daily collections reports.

Studio 18, the distributors of KIDNAP, will lose a couple of crores, as per the current trends. The domestic market has been poor and Overseas is below par as well. And once the reports are out, even the Satellite price will now be badly hit. Hence, recovering the Rs. 40 cr. cost seems like a remote possibility.

As for DRONA, it’s a back-breaking debacle. People are already comparing this misadventure to supreme disasters like RAZIA SULTAN and ROOP KI RANI CHORON KA RAJA and more recently, RGV KI AAG and LOVE STORY 2050. The theatrical business as also the international business is so poor that Eros is expected to lose a substantial chunk of investment.

Any lessons learnt? I watched KIDNAP almost one week before its release and also DRONA and I was very vocal when it came to expressing my opinion to the respective producers [Mehtas and Lullas, respectively]. It’s high time our producers don’t merely pump crores into a project, but also have creative control in their hands. Most directors tend to fall in love with their products and lose objectivity. Let’s not get swayed by big names!

cticize 10 October 2008
10:05:44 am

For me its a disappointment that Drona didnt even open bigger then Kidnap. Well both the movies carry a slag report so i see a losing battle.

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