Maryam Farooqui Moneycontrol News
The dearth of films releasing this Friday may make the trip to cinema halls an unexciting affair. The only notable movie playing on screens on Friday is Fukrey Returns, leaving moviegoers with few choices, and that is counting older releases as well.
According to film trade analysts, Fukrey Returns may bring to the box office collections worth Rs 3-4 crore on its opening day. Its prequel Fukrey, released in 2013, made a total Rs 46.66 crore in India with a budget of Rs 19 crore, garnering Rs 2.46 crore on the first day.
If there is any brand recall for the Fukrey franchise, then Fukrey Returns may exceed its predecessor’s first day business. And strong word of mouth could take the film’s total revenue to around Rs 20 crore by the end of first week.
What could work for the film is the lack of new releases and audiences having to pick from films like Tumhari Sulu, Golmaal Again and Hollywood's Justice League that came to the theatres a few weeks ago.
In fact, Vidya Balan-starrer Tumhari Sulu has enjoyed a decent run in the theatres so far, having encountered almost no competition from Bollywood. The film has already earned over Rs 30 crore and, even on its third Monday, added Rs 41 lakh to its kitty.
The movie saw better occupancy at theatres than other Hindi films like Tera Intezaar and Firangi, despite playing only in select screens, and is continuing to attract steady collections.
Kapil Sharma's Firangi could only manage Rs 10 crore in its first week and Arbaaz Khan and Sunny Leone-starrer Tera Intezaar barely managed to collect Rs 2 crore.
The other saving grace for the film industry this year has been Golmaal Again, which has been able to hold on to screens even in its seventh week. With a revenue of Rs 200 crore, Golmaal Again is the only film to fall in the ‘blockbuster’ category this year among Hindi films.
Made with a budget of Rs 142 crore, Rohit Shetty’s slapstick comedy is still getting enough attention from the audiences. So much so that the film made Rs 24.77 lakh in its seventh weekend, taking its total to Rs 205 crore.
Meanwhile, superhero franchise Justice League may not be doing wonders on its home turf, but in India the film has got an A plus status. The superheroes' reunion attracted a lot of Indians to theatres and made Rs 35 crore at the Indian box office.
While Bollywood is in dire need of an upgrade, both in terms of quality of and number of films made, it is not until the release of Tiger Zinda Hai, starring Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif, that December - historically the most lucrative month for film industry - will see any major action.
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