With Mausam postponed, MBKD gets another solo week

With no competition, ���Mere Brother Ki Dulhan��� earns Rs 50 crore by second weekend.
In a film industry where the number of films clearly outdo the number of weeks in any year, there is always a lineup of multiple releases every Friday. The competition just gets tougher with the festive season coming in and more big films lined up. In such a scenario, when a film is postponed at the last moment (as late as Wednesday), it surely means considerable loss to the makers.
Shahid Kapur ��� Sonam Kapoor starrer Mausam got postponed at the last moment and is now scheduled to release this Friday. Had it released last week, it would have been as good as a solo release with the other films being too small for competition in comparison. This Friday it has Akshay Kumar produced English film Breakaway (dubbed in Hindi as Speedy Singhs) as competition. While Mausam still has a higher hand, it still loses the advantage of a solo run, which it had last week.
The sudden postponement of Mausam proved as a blessing in disguise for Yash Raj���s Mere Brother Ki Dulhan. The Katrina-Imran starrer got another week of no competition which added to its prospects, despite the fact that it was a very average film. By the end of second weekend, it has collected around Rs 50 crores winning a hit tag.
The Rajshri banner released Jaana Pehchana, a sequel to their 1978 film Akhiyon Ke Jharoke Se which starred Sachin and Ranjeeta in lead roles. The sequel had the same pair in aged avatars, which lacked chemistry or charm of the prequel and seemed like a forced attempt to cash on the success of the original (sadly after 3 decades). Surprisingly Barjatyas released the film only in one theatre across the country (Liberty, Mumbai). But what they need to realize is that they do not have a Hum Aapke Hai Kaun in hands for which they used a similar release strategy of screening in one theatre and subsequently adding shows across country with more demand. Also times have changed and releasing it in just one theatre surely means zero prospects. Unless they were modest enough to realize that the film didn���t have much scope for a national audience.
The other release Rivaaz catered to the front benchers in the B-grade zone but overall had very poor response.
Top 5 Films this Week
Film: Mere Brother Ki Dulhan
Position: 1
Director: Ali Abbas Zafar
Cast: Katrina Kaif, Imran Khan, Ali Zafar
Upside: Katrina Kaif���s live-wire energy, lighthearted film, decent music
Downside: Predictable to the core, dull screenplay, nothing new to offer, Ali Zafar wasted
Running Week: 2
Box Office Verdict: With Mausam getting postponed at the last moment, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan had no major opposition even in its second week and enjoyed a steady run collecting around Rs 50 crore by its second weekend. Wins the hit tag!
Film: Bodyguard
Position: 2
Director: Siddique
Cast: Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor
Upside: Simple story, good music, Salman���s restrained act, no slapstick
Downside: Kuch Kuch Hota Hai hangover, villain track untapped
Running Week: 3
Box Office Verdict: Super hit!
Film: Rivaaz
Position: 3
Director: Ashok Nanda
Cast: Ritisha Vijayvargya, Deepti Naval, Reema Lagoo, Meghna Naidu, Vijay Raaz
Upside: Bad direction, bad performances, down-market film
Downside: Sensational story idea
Running Week: 1
Trade Comments: Catered to the front benchers in the B-grade zone but overall very poor response. Certainly a flop!
Film: Jaana Pehchana
Position: 4
Director: Sachin
Cast: Sachin, Ranjeeta
Upside: Charming chemistry of the young Sachin-Ranjeeta, good music
Downside: Poor chemistry of the senior Sachin-Ranjeeta, more than 80% film has footage from prequel, dull plot
Running Week: 1
Trade Comments: With the film releasing only in 1 theatre across India (Liberty, Mumbai), and that too with zilch promotions, the business is pathetic and improbable to catch up for more screens in coming weeks. Flop!
Film: Bol
Position: 5
Director: Shoaib Mansoor
Cast: Manzar Zehbai, Humaima Malick, Iman Ali, Atif Aslam
Upside: Brilliant and comprehensive take on domestic issues in Pakistan, good performances, superb dialogues
Downside: Somewhat long
Running Week: 3
Box Office Verdict: Despite the positive feedback, the film failed to get decent audience.