Mausam rains on box office's parade

Mumbai: Riding on hits like Ready, Singham, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Bodyguard and Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, the industry was expecting the dream run to continue with Mausam.

Alas, trade experts say that veteran actor Pankaj Kapur's directorial debut won't last out even another week. And, if that's not bad enough, majority of those involved with the movie will incur a loss.

Producers Eros Entertainment and Sheetal Talwar reportedly claim that the film cost them Rs 42 crore, including print and advertising (but excluding Pankaj and Shahid Kapoor's hefty fees).

However, trade analyst Amod Mehra, pegging the cost of Mausam at about Rs 55 crore, feels the first three-day collections are not up to the mark.

"After opening at Rs 6.75 crore, the film netted Rs 6.5 crore on Saturday and Rs 7.5 crore on Sunday. But that is not good enough," he says. In comparison, Meri Brother Ki Dulhan netted Rs 27 crore in the first three days.

Mumbai-based distributor Ramesh Sippy confirms that the film registered an average opening.

Declining to elaborate on the flaws, he asserts, "A good film is a good film, a bad film is a bad film. Not a single critic in the whole country has raved about the movie."

Manoj Desai of Maratha Mandir and G7 Cineplex in Mumbai rues the long running time of the Shahid-Sonam Kapoor epic.

"These days people are used to shorter films. Mausam's interval came after one hour and 40 minutes, which is the full running time of most English movies," he shrugs.

Asked if the film would have fared better had its release not been delayed by a week and Delhi-based distributor Sanjay Ghai of Mukta Arts Ltd. disagrees.

"Whatever money the film earned in the first three days is essentially due to its hype," he asserts.

Mehra adds, "If it had opened last Friday, it would have made a crore or two more maybe. But with this content, the drop wouldn't have been any less."

Another film struggling at the box office just days after its release is Akshay Kumar's Indo-Canadian production Speedy Singhs.

Pegging the opening day's figures at R 60 lakh across India, Mehra points out that the absence of Akki as lead hero in the movie could be the main reason for the failure.

Sippy adds, "The audience wants value for their money. People are not keen to accept something just because an actor is producing it."

Having earned more than 24 crore over its cost price of Rs 30 crore, Yash Raj's Mere Brother Ki Dulhan has done a decent business of over Rs 16.50 crore in its second week.

Says Manoj Desai, "Whatever business the film had to do, is done. Coming Friday, I'll shift it from three shows in Galaxy to one show in Gemini."

In the meanwhile, Salman Khan's Bodyguard has netted another Rs 9 crore in its third week, mostly from the single screen audiences across the country.

With this, the action-romance crosses the Rs 145 crore mark, surpassing Dabangg as the second biggest Bollywood blockbuster, next only to Aamir Khan-Rajkumar Hirani-Vinod Chopra's 3 Idiots.