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58 Responses to “Once upon a time in Mumbai, Khatta Meetha (ongoing) & more box office for the brain-dead!”
the image I’ve used today in the sidebar is from the ‘original’ Khatta Meetha. Here’s a more enlarged one:
this deserves a proper DVD transfer. Like the framing in this shot..
Below The Mark Opening For Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai
Friday 30th July 2010 15.00 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai opened to a disappointing response at the box office this morning. The opening was better in pockets of the Mumbai circuit namely Ahmedabad and Pune but the rest of the country showed low collections for first two shows.
The opening was 35-45% in most of the country with Ahmedabad and Pune above 60%. The film was expected to get a good opening due to hit music and good promotion but day one numbers look like disappointing unless it picks up from afternoon shows.
The film’s fate will depend on word of mouth and initial reports look good but they will have to translate quickly into better collections on Saturday and Sunday.
its tiresome to see indian box office system be more of a opinion based rather than factual numbers. who knows whats really accurate? “100% occupance at places”….”35-45% most of the country”
That’s true. At the same time the ‘consumers’ of this information also play cynical games. So to support one star or another people pick stories and sources that they know have otherwise not been the most credible, so on and so forth. We all know the agendas at every end, it’s not exactly a mystery at this point. I too wish there were something totally factual out there but there isn’t and so we just have to be more ‘critical’ about what is. It’s not hard to figure out looking at all the evidence, news coverage and so on what the truth is likely to be.
Recently Nahata was doing an interview with Hirani and you could make out easily how much he was plugging SRK at every point. We saw that the very numbers that were considered completely disastrous for Raavan on day 1 were somehow quite decent for Khatta Meetha. This by the same sources. This happens again and again with every film. Clean hits or clean flop are easy to decide. It’s what’s in between that’s harder.
the star system in india is all about the media. I remember back in ’95 I was in india vacationing and it was end of the year rankings for the actors on tv. Only in india do they have such rankings for actors and actresses. for us fans it is fun to talk about and ofcourse for blog sites like yours and NG it is fun to discuss all that but it makes you think we are arguing over the actors ranking with estimated box office figures and nothing factual!
SRK began his career as a media created ‘star’. Aamir had QSQT, Salman had MPK and Hrithik had KNPH as their breakout films so the media jumped on their bangwagons. SRK had Deewana as his first hit and ever since then he has been pumped up by the media. His breakout hit i think is DDLJ and thats when he actually established himself as a star and not made by the media.
i truly believe the media in india decides most box office fates for hindi films. if HAHK had released today and declared flop the first weekend or week…it wouldve been a flop overall i think…unlike in 94 where it started slow but picked up drastically. you rarely see that today, vivah is probably the last film with such trending.
Inception has done 1165m through yesterday. Again fantastic trending. It’s doing 5-6m every single day. Amazingly stable. Meanwhile Salt is very steady as well.
Bloody f&%^!!!!
I went to watch OUTIM today and have very bad memories..
the idiotic girl i went with today .. picked her up from connaught place.. took her to PVR Saket simply for the movie.. spent 500 bucks on two tickets.. 40 minutes into the film and she didnt want to watch it!!!! so dragged me out of the theatre.. what a waste.. damn!
its a loot here! I wonder whether the high multiplex rates result in piracy or its the other way round.. its a loot.. outrageous!
well…whatever the situation is, its a hard time for movie lovers..
Guess we’ll have to go back to the single screens now..
But this actually kills the industry in other ways too. It’s not just those who are shut of the system economically but also those who can afford it but probably wouldn’t be able to for multiple viewings. Or even if they could they would prefer doing so elsewhere. This results in poorer trending over the long run but also unless WOM is great even decent films don’t last that long. It’s just a miserable system in every sense. This is where ‘ideology’ steps in. The most luxurious theaters in the West still have more or less the same ticket prices. And most people can afford these. This system is repliated in India, even surpassed in some ways (the luxury of India’s best multiplexes might be hard to match anywhere in the West.. you don’t get food delivered to your set.. you don’t get blankets.. you certainly don’t have the love seats!) but class is also introduced into the equation. In the older theaters you had the balconies for the family audiences but at least it was the same space. Now it is not just a completely different space but the disparity in ticket prices is so great that no ‘rickshawala’ could even dream of walking into such a theater where of course ‘aunties’ rule the roost!
yeah.. i know what you’re talking about. they were 7 -14 Rs. tickets which they used to sell.. but they were only of a particular movie i guess… never bought those kinds, though
Btw satyam, a request.. following are my views on Rocket Singh – salesman of the year, which I have a weakness for. Will you be kind enough to post the article?
————————————————
Rocket Singh was a huge surprise last year. Not only did it meet the expectations, it did surpass them by a good enough margin to be a must watch film in a year dominated mostly by mediocre to above-average films at best. I, no doubt have a weakness for 3 idiots for its strong repeat value but this one gets my vote as a better film in the quality segment.
The film tells about the story of a young Surd Harpreet Singh, who has always been a below average student. He barely manages to pass his final year exams to become a graduate. Things don’t seem very bright for him however he has decided that he wants to choose sales as his profession. Although he seems very enthusiastic about it and lands up a job in a reputed computer company, he soon realises the pitfalls of working in an unethical corporate environment. He is almost fired because of some unintentional deed and has to struggle to save his job. A chance encounter with a small scale business owner gives him a brilliant idea for a setup to help his customers in a much better way.
Rocket Singh, released last year under the banner of Yash Raj films, was another of Yashraj’s slew of flops which they haven’t been able toavoid for quite some time now. Blame it on their poor scripts and mediocre storytelling in an age where Bollywood has moved out of the regular commercial fare. Nowadays,for a film to succeed, you need to either back it up with good content or excellent marketing.
But what was the most dissappointing thing about last year, on the box office front was that finally a good film from Yashraj didn’t find many audience.
One of the bigger reasons for its failure, as per my understanding, wasnot enough fun moments which could have given a reason for the crowd to celebrate. Another was because of a poor marketing strategy which simply didn’t work for the film. The film’s promotion left a lot to be desired for and considering they had made a genuinely fine film, they could have easily spent more money on its marketing.
Still, whatever the reason was, Rocket Singh cannot be ignored for a variety of reasons:
First, it explores an interesting concept which has rarely been discussed or shown in the history of Bollywood cinema – office politics with undercurrents of the pressures faced by employees in modern corporate environments, with an equally original story for which Mr. Sahni’s work needs to be applauded. The team of Jaideep Sahni and Shimit Amin resurface after delivering Chak De here under the same banner.
Secondly, I loved the way the whole idea/concept was overall executed and eluicidated on screen. To start with, in this matter, I know many people who had one common complaint about the film – its pace. On the contrary, I had had watched it from a completely different point of view. Considering the story they had in hand, they had an ample amount of oppurtunity to go overboard with crowd pleasing moments. This had worked wonderfully in Chak de India. But they kept things subtle and restrained, which was misunderstood for it being dull and lifeless. It was the restraint which helped the film in maintaining the same tone it had adopted in the first few scenes, and not letting the commercial factors affect the makers’ view of it.
Thirdly, a major aspect which contributed to a large way in making the film what it is, was the super-efficient performances by just about everyone in the cast. It won’t be incorrect to call it a script driven film.Right from Ranbir Kapoor to Gauri Khan to D. Santosh, every character’s role is well sketched and developed. Kudos to the casting director as well for choosing the right people and making a substantial contribution in helping with the characterization.
Jaideep Sahni as a name in the story credits always makes me eager enough for a theatre watch. I have been his fan since the Khosla ka Ghosla days. The icing on the cake was Shimit Amin’s directionwhose Ab tak Chappan and Chak de India were great films and immediate classics. Rocket Singh,in any way, is no less an accomplishment as an example in good stoytelling than their other good films. However, its release and failure did highlight an important thing, which may be discouraging for upcoming talented filmmakers. Audience complain of the industry not giving good enough films. But these wise statements are forgotten by many viewers who prefer to give them a pirated DVD watch, when they release!
Is independent cinema being recognized? I think its still a long way to go…Unless patronizedby entertainment in sufficient doses, no unique concept can work in a big way. 3 idiots is a fine example of that!
I hardly know many salesman. I am not aware of what they all go through in their daily lives. Commission earning might be what they live for. For sure, its not an easy task. But neither is film-making. Commission is earned though audience. Such films need to be encouraged. If not on the ticket window, then at least on award functions. Sadly, it worked neither ways.
And thats whatis a tragic end to a great cinematic piece!
I saw Khatta Meetha yesterday. I actually found it a decent watch – some of the plot is a little bizarre with certain situations happening without any significant plot development. But I liked the idea of the story and Akshay was pretty fab. He does well in the last 30mins with some long overdue action sequences. Better than most his recent films!
It is too loud. But yes it is better than KI and Housefull. The thing is that Priyadarshan has added too many characters which just don’t add much to main plot. For example that long Asrani phone talk was just out of place.
B.O. update: ‘OUATIM’ starts on slow note, picks up, reports terrific
- By Taran Adarsh, July 31, 2010 – 08:17 IST
Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai ONCE UPON A TIME IN MUMBAAI opened to a mixed response across the country. While the opening was best in Mumbai-Maharashtra [80%], plexes of metros and also ‘A’ class single screens, the opening day occupancy ranged from average [50%] to below average [30%] at several places. However, the film picked up towards the evening shows, with several centres showing a healthy escalation, and the night shows recorded even better collections. The silver lining is the extremely positive reports/terrific word of mouth, which should a bountiful and potent Saturday and Sunday.
Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai had a below par first day of 5.50 crore nett approx. The film did pick up but the big jump occurred mainly in the Maharashtra and Gujarat area. Mumbai circuit was best while CP Berar and Nizam were next as many cities of Maharashtra are in these circuits.
The North, Bengal, Rajasthan and CI were all pretty low. The film will depend heavily on what happens on Saturday and Sunday. It needs these days to be strong and the sustain on Monday in order to emerge a decent success at the box office.
if there’s no serious competition at any point it should be able to do 300. Initially I didn’t think so but it’s just so stable on the trending. Of course even 275 is fantastic.
BTW, watched Once upon a time in Mumbai, kya bakwaas movie hai. I couldn’t sit thru it but still watched the whole movie. And this was suppose to be set in 70s rite? well it didn’t feel like movie from 70s. Avoid it Guys!
“well it didn’t feel like movie from 70s”–agreed–not seen the movie but does not look like the 70s even in the promos.
just by making prachi desai wear a “bobby” polka-dot blouse does not recreate 70s…lol
however, did hope that the movie would be better than above-average esp devgn’s performance. plz note the (new) spelling of ajays surname
Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai managed to have a decent weekend despite starting slowly. The film picked up from Friday evening and managed to have good Saturday and Sunday collections. The approx breakdowns are 5.50 crore nett for Friday, 7 crore nett for Saturday and 7.75 crore nett (early estimate) on Sunday for a 20.25 crore nett weekend.
The jump on Saturday was mainly restricted to metro multiplexes but it was a big jump going up to 40% at some theatres, single screens had small drops on Saturday as compared to Friday. Mumbai (Excellent) and South have seen the best business over the weekend while other regions remain on the lower side. Rajasthan is worst with dull performance.
The trending for the weekend is very similar to last week’s Khatta Meetha but at a lower level. Khatta Meetha fell badly on weekdays but Once Upon a Time In Mumbai may sustain as it has better reports. The Mumbai circuit looks like doing Hit business but the weekdays will decide where Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai is heading in the rest of the country.
Once upon a time is all hyped by media.its same bollywood gangster fighting shit!grow up n get a better script!n its not a fiction based story we public are not fools to believe that!we need meaningful stories like 3 idiots,taare zameen par etc dats what real cinema is not a flick with few gunshots n few dialouges !with the rise is prices public is more aware wat to choose n yup its like taxi no 9211 cuz writer is the same.Milan Luthria you need a change of script desperately.
Gangster movies have reached their saturation. There’s nothing more to explore. Ramgopal Varma and Mahesh Manjrekar have explored the genre time and again… Gangster movies have a few more factors going against them: They are considered dark and dry, lack entertainment value, abound in cliched situations, have abundance of blood/gore and have absolutely no scope for songs. Prior to its release, the naysayers were of the opinion that ONCE UPON A TIME IN MUMBAAI stood on a sticky wicket. But the fact is, ONCE UPON A TIME IN MUMBAAI has given a fresh lease to this genre.
The theatrical business of ONCE UPON A TIME IN MUMBAAI got stabilized on Saturday [Midweek Boxoffice]. Monday, the crucial day, witnessed a 30% fall over Friday figures [it collected approx. Rs. 3.77 cr. nett], which indicates that the film has found acceptance. As things stand today, the business is outstanding in Mumbai/Maharashtra, South and prime multiplexes of metros.
From the business point of view, the film should touch approx. Rs. 35 cr. nett in Week 1, which means a share of approx. Rs. 19 cr./Rs. 20 cr. If the film sustains in its second weekend [I am sure, it will] and the drop is in the 50% range with lesser shows, the film should add another Rs. 10 cr. + nett to its kitty.
The music rights have fetched Rs. 2 cr. and Satellite Rights have fetched Rs. 10.5 cr., which places the producers in comfort zone [the Home Video deal should be clinched in a few days]. However, the recoveries from Overseas won’t be substantial [approx. Rs. 2.5 cr.] since gangster films made in Bollywood aren’t popular in the international circuit. Romance and musicals still hold the key there.
It’s more than evident that ONCE UPON A TIME IN MUMBAAI is a success story for its producers, but on a broader level, first LOVE SEX AUR DHOKHA and now ONCE UPON A TIME IN MUMBAAI have firmly established brand Balaji in moviedom. And that is a far bigger achievement than anything else today!
In fact this is blatant example of just ass licking a film and its prospects. The films collections are not too far off Khatta Meetha first weekend and the story is glaringly ass licking this time around. Even he is tweeting and put some silly day by day comparison to show a “rise” in collections from Friday to Sat to Sun! Duh! Most movies increase from Fri to Sat to Sun!
Well Taran is not that wrong in his reports. Few factors differentiate the performance of both movies.
1. KM first week ends up at 33.5 Crore @1250 Screens. OUATIM should also ends up at 34+ Crore range @1000 screens. First difference lies in screen space.
2. Trending of OUATIM is strong compared to KM. 6th Day collection of KM was just 1 Crore. While OUATIM is holding up very well and collected around 2.85 Crore on Wednesday.
3. Looking at trend, OUATIM should see healthy second week. While KM crash was predictable on its 7th day itself when collection was below 1 crore.
Overall OUATIM start at BO was comparable to KM but difference lies in strong trending. Though its laughable that 2-3 years back 50% drop in subsequent weeks was considered as good trend, which now went down to 65-70%.
Once Upon A Time In Mumbai had another steady on Tuesday with business of 3.25 crore nett. This takes the films total to 27.50 crore nett. The drop was only 10-15% from Monday.
The film is behaving extraordinarily well in Nizam due to the muslim touch in the film and Emraan Hashmi who has a big following in the circuit. Mumbai is also super strong and could end up with a 12-14 crore distributor share.
This weekend the film will see competition in the form of Aisha and may well cut into the business of Once Upon A Time in Mumbai at high end multiplexes of metroes but in the rest of the country, Aisha is unlikely to prove much of a threat.
The second weekend will tell about where the film will a finish up, it may close at 50 crore nett but a solid second weekend may eventually take the lifetime business to 60 crore nett.
July 30, 2010 at 7:13 AM
the image I’ve used today in the sidebar is from the ‘original’ Khatta Meetha. Here’s a more enlarged one:
this deserves a proper DVD transfer. Like the framing in this shot..
July 30, 2010 at 9:10 AM
Did you end up seeing it?
July 30, 2010 at 9:17 AM
not yet.
August 2, 2010 at 10:21 PM
i saw it.. in EROS.. single screen crowd was njoying and i was crying.
July 30, 2010 at 7:25 AM
Below The Mark Opening For Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai
Friday 30th July 2010 15.00 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai opened to a disappointing response at the box office this morning. The opening was better in pockets of the Mumbai circuit namely Ahmedabad and Pune but the rest of the country showed low collections for first two shows.
The opening was 35-45% in most of the country with Ahmedabad and Pune above 60%. The film was expected to get a good opening due to hit music and good promotion but day one numbers look like disappointing unless it picks up from afternoon shows.
The film’s fate will depend on word of mouth and initial reports look good but they will have to translate quickly into better collections on Saturday and Sunday.
July 30, 2010 at 7:36 AM
Not so bad, 5+ Crore on day one will be decent based on genre. 17+ Crore weekend is very much on cards.
July 30, 2010 at 7:39 AM
Nahta is tweeting something else.
ONCE UPON A TIME MUMBAAI… off to a very gud start. 100% occupancy at places. Great news for the industry. General feeling of joy in trade
July 30, 2010 at 9:50 AM
its tiresome to see indian box office system be more of a opinion based rather than factual numbers. who knows whats really accurate? “100% occupance at places”….”35-45% most of the country”
July 30, 2010 at 11:10 AM
That’s true. At the same time the ‘consumers’ of this information also play cynical games. So to support one star or another people pick stories and sources that they know have otherwise not been the most credible, so on and so forth. We all know the agendas at every end, it’s not exactly a mystery at this point. I too wish there were something totally factual out there but there isn’t and so we just have to be more ‘critical’ about what is. It’s not hard to figure out looking at all the evidence, news coverage and so on what the truth is likely to be.
Recently Nahata was doing an interview with Hirani and you could make out easily how much he was plugging SRK at every point. We saw that the very numbers that were considered completely disastrous for Raavan on day 1 were somehow quite decent for Khatta Meetha. This by the same sources. This happens again and again with every film. Clean hits or clean flop are easy to decide. It’s what’s in between that’s harder.
July 30, 2010 at 1:29 PM
the star system in india is all about the media. I remember back in ’95 I was in india vacationing and it was end of the year rankings for the actors on tv. Only in india do they have such rankings for actors and actresses. for us fans it is fun to talk about and ofcourse for blog sites like yours and NG it is fun to discuss all that but it makes you think we are arguing over the actors ranking with estimated box office figures and nothing factual!
SRK began his career as a media created ‘star’. Aamir had QSQT, Salman had MPK and Hrithik had KNPH as their breakout films so the media jumped on their bangwagons. SRK had Deewana as his first hit and ever since then he has been pumped up by the media. His breakout hit i think is DDLJ and thats when he actually established himself as a star and not made by the media.
i truly believe the media in india decides most box office fates for hindi films. if HAHK had released today and declared flop the first weekend or week…it wouldve been a flop overall i think…unlike in 94 where it started slow but picked up drastically. you rarely see that today, vivah is probably the last film with such trending.
July 30, 2010 at 11:56 AM
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hb78FLCnBbl_hqO45Rn0w3S6bD0w
July 30, 2010 at 1:14 PM
Inception has done 1165m through yesterday. Again fantastic trending. It’s doing 5-6m every single day. Amazingly stable. Meanwhile Salt is very steady as well.
July 30, 2010 at 1:48 PM
Persistence of Vision Jai Arjun Singh takes you on a night out to the movies
BY JAI ARJUN SINGH
The art of the editor
http://ht.ly/2iI7p
July 30, 2010 at 2:55 PM
once upon a time is a very good movie .its shows ajay talent as actor.
July 30, 2010 at 5:02 PM
Bloody f&%^!!!!
I went to watch OUTIM today and have very bad memories..
the idiotic girl i went with today .. picked her up from connaught place.. took her to PVR Saket simply for the movie.. spent 500 bucks on two tickets.. 40 minutes into the film and she didnt want to watch it!!!! so dragged me out of the theatre.. what a waste.. damn!
July 30, 2010 at 5:10 PM
My sympathies..!
One should of course check out movies for a girl.. this is an age old tradition.. unfortunately here too Indian multiplexes make it far too expensive!
July 30, 2010 at 5:15 PM
its a loot here! I wonder whether the high multiplex rates result in piracy or its the other way round.. its a loot.. outrageous!
well…whatever the situation is, its a hard time for movie lovers..
Guess we’ll have to go back to the single screens now..
July 30, 2010 at 5:17 PM
“its a hard time for movie lovers..”
and lovers..
July 30, 2010 at 5:19 PM
LOL!
July 30, 2010 at 5:23 PM
But this actually kills the industry in other ways too. It’s not just those who are shut of the system economically but also those who can afford it but probably wouldn’t be able to for multiple viewings. Or even if they could they would prefer doing so elsewhere. This results in poorer trending over the long run but also unless WOM is great even decent films don’t last that long. It’s just a miserable system in every sense. This is where ‘ideology’ steps in. The most luxurious theaters in the West still have more or less the same ticket prices. And most people can afford these. This system is repliated in India, even surpassed in some ways (the luxury of India’s best multiplexes might be hard to match anywhere in the West.. you don’t get food delivered to your set.. you don’t get blankets.. you certainly don’t have the love seats!) but class is also introduced into the equation. In the older theaters you had the balconies for the family audiences but at least it was the same space. Now it is not just a completely different space but the disparity in ticket prices is so great that no ‘rickshawala’ could even dream of walking into such a theater where of course ‘aunties’ rule the roost!
July 30, 2010 at 5:21 PM
CP to Saket is a long drive
It use to be Rs 125 in 2000. They started at around RS. 75 in 1997.
July 30, 2010 at 5:26 PM
yes, i remember the ticket price munna.. watched some atrocious films at that rate there..
lets see – dude where’s my car, snip, rahul!
July 30, 2010 at 5:38 PM
I don’t know now but initially they use to offer 2 rows at almost 10% of normal rate from back of the building.
July 30, 2010 at 5:42 PM
yeah.. i know what you’re talking about. they were 7 -14 Rs. tickets which they used to sell.. but they were only of a particular movie i guess… never bought those kinds, though
July 30, 2010 at 5:25 PM
Btw satyam, a request.. following are my views on Rocket Singh – salesman of the year, which I have a weakness for. Will you be kind enough to post the article?
————————————————
Rocket Singh was a huge surprise last year. Not only did it meet the expectations, it did surpass them by a good enough margin to be a must watch film in a year dominated mostly by mediocre to above-average films at best. I, no doubt have a weakness for 3 idiots for its strong repeat value but this one gets my vote as a better film in the quality segment.
The film tells about the story of a young Surd Harpreet Singh, who has always been a below average student. He barely manages to pass his final year exams to become a graduate. Things don’t seem very bright for him however he has decided that he wants to choose sales as his profession. Although he seems very enthusiastic about it and lands up a job in a reputed computer company, he soon realises the pitfalls of working in an unethical corporate environment. He is almost fired because of some unintentional deed and has to struggle to save his job. A chance encounter with a small scale business owner gives him a brilliant idea for a setup to help his customers in a much better way.
Rocket Singh, released last year under the banner of Yash Raj films, was another of Yashraj’s slew of flops which they haven’t been able toavoid for quite some time now. Blame it on their poor scripts and mediocre storytelling in an age where Bollywood has moved out of the regular commercial fare. Nowadays,for a film to succeed, you need to either back it up with good content or excellent marketing.
But what was the most dissappointing thing about last year, on the box office front was that finally a good film from Yashraj didn’t find many audience.
One of the bigger reasons for its failure, as per my understanding, wasnot enough fun moments which could have given a reason for the crowd to celebrate. Another was because of a poor marketing strategy which simply didn’t work for the film. The film’s promotion left a lot to be desired for and considering they had made a genuinely fine film, they could have easily spent more money on its marketing.
Still, whatever the reason was, Rocket Singh cannot be ignored for a variety of reasons:
First, it explores an interesting concept which has rarely been discussed or shown in the history of Bollywood cinema – office politics with undercurrents of the pressures faced by employees in modern corporate environments, with an equally original story for which Mr. Sahni’s work needs to be applauded. The team of Jaideep Sahni and Shimit Amin resurface after delivering Chak De here under the same banner.
Secondly, I loved the way the whole idea/concept was overall executed and eluicidated on screen. To start with, in this matter, I know many people who had one common complaint about the film – its pace. On the contrary, I had had watched it from a completely different point of view. Considering the story they had in hand, they had an ample amount of oppurtunity to go overboard with crowd pleasing moments. This had worked wonderfully in Chak de India. But they kept things subtle and restrained, which was misunderstood for it being dull and lifeless. It was the restraint which helped the film in maintaining the same tone it had adopted in the first few scenes, and not letting the commercial factors affect the makers’ view of it.
Thirdly, a major aspect which contributed to a large way in making the film what it is, was the super-efficient performances by just about everyone in the cast. It won’t be incorrect to call it a script driven film.Right from Ranbir Kapoor to Gauri Khan to D. Santosh, every character’s role is well sketched and developed. Kudos to the casting director as well for choosing the right people and making a substantial contribution in helping with the characterization.
Jaideep Sahni as a name in the story credits always makes me eager enough for a theatre watch. I have been his fan since the Khosla ka Ghosla days. The icing on the cake was Shimit Amin’s directionwhose Ab tak Chappan and Chak de India were great films and immediate classics. Rocket Singh,in any way, is no less an accomplishment as an example in good stoytelling than their other good films. However, its release and failure did highlight an important thing, which may be discouraging for upcoming talented filmmakers. Audience complain of the industry not giving good enough films. But these wise statements are forgotten by many viewers who prefer to give them a pirated DVD watch, when they release!
Is independent cinema being recognized? I think its still a long way to go…Unless patronizedby entertainment in sufficient doses, no unique concept can work in a big way. 3 idiots is a fine example of that!
I hardly know many salesman. I am not aware of what they all go through in their daily lives. Commission earning might be what they live for. For sure, its not an easy task. But neither is film-making. Commission is earned though audience. Such films need to be encouraged. If not on the ticket window, then at least on award functions. Sadly, it worked neither ways.
And thats whatis a tragic end to a great cinematic piece!
July 31, 2010 at 5:20 AM
I saw Khatta Meetha yesterday. I actually found it a decent watch – some of the plot is a little bizarre with certain situations happening without any significant plot development. But I liked the idea of the story and Akshay was pretty fab. He does well in the last 30mins with some long overdue action sequences. Better than most his recent films!
July 31, 2010 at 6:14 AM
It is too loud. But yes it is better than KI and Housefull. The thing is that Priyadarshan has added too many characters which just don’t add much to main plot. For example that long Asrani phone talk was just out of place.
July 31, 2010 at 7:13 AM
not surprised to hear your thoughts on this.. it’s a remake of a Mohanlal film and just had to be better than most other stuff Akshay does..
July 31, 2010 at 7:16 AM
B.O. update: ‘OUATIM’ starts on slow note, picks up, reports terrific
- By Taran Adarsh, July 31, 2010 – 08:17 IST
Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai ONCE UPON A TIME IN MUMBAAI opened to a mixed response across the country. While the opening was best in Mumbai-Maharashtra [80%], plexes of metros and also ‘A’ class single screens, the opening day occupancy ranged from average [50%] to below average [30%] at several places. However, the film picked up towards the evening shows, with several centres showing a healthy escalation, and the night shows recorded even better collections. The silver lining is the extremely positive reports/terrific word of mouth, which should a bountiful and potent Saturday and Sunday.
July 31, 2010 at 7:16 AM
Top 5: ‘Khatta Meetha’ Rs. 32 cr. Week 1, slides on weekdays
July 31, 2010 at 7:25 AM
IBOS too have 32 crores for KM in week 1.
July 31, 2010 at 7:22 AM
BOI:
Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai had a below par first day of 5.50 crore nett approx. The film did pick up but the big jump occurred mainly in the Maharashtra and Gujarat area. Mumbai circuit was best while CP Berar and Nizam were next as many cities of Maharashtra are in these circuits.
The North, Bengal, Rajasthan and CI were all pretty low. The film will depend heavily on what happens on Saturday and Sunday. It needs these days to be strong and the sustain on Monday in order to emerge a decent success at the box office.
The all India break down is as follows.
Mumbai – 2.25 crore
Delhi/UP – 1.05 crore
East Punjab – 45 lakhs
West Bengal – 21 lakhs
Bihar – 13 lakhs
CP Berar – 28 lakhs
CI – 20 lakhs
Rajasthan – 22 lakhs
Nizam – 35 lakhs
Mysore – 25 lakhs
Others – 15 lakhs
TOTAL – 5.54 crore
July 31, 2010 at 1:35 PM
5.54cr is same as ravan… but I guess the price is lower. neways not a good opening.
August 1, 2010 at 5:59 AM
Raavan was 6.5 crore on day one. Don’t try to uderplay raavan first day like dick site BOI.
August 1, 2010 at 12:04 PM
Weekend top-10
http://www.boxofficeguru.com/weekend20.htm
August 1, 2010 at 3:54 PM
Inception will easily do 300m. Salt might not match Wanted’s 134m but in fairness it’s had serious competition from Inception.
August 1, 2010 at 4:09 PM
doubt it. I say it has a slim chance but 275 is pretty much lock now.
August 1, 2010 at 4:37 PM
if there’s no serious competition at any point it should be able to do 300. Initially I didn’t think so but it’s just so stable on the trending. Of course even 275 is fantastic.
August 1, 2010 at 6:30 PM
BTW, watched Once upon a time in Mumbai, kya bakwaas movie hai. I couldn’t sit thru it but still watched the whole movie. And this was suppose to be set in 70s rite? well it didn’t feel like movie from 70s. Avoid it Guys!
August 1, 2010 at 6:37 PM
“well it didn’t feel like movie from 70s”–agreed–not seen the movie but does not look like the 70s even in the promos.
just by making prachi desai wear a “bobby” polka-dot blouse does not recreate 70s…lol
however, did hope that the movie would be better than above-average esp devgn’s performance. plz note the (new) spelling of ajays surname
August 2, 2010 at 12:25 AM
Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai managed to have a decent weekend despite starting slowly. The film picked up from Friday evening and managed to have good Saturday and Sunday collections. The approx breakdowns are 5.50 crore nett for Friday, 7 crore nett for Saturday and 7.75 crore nett (early estimate) on Sunday for a 20.25 crore nett weekend.
The jump on Saturday was mainly restricted to metro multiplexes but it was a big jump going up to 40% at some theatres, single screens had small drops on Saturday as compared to Friday. Mumbai (Excellent) and South have seen the best business over the weekend while other regions remain on the lower side. Rajasthan is worst with dull performance.
The trending for the weekend is very similar to last week’s Khatta Meetha but at a lower level. Khatta Meetha fell badly on weekdays but Once Upon a Time In Mumbai may sustain as it has better reports. The Mumbai circuit looks like doing Hit business but the weekdays will decide where Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai is heading in the rest of the country.
http://www.boxofficeindia.com/npages.php?page=shownews&articleid=1872&nCat=news
August 2, 2010 at 8:34 AM
Midweek B.O.: ‘OUATIM’ shows big jump, has 22 cr. nett weekend
August 2, 2010 at 10:18 AM
Ajay Devgan might turn out to have a better year than Akshay Kumar.
August 3, 2010 at 12:20 AM
‘Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai’ day-wise remarkable growth
August 3, 2010 at 7:21 AM
WOM is in favour, most people I know who’ve seen it, seems like another TAXI NO.9211 type hit.
August 3, 2010 at 2:59 PM
Once upon a time is all hyped by media.its same bollywood gangster fighting shit!grow up n get a better script!n its not a fiction based story we public are not fools to believe that!we need meaningful stories like 3 idiots,taare zameen par etc dats what real cinema is not a flick with few gunshots n few dialouges !with the rise is prices public is more aware wat to choose n yup its like taxi no 9211 cuz writer is the same.Milan Luthria you need a change of script desperately.
August 4, 2010 at 8:04 AM
Taran:
Brand Balaji strengthens
August 4, 2010 – 08:13 IST
Gangster movies have reached their saturation. There’s nothing more to explore. Ramgopal Varma and Mahesh Manjrekar have explored the genre time and again… Gangster movies have a few more factors going against them: They are considered dark and dry, lack entertainment value, abound in cliched situations, have abundance of blood/gore and have absolutely no scope for songs. Prior to its release, the naysayers were of the opinion that ONCE UPON A TIME IN MUMBAAI stood on a sticky wicket. But the fact is, ONCE UPON A TIME IN MUMBAAI has given a fresh lease to this genre.
The theatrical business of ONCE UPON A TIME IN MUMBAAI got stabilized on Saturday [Midweek Boxoffice]. Monday, the crucial day, witnessed a 30% fall over Friday figures [it collected approx. Rs. 3.77 cr. nett], which indicates that the film has found acceptance. As things stand today, the business is outstanding in Mumbai/Maharashtra, South and prime multiplexes of metros.
From the business point of view, the film should touch approx. Rs. 35 cr. nett in Week 1, which means a share of approx. Rs. 19 cr./Rs. 20 cr. If the film sustains in its second weekend [I am sure, it will] and the drop is in the 50% range with lesser shows, the film should add another Rs. 10 cr. + nett to its kitty.
The music rights have fetched Rs. 2 cr. and Satellite Rights have fetched Rs. 10.5 cr., which places the producers in comfort zone [the Home Video deal should be clinched in a few days]. However, the recoveries from Overseas won’t be substantial [approx. Rs. 2.5 cr.] since gangster films made in Bollywood aren’t popular in the international circuit. Romance and musicals still hold the key there.
It’s more than evident that ONCE UPON A TIME IN MUMBAAI is a success story for its producers, but on a broader level, first LOVE SEX AUR DHOKHA and now ONCE UPON A TIME IN MUMBAAI have firmly established brand Balaji in moviedom. And that is a far bigger achievement than anything else today!
August 4, 2010 at 4:36 PM
Taran is really gung ho about this one!
August 4, 2010 at 5:46 PM
In fact this is blatant example of just ass licking a film and its prospects. The films collections are not too far off Khatta Meetha first weekend and the story is glaringly ass licking this time around. Even he is tweeting and put some silly day by day comparison to show a “rise” in collections from Friday to Sat to Sun! Duh! Most movies increase from Fri to Sat to Sun!
August 4, 2010 at 5:51 PM
Yup. Taran just encashed his cheque, it seems.
August 4, 2010 at 7:37 PM
agreed completely!
August 5, 2010 at 2:05 AM
Well Taran is not that wrong in his reports. Few factors differentiate the performance of both movies.
1. KM first week ends up at 33.5 Crore @1250 Screens. OUATIM should also ends up at 34+ Crore range @1000 screens. First difference lies in screen space.
2. Trending of OUATIM is strong compared to KM. 6th Day collection of KM was just 1 Crore. While OUATIM is holding up very well and collected around 2.85 Crore on Wednesday.
3. Looking at trend, OUATIM should see healthy second week. While KM crash was predictable on its 7th day itself when collection was below 1 crore.
Overall OUATIM start at BO was comparable to KM but difference lies in strong trending. Though its laughable that 2-3 years back 50% drop in subsequent weeks was considered as good trend, which now went down to 65-70%.
August 4, 2010 at 7:55 PM
BOI:
Once Upon A Time In Mumbai had another steady on Tuesday with business of 3.25 crore nett. This takes the films total to 27.50 crore nett. The drop was only 10-15% from Monday.
The film is behaving extraordinarily well in Nizam due to the muslim touch in the film and Emraan Hashmi who has a big following in the circuit. Mumbai is also super strong and could end up with a 12-14 crore distributor share.
This weekend the film will see competition in the form of Aisha and may well cut into the business of Once Upon A Time in Mumbai at high end multiplexes of metroes but in the rest of the country, Aisha is unlikely to prove much of a threat.
The second weekend will tell about where the film will a finish up, it may close at 50 crore nett but a solid second weekend may eventually take the lifetime business to 60 crore nett.
August 4, 2010 at 8:51 PM
Re: “The film is behaving extraordinarily well in Nizam due to the muslim touch in the film…”
Just like that other blockbuster, Umraojaan.
August 4, 2010 at 9:56 PM
Ha!
August 5, 2010 at 4:13 AM
Umaraojaan did not have Emraan Hshmi
the other factor…
August 5, 2010 at 2:05 PM
what’s the film yaar……….
August 5, 2010 at 10:55 PM
after poor opening,film has realy pick alot and its weeks collection is over 20 crores. the film is so entertaining.