Neerja takes a decent opening at the box-office

This week’s big release is the Sonam Kapoor starrer Neerja, which is accompanied by four romantic films – Loveshhuda, Direct Ishq, Ishq Forever and Rhythm. This also marks the end of the first week run of Fitoor and Sanam Re.

 

Neerja, which releases in 1000 screens pan India, notched a figure of 20 to 25 per cent occupancies in the early shows, with the highest figures coming from Bangalore, Chandigarh and Pune. The great word of mouth for the film is likely to propel earnings in the urban centers towards the evening but the film may find earning big numbers through single screens a challenge. Gauging from early trends, the film could bring in business of Rs 5 crore by the end of the day.

 

The only other film to have a significant opening today is Girish Kumar starrer Loveshhuda, with 5 per cent occupancies. Direct Ishq, Ishq Forever and Rhythm are washouts at the ticket windows.

 

Of the two releases last week, Fitoor underperformed not just on the opening weekend but also in the weekdays to follow, with a low figure of Rs 1.58 crore on Monday. This was followed by figures of Rs 1.40 crore on Tuesday, Rs 1.33 crore and Rs 1.38 crore on Thursday, taking the first week total up to Rs 19.80 crore.

 

Sanam Re, on the other hand, performed better than its counterpart, despite the low impact on the opening weekend. Collections dropped by a mere 37 per cent on Monday with earnings of Rs 2.56 crore in the kitty. Relatively uniform but slipping figures followed through the week, with Rs 2.34 crore on Tuesday, Rs 2.11 crore on Wednesday and Rs 1.76 crore on Thursday. So far, Sanam Re has managed to earn Rs 25.82 crore in its first week but given the barrage of new releases, the film is headed for a 30 crore lifetime figure by the end of week two.