Diwali releases brings cheer at box office

There were Diwali cheers for bollywood this year with ‘Golmaal Returns’ and ‘Fashion’ raking in the moolah at the box office. Though the excitement and curiosity was much less compared to last year, when big-budgeted movies ‘Om Shanti Om’ and ‘Sawariya’ were released, the successes brought respite to the industry which was going through a dull phase following poor box office response to big budgeted movies like ‘Drona’ , ‘Karzzz’ and ‘Roadside Romeo’ just before the festive season, trade sources said.

Sources said that ‘Golmaal Returns’ earned Rs 72 crore gross in the opening week worldwide, while ‘Fashion’ generated more than Rs 33 crore worldwide. Both films were released on Wednesday, unlike the customary Fridays, last week to cash in on the Diwali-mania.
        
‘Golmaal Returns’, produced by Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Ltd and directed by Rohit Shetty, is a sequel to ‘Golmaal’ which was one of the biggest grosser of 2006. Talking about the film, Shetty said that the the box office response to “Golmaal Returns” had been bigger than the original film.
        
‘Golmaal Returns’ ran to packed houses for three days, he said. “‘Chitra’ theatre in central Mumbai beat all records for the past nine years for the opening week and was booked houseful in advance for the second week as well,” Shetty said.
        
Exhibitors and distributors are thrilled with the film’s response not just in the Mumbai circuit but all over India too, he added.

Shetty said the film was a super-hit in Punjab and Jammu and added that theatres in centres like Nagpur, Raipur and Amravati were packed to capacity. In small cities like Shimla, advance booking for the second week are full, he said. Shetty further said that the film had collected nearly 40,000 pounds in a single day in London.
        
With the tremendous response to the film, Shetty said he does not rule out the possibility of Golmaal 3 in the near future. Meanwhile, ‘Fashion’ went past the Rs 30 crore mark at the box-office in just seven days to become Director Madhur Bhandarkar’s biggest hit ever.
        
Glowing reviews and word of mouth publicity have fed the film’s box office performance and success, Bhandarkar said. ‘Fashion’ continues to ride the wave of accolades and draw sizeable crowds to theatres, he added.

Siddharth Roy Kapur, CEO UTV Motion Pictures said ‘Fashion’ had surpassed all expectations with the sort of business it achieved within a week of its release. “Coupled with the critical acclaim it has generated in India and around the world, ‘Fashion’ has shattered the myth that a heroine-oriented film cannot do the sort of businessthat a movie with a male protagonist can,” Kapur said.
        
He said the success of ‘Fashion’ was a testament to what can be achieved when a visionary director, a talented cast and crew, a compelling script, great production values, aggressive marketing and sound distribution strategy are brought together.

(Agencies)

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