Shah Rukh's Billu, despite a good pickup on the weekend, is proving to be a loss making proposition. The other two releases of the week - The Stoneman Murders and Jugaad both have failed to make a mark at the ticket window.
Box Office Collections
SRK's home production Billu had got a poor opening on Friday in the range of 35-40 per cent. A better response was seen at smaller centres and single screens than the multiplexes on the opening day. Billu's total net collections for day ended up being around Rs 3.50 crore.
On the weekend however, there was good rise in its collections everywhere which saved the film from being a disaster.
JANTA VERDICT: Billu
The opening weekend occupancy rose to around 70-80 per cent and the film succeeded in grossing around Rs 13 crore net from the opening weekend. The opening weekend collections from major multiplex players for Billu were - PVR - 75 per cent, Fun Cinemas 70 per cent, BIG 70-80 per cent, Cinemax 75-80 per cent, Spice – 70-75 per cent and G-7 80per cent.
REVIEW: Billu
But then again there has been a heavy drop in today i.e. Monday's collections all over which spells problem for the film.
Amongst the other two releases, The Stoneman Murders garnered good reviews but those didn't translate into good box office returns. Jugaad on the other hand was a complete washout with shows cancelled at almost every centre on opening day and even Saturday.
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Trade Buzz
According to senior trade expert, Amar Solanki, Billu carries mass appeal. It is not your regular multiplex film. It is being appreciated by families and will end up being an average to above average success in small towns.
Apart from next week's release, Delhi-6 there is no other big opposition for the film and this will help the film to grow with word of mouth. Producer of The Stoneman Murders, Bobby Bedi (Saathiya, Maqbool and The Rising) is no novice in the field and he should have aggressively marketed it but he didn't and therefore despite being a good thriller and garnering positive reviews, the film failed to get its due. If The Stoneman Murders had below par publicity, Jugaad had practically none and hardly anybody knew whether the film had released or not."
Janta pelt stones at Billu 1st Day 1st Show
Another senior trade analyst points out, "SRK has made a clean profit from Billu by selling the film to Eros for around Rs 30 crore. Looking at the response the film has generated so far and the downward slide it has taken today it seems next to impossible for Eros to recover its cost.
"The film had SRK in an extended special appearance and Irrfan as the lead, so the great opening for a SRK starrer was already ruled out. When a great opening is half the battle won, Billu seems to have missed out on that. With the slide in collections taken place from today, it will end the week at around Rs 17-18 crore."
Manoj Desai of G-7 says, "All the three releases of the week had acclaimed actors in their lead. But actors like Irrfan Khan, Kay Kay Menon and Manoj Bajpai still don't have the capacity to pull in a big audience. SRK fans were disappointed with his small role in Billu. Our collections today have been very low and it appears less likely that they will pick up in the week ahead."
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