Bollywood's poor run at the box office continues as last week's releases get a dull opening

Last Friday's Hindi releases opened with a dismal collection at the box office, making November a forgettable month for Bollywood. None of the three films - Rensil D'Silva's 'Ungli', Chandra Prakash Dwivedi's 'Zed Plus' and Vivek Agnihotri's 'Zid' - could manage to lure movie buffs to theatres.

Exhibitor Rajesh Thadani says, "Neither was there any pre-release buzz about the films nor was their music impressive. The audience chose to watch Hollywood films last week. 'Ungli' collected only about Rs 10 crore and 'Zid' about Rs 3 crore. 'Zed Plus' collections was just dismal."

Unlike 'Zed Plus' and 'Zid', 'Ungli' featured well known faces like Emraan Hashmi, Sanjay Dutt, Kangna Ranaut and Randeep Hooda but that didn't seem to work in its favour. Trade analyst Amod Mehra says, "The weekend collections were way below expectation. The concept of the movie was commendable but the execution wasn't. So, the business failed to pick up. 'Zid', too, opened fairly well but crashed the following day. Since it is an 'A' certificate film, it will be difficult for it to find audience and make money."


Mehra points out big films that released post Diwali have bombed at the box office, right from 'Rang Rasiya' and 'The Shaukeens' to 'Kill Dil' and 'Happy Ending'. He adds, "It has been sheer darkness for distributors and exhibitors after Diwali. The industry has incurred a loss of not less than Rs 100 crore this month."

Vishal Anand of Fun Cinemas says Hollywood beat Bollywood hands down in the last month. "'Fury', 'Interstellar' and 'Gone Girl' scored and were much talked about but Hindi films had a disappointing run at the BO," he avers.