Taran Adarsh

The dry spell has ended. And 'House Full' signs/boards were back at plexes last weekend. NEW YORK was the first major film to open after the embargo on new films was lifted by producers/distributors and was a test for more reasons than one.

Let's discuss the mood within the industry before NEW YORK happened. Several people I interacted with prior to the release of the film were of the opinion that the common man, perhaps, had lost the habit of visiting theatres/plexes in the past two months and only a real biggie, with solid reports, would draw the audiences out of their homes. A debatable point...

Agreed, the viewer was missing his staple diet of films every Friday, but it wasn't as if the industry had stopped making movies or things had come to a grinding halt. The viewer was well aware of the tiff between the two warring factions (thanks to the widespread coverage in the media) and that things had come to a halt, albeit temporarily.

But NEW YORK did the trick. Yash Raj went out of its way to market the film. The film had to score in its opening week, else a major opposition next week would elbow it out of the ring. In fact, this is applicable for all films slated for release in the next few weeks. It's now or never!

NEW YORK is a moderately budgeted film and given its fantastic business over the weekend in India as also in the international markets, YRF, also its distributor, is sure to recover a substantial chunk of its investment from the theatrical business, while another big chunk is expected from non-theatrical avenues (given its good performance at the b.o.).

NEW YORK is aimed at the multiplex junta and I am confident, its business should remain steady in its second weekend (at plexes). With KAMBAKKHT ISHQ carrying excellent reports, let's hope it pours at the box -office this Friday as well. Fingers crossed!