Taran Adarsh

It's time to jump with joy. Look at the volume of business spread over two weeks. First NEW YORK. Now KAMBAKKHT ISHQ. Frankly, we've witnessed such figures after GHAJINI (December 2008). Of course, there was RAAZ in between, but the poor opening of a number of films subsequently dashed off all hopes.

Let's talk of KAMBAKKHT ISHQ here. All of us are well aware of the stupendous start KAMBAKKHT ISHQ has embarked upon, riding gallantly into the Top 5 openers of all times. What does one attribute the deafening start to?

A section of the industry feels that the tremendous hype translated into tremendous collections. Yet another section feels that the audience was starved of entertainment and expectedly, KAMBAKKHT ISHQ was bound to be lapped up. Another theory doing the rounds is that the stupendous start is courtesy the all-round positivity in the markets. Recession, it seems, is on its way out. Whatever the reasons, you cannot overlook the fact that KAMBAKKHT ISHQ has brought all-round cheer.

But what upsets me is the slanderous campaign, targeting this film in particular. The negative talk began during the paid preview screenings itself, on Thursday night. It gathered momentum on Friday. The film will crash in the evening, they said. They termed it the prequel to CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA. Even re-named it KAMBAKKHT HEADACHE.

Then they said Saturday would see a complete downslide. They changed their stance and said Sunday would prove to be doomsday for the film. Nothing happened. In fact, KAMBAKKHT ISHQ recorded historic collections on Sunday.

Monday was an acid test for KAMBAKKHT ISHQ. The film was strong at big centres, while the drop was more pronounced at smaller centres. The North sector is behaving the best, the Western region has been affected due to the heavy downpour, while the South belt is comparatively lower. The youth and hardcore masses have taken to the film, while the senior age-group, generally, hasn't.

KAMBAKKHT ISHQ has come as a respite for the industry and also for Akshay Kumar, who had become everyone's favourite punching bag post CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA and 8 x 10 TASVEER.