If till last week, someone would have said that a film starring Vivek Oberoi would take the third best opening of the
year after Shah Rukh Khan's 'My Name Is Khan' and Salman Khan's 'Veer', he would have been pronto sent to an
asylum.
Well, that 'someone' can now proudly stand up and make that announcement. That's because
believe it or not but Vivek's 'Prince' has taken an opening which is next only to the aforementioned films.
A
50% opening would have been a happy sign indeed for this action thriller that boasted of great music but always
carried the danger of being ignored or savaged due to the presence of a certain Oberoi.
However, Friday
threw a different picture altogether with an opening which was much better than 50%, especially at single screen
audience - the target audience for the film.
Expectedly, the script wasn't any great shakes but exciting promos, slick visuals, fast paced narrative, cool action
and hot babes coupled with a good act by Vivek meant that audience weren't heard complaining.
Though
there hasn't been a huge soar in collections which could tag the film as hit in a matter of few days, the fact remains
that for something which was touted to be a 'born disaster' by many, 'Prince' has turned out to be a slap on the
face.
The film is still on shaky grounds as a huge budget means that continued collections are not just the need of the
hour but at least a fortnight.
There are tens of crores spent on the film and the makers have to keep their
fingers crossed that the film doesn't crash over the second weekend. However, all said and done, a good start
means that this has turned out to be at least a face saving venture for Vivek Oberoi.
The film has taken the
biggest opening ever of his career and leaving aside the budget factor which could prove to be a spoilsport, Vivek
can at least now afford to enjoy a good night sleep for months to come before he revisits anxious moments yet
again with 'Raktacharitra'.
'Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai' has turned out to be the biggest box office disappointment of the current year. Period. A
good film which definitely deserved audience coming it's way, this Riteish Deshmukh and Jacqueline Fernandez
starrer didn't even take an opening.
It's as simple as that; the set of audience which wanted to catch a
movie this weekend opted for 'Prince' and in the process totally ignored 'Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai' which opened to
an abysmal response.
Yes, the film did show a good pick up over the weekend but one suspects whether
this would be good enough. A pity because this romcom has quite a few ingredients that make for a decent young
entertainer.
The makers can take solace from the fact that the film's budget is quite reasonable and hence the cost should get
recovered from various sources. However, 'Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai' was made for theatre audience and it is
nothing less than disappointing to see minimal footfalls coming its way.
An insignificant release and an even more insignificant (and inconsequential opening) of 'The Japanese Wife' makes
one wonder why to make a film like this which has extremely limited audience?
Is it only to satisfy the
artistic urge in you as a film maker? Regarding those who wish to watch a film from the artistic standpoint, then
well, the sad truth is that number of such people is abysmally low.
In that case, why not have a direct to
DVD release because theatrically (especially with the kind of marketing effort that has gone into the film) 'The
Japanese Wife' doesn't come with any scope whatsoever.
Monday, April 12, 2010 14:08 IST