Maneesh Sharma's con thriller is low on box office numbers, thanks to a good response to last week's release, 'The Dirty Picture'



Considering that Band Baaja Baaraat emerged as the surprise package of December, last year, there were some expectations from director Maneesh Sharma's Ladies vs Ricky Bahl as well.

More so because it was bringing together the Ranveer Singh-Anushka Sharma jodi in a story where both characters try to outdo each other, but eventually end up falling in love.

However, the rom-com lost out to Milan Luthria's The Dirty Picture which netted about Rs 16-17 crore in its second weekend. As for the other release, Vikram Bhatt's Lanka toplining Manoj Bajpai, sank without a trace.

Veteran trade analyst Amod Mehra attributes it to lack of entertainment in the second half, though the audience is not minding the first half.

"Despite a decent opening of about Rs 15-16 crore in the first three days, Monday saw a considerable drop." It is learnt that a couple of shows were cancelled in Kolkota due to very low turnout.

Summing up the box office opening of the Ranveer-Anushka starrer, Mehra states that its chances of surviving the week are low. Equally forthcoming is Manoj Desai, Executive Director at Maratha Mandir and G7 Cineplex in Mumbai.

"There were no ladies and neither was there any Ricky Bahl in the audience, " he says caustically, adding that despite it being sold as a youthful movie, the youth aren't exactly thronging the cinemas. "Not even one show was houseful. As for Lanka, it's fared even worse."

On the other hand, the Vidya Balan movie also featuring Emraan Hashmi, Naseeruddin Shah and Tusshar Kapoor continues to draw in the audience.

As Mehra enthuses, "TDP netted Rs 16-17 crore in the second weekend, which is something the so-called big films should be doing. Till Sunday, producer Ekta Kapoor's newest hit has netted over Rs 68 crores from its India theatrical release."

However, he asserts that the BO performance of the film doesn't mean that Ranveer can be written off. "Generally, young stars feel a movie is a hit because of them.

He can't hike his fee now, so it's definitely a setback for him, " he observes, adding that the film's BO numbers won't make much difference to the producers at YRF.

In the same vein, the head of a multiplex chain, who didn't wish to be named, maintained that the Chopras need not worry about their investment of Rs 25 odd crore (including print and advertising) on the movie.

"The producers have made some money from sales of satellite rights, etc. So breaking even is not their worry, " he stated.

With no major release coming this Friday, all eyes, this week, are on Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. The film has already generated good buzz with the recent visit of Tom Cruise to India.