While Gautam Menon's 'Ekk Deewana Tha' falls flat on its face, Daniel Radcliffe's 'The Woman in Black' fares average.

The going was tough for the new releases of last week. Neither Ekk Deewana Tha, Married To America or ? manage to register any attention at the ticket windows. Needless to say, the trade has declared them non-starters.

Veteran trade analyst Amod Mehra attributes the debacle of Ekk Deewana Tha to lack of star power and bad music. He explains, "Prateik isn't a star who can draw in the crowd. On Friday, it netted only Rs 50 lakh in India. As for Married To America and ? they're even worse."

The Gautam Menon directed film registered India net collections of about R 2.75 crore in its first three days. And that's barely more than half of the second weekend collections of Imran Khan-Kareena Kapoor rom-com, Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu, which made Rs 5 crore from Friday to Sunday. The Karan Johar production has netted Rs 37 crore in 10 days.

A Central India distributor, on condition of anonymity, adds, "In non-metropolitan cities, if the music doesn't catch on, then the people aren't too interested in seeing the movie. Despite A R Rahman, the music of Ekk Deewana Tha hasn't caught on with the listeners."

Unlike the Hindi releases, the Hollywood imports seem to be having a better time. As Girish Wankhede of Cinemax tells us, "The Woman in Black has registered average occupancy. And so has Ghost Rider -- Spirit of Vengeance. However, the Hindi dubbed version of Ghost Rider is faring better." No wonder the Nicholas Cage starrer has netted about Rs 2 crore in India in the first three days.

Now, the trade is looking forward to Jodi Breakers and Tere Naal Luv Ho Gaya, which open in cinemas coming Friday. "Of the two, Jodi Breakers has generated more buzz. But let's hope Tere Naal also gets a good audience because the industry needs films to do well," concludes Mehra.