The superhero movie makes big money and Priyadarshan's action thriller fizzles out at the box office

For someone who has been a crowd-puller with his comedies, it seems director Priyadarshan has got it wrong with his action film Tezz this time. Meanwhile, trade experts refer to Life Ki Toh Lag Gayi as a non-starter.

However, this week's Hollywood import The Avengers not only opened with good numbers, but looks to sustain for another week as well.

Pegging the first three day's India net collections of Tezz at Rs 11.25 crore, Komal Nahta, veteran trade analyst says, "That's usually the numbers from the first day of a star film. Tezz didn't look like a thriller, it was rather laidback in its approach." Nahta predicts that the film will lose more than Rs 20 crore.

Girish Wankhede of a national multiplex chain adds, "The occupancy of under 35 per cent is not enough for a film from a reputed banner and with a strong cast. The promotions didn't catch on to draw in a sizeable audience either."

On the contrary, last week's releases Vicky Donor and Hate Story fared better. Delhi-based distributor Sanjay Ghai enthuses, "The word of mouth praise for Vicky Donor is very good, and that has helped it in the second weekend. It should do a lifetime theatrical share of Rs 15-16 crore, which means an India net of about Rs 30 crore."

Further, he feels that multiplexes haven't been as kind to Hate Story.

Nonetheless, the Vikram Bhatt scripted film featuring Paoli Dam, Gulshan Devaiah and Nikhil Dwivedi has done well in single screens. As Indore-based distributor Aditya Choksi tells us, "Hate Story has done reasonably good business in the solo theatres."

While Nahta pegs the first three days of The Avengers at Rs 15 crore India net, Ghai predicts it will yield a theatrical share of R 20 crore. Wankhede attributes the superheroes flick to hype, critics' raving reviews and the ongoing summer vacation.

"Monday morning and afternoon shows were strong too. So there's no doubt why it won't continue to rake in the moolah," he sums up.