The audience's reaction to 'The Dark Knight Rises' falls short of expectation; Hindi releases fail to make a mark

The Dark Knight Rises was easily one of the most eagerly awaited Hollywood films this year. But incidentally, while the film did manage to make money over the weekend, the audience seems to have been disappointed with the finale.

This week's Bollywood releases, Picture Abhi Baki Hai, Chalo Driver and Gattu have proved to be a disappointment at the box office, as Bol Bachchan and Cocktail remain to be the first choice for cinegoers.

The opening weekend collection of Christopher Nolan's film is around Rs 17 crore while Cocktail's first week was around Rs 52.50 crore and the weekend is around Rs 12.50 crore bringing the total to Rs 65 crore in 10 days. Entering its third week, Bol Bachchan is racing towards the Rs 100 crore mark and after the third weekend.

Atul Mohan, trade analyst says, "The Dark Knight is disappointing for me. There was no proper marketing strategy and the release plans had much to be desired. That had adversely affected the collections. It is nowhere compared to Spiderman and Avengers."

Girish Wankhede, official spokesperson of a multiplex chain says, "The major reason for Dark Knight not being a Spiderman is that there were no 3D prints. Plus there was less number of prints compared to other major Hollywood releases.

The audience expected more action in the film and found this one to be slow compared to the original Dark Knight. The word of mouth is not encouraging. However in spite of that, across our chains, there was an average of 75 per cent occupancy on Sunday, which is not bad."

Regarding the Bollywood releases, he adds, "Apart from Gattu, which has been appreciated by the audience but has not been able to convert the goodwill into numbers, the remaining two films are nothing to talk about."