Ever since its release, Shah Rukh Khan's Chennai Express has bulldozed its way into record books. And looks like Akshay Kumar's latest release Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbai Dobaara has borne the brunt of Rohit Shetty's box office smasher. The SRK-Deepika Padukone starrer became the fastest film to reach Rs 100 crore.
Releasing across limited screens since Chennai Express was still thundering on its way forward on Independence Day (last Thursday), Milan Luthria's film failed to capitalise on the situation once SRK's film finished its first week run.
It collected approximately Rs 11 crore on the opening day but saw a downfall soon after except on Sunday, which saw a slight rise, raking in only Rs 38 crore till Sunday night. SRK's film on the other hand is racing full steam ahead towards the Rs 200 crore mark.
Trade analyst Amod Mehra says, `OUATIMD has failed at the box office. August 15 saw limited shows, which affected the collections. Though the shows increased on Friday, the collections didn't. Saturday was just about okay while Sunday was somewhat better. The film has failed to cross the Rs 50 crore mark over its four days. `
According to distributor Sunny Khanna, Shah Rukh has set a new benchmark of sorts. He explains, `Chennai Express has grossed approximately Rs 147 crore in the first week, adding Rs 23 crore in its second weekend, taking the total BO collection to Rs 170 crore in 11 days.
The film is gearing up to touch Rs 200 crore in terms of all-India theatrical revenues. Even if it doesn't cross the figure of Rs 200 crore, the producer's share will be higher than all the movies released in the past including Aamir Khan's 3 Idiots. Based on their profit sharing basis, the distributors will have earned better. `
Regarding OUATIMD, Khanna points out that the weekend numbers were way below expectations. `On Friday, the film raked in Rs 9 crore, Rs 8 crore on Saturday and Rs 10 crore on Sunday. `
According to distributor and box office expert, Suniel Wadhwa, Akshay's film could do nothing to stop the fast pace of SRK's film.
He says, `The film performed very poorly and considering the cost of production as well as print and advertisement cost, Thursday fared better than the rest. With very weak word-of-mouth, the film will be difficult to sustain in the long run. `
