Cold wave freezes collections

The Cold wave in the North has left a huge dent on the box-office collections, with very few venturing out to the cinemas. Even otherwise, the business of films has come down considerably in recent times. The filmmakers seem to be in a fix on how to gauge audience preferences. Raju Chacha on which Ajay Devgan had poured bagfuls of money to make it a good entertainer has remained largely unappreciated in the first week and failed to improve the position in the second week too. But the saving grace is NR Pachisia’s Farz starring Sunny Deol and Preity Zeinta and Jackie Shroff has taken good opening not only in Mumbai but also in Delhi despite the inclement weather.

Raju Chacha (2nd week)
Mumbai 72 per cent
Delhi 36 per cent
Indore 60 per cent
Agra 38 per cent

Khiladi 420 (2nd week)
Mumbai 28 per cent
Kolkata 23 per cent
Hardwar 22 per cent
Agra 54 per cent

Billa No 786 (2nd week)
Delhi 27 per cent
Kolkata 16 per cent

Champion (3rd week)
Delhi 20 per cent
Kolkata 16 per cent
Ahmedabad 21 per cent
Bareily 42 per cent
Agra 17 per cent

Kurukshetra (9th week)
Mumbai 27 per cent
Mohabbatein (11th week)
Mumbai 67 per cent

Opening this week are Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi starring Kajol in a double role along with Shyam Benegal’s Zubeidaa and a English film Salsa. Other small-budgeted films lined up for release are Bhairav, The Telephone in Mumbai and Hasina Dacait in Saurashtra.

MSMD