People’s Verdict

*** Kaho Na... crosses 100 days
*** Dil Hi Dil Mein nets 30%
The month of May is considered a lean period for the film industry. For though, it’s vacation time for the school and college kids and the youth, who constitute a sizeable chunk of the audience, most of them go out of town. And Mumbai theatres are only patronised by the remnant, and even these have a lot of options to choose from -- cricket, among them. And as things stand, few films have done good business. One only hopes the big starrers, like Nitin Manmohan’s Sanjay Dutt, Salman Khan, Karisma Kapoor movie, Chal Mere Bhai, become a hit. Only another hit can enthuse those in the trade.

Dil Hi Dil Mein:
Though the film has music by AR Rahman, it hasn’t had a decent enough opening. In Mumbai, its collections stood at 30 per cent which doesn’t suffice to cover the theatre rentals. Besides, it’s done scarcely any better at other centres -- it netted 41 per cent in Hyderabad and 34 per cent in Delhi.

Bhoot Raj:
The routine horror flick has really caused a stir in Mumbai. It’s done a business of a mere 28 per cent in its first week in the city.

Hadh Kar Di Aapne:
In Mumbai, the film registered 74 per cent in the second week. Sadly, it has fared so creditably only in Mumbai and Maharasthra. Not in other centres.

Gang:
The film’s second week collections came to 47 per cent. Considering the price of the film, it’s done good business in the second week, up three points from the first week collections of 44 per cent.

Hera Pheri:
The film’s fourth week collections stood at 82 per cent in Mumbai. In Delhi, however, it hasn’t done quite as well.

Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge:
The film has done good business in Mumbai. In its fifth week, it still accounted for collections of 50 per cent.

Kaho Naa... Pyar Hai:
The film is doing steady business all over. In Mumbai it had collections of 55 per cent last week. Considering it was its 15th week in theatres, it’s quite a good showing. The film has crossed 100 days at 32 centres including overseas.

This Week:
Apart from Nitin Manmohan’s Chal Mere Bhai, another film that will hit the turnstiles this week, is the ABC Distributors-release Dahashat.
Other May offerings:

The films which are due for release in May include Jung, Zahrela, Dalal No 1 (all of them on May 12), Kaama (to be released either on May 12 or 19) and Pranlal Mehta’s Nana Patekar starrer, Tarkieb, which is due on May 19.

MSM Desai