Bollywood Domestic Box Office : From bad to worse!

By Taran Adarsh Bollywood Hungama News Network

Out of the frying pan, it's straight into the fire. That's the state of the industry currently. The dry run at the box-office continues non-stop, the latest 'casualty' being SUNDAY. Why are people shying away from theatres? Is it due to the cold wave? Or is it because they aren't excited about films? Whatever the reasons, the business has suddenly turned ice-cold. Post WELCOME and TAARE ZAMEEN PAR, the graph continues to slide downwards.

What wrong with SUNDAY? It's a well-made, entertaining joyride. But the 30% - 40% opening was simply unexpected. A very prominent distributor/exhibitor feels [and rightly so!] that the movie-going segment that favors movieplexes today is the youth and Ajay Devgan's popularity has declined over the years in this segment. Partly because Ajay has been seen in similar kind of movies/roles [serious].

Ajay needs to experiment with romance and comedy -- something that Akshay realized a few years ago and changed lanes quickly. Often labeled a 'stunt hero' not too long back, Akshay is now considered a romantic hero who works big time in comedies. That, in turn, has resulted in his ratings soaring upwards, nationally and internationally. This is what I also conveyed to Rohit Shetty, director of SUNDAY, who also happens to be a close friend of Ajay's.

SUNDAY picked up on Friday evening, shot upwards on Saturday [26th January was a National holiday], was on the plus side on Sunday, but Monday onwards, has registered a steep fall. Frankly, SUNDAY deserved a better fate and a better run. The only hope is that the coming days aren't really crowded with biggies. There's JODHAA AKBAR on 15th February. Till then, SUNDAY can catch up if the audience gets into the mood of visiting theatres.

Will things improve? Let's wait-n-watch!

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