Desi Boyz earns Rs 25 crores in opening weekend

Akshay Kumar and John Abraham's 'Desi Boyz' had a decent opening but audiences aren't going gaga over them like girls in the film did.

With the presence of two big stars Akshay Kumar and John Abraham in lead roles, the opening for Desi Boyz was expected to be huge. While the film has taken a decent initial, collecting around Rs 25 crores over the opening weekend, trade circles were expecting bigger business for a film of this magnitude. With no big jump in the business over Saturday and Sunday, the figures aren't expected to get any better. The coming days will decide its fate at the box-office.

The other release, Dam 999 was a weak product and expectedly its outcome was disastrous. Despite decent promotions for its level, the film couldn't get audience due to negative word of mouth. Releasing it in multiple languages (English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu) didn't help either since the film was banned in the Tamil Nadu state. The business of Rockstar declined further and its theatrical prospects have come to an end in its third week. The film will be able to make profits only thanks to its non-theatrical revenues.

The coming week sees three releases though Vidya Balan's The Dirty Picture is the clear winner in the race. Loosely inspired from the life of sex-symbol Silk Smitha, the film has a decent dose of story and skin-show. Also producer Ekta Kapoor has been promoting it widely and the film has gained good visibility amongst all despite its adult-theme content.

Puneet Issar releases his second directorial venture I Am Singh with an all-new cast which is based on the theme of how Sikhs were victimized post the 9/11 scenario in US. And finally there's the National Award winning art-house cinema Land Gold Woman which is about the theme of honour killings in the UK setting.

Top 5 Films this Week

Film: Desi Boyz

Position: 1

Director: Rohit Dhawan

Cast: Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Deepika Padukone, Chitrangda Singh

Upside: Humour not slapstick, funny dialogues, good Akshay-John chemistry, peppy music

Downside: Dull climax, graph dips in second half, gets formulaic at times

Running Week: 1

Trade Comments: With a star-studded cast, the opening has been decent with the film collecting around Rs 25 crores over the opening weekend. However, for a big-film like this, trade circles believe that the business should have been better.

Film: Rockstar

Position: 2

Director: Imtiaz Ali

Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Nargis Fakhri

Upside: Ranbir Kapoor's brilliant performance, AR Rahman's music, interesting first half

Downside: Dull second half, disappointing end, confusing narrative

Running Week: 3

Box-Office Verdict: Above average. Non-theatrical revenues will help make profits.

Film: Dam 999

Position: 3

Director: Sohan Roy

Cast: Rajit Kapoor, Ashish Vidyarthi

Upside: interesting concept

Downside: Bad special effects, unneeded 3D format, stretched plot, mediocre acts

Running Week: 1

Trade Comments: Despite the promotions, the response hasn't been great. Releasing the film in multiple languages (English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu) didn't help since it was banned in some south sectors.

Film: Ra.One

Position: 4

Director: Anubhav Sinha

Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal

Upside: Good special effects, SRK's energetic act, ravishing Kareena Kapoor, well-choreographed action sequences 

Downside: Superhero enters pretty late in plot, cardboard villain, too long, average music, screenplay could have been more eventful, humour too vulgar for a family film

Running Week: 5

Box Office Verdict: Has recovered money and can be categorized as Hit. But certainly not a money-spinner! 

Film: Shakal Pe Mat Ja

Position: 5

Director: Shubh

Cast: Shubh Mukherjee, Chitrak Bandhopadyay, Saurabh Shukla, Raghuvir Yadav

Upside: Interesting idea 

Downside: Stretched screenplay, loud humour, poor performances

Running Week: 2

Box-Office Verdict: Flop