 "Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani")
Ranbir Kapoor is the new 'Dabangg' actor in Bollywood. While his real-life relationship has gone kaput, the on-screen chemistry between Kapoor and Deepika Padukone, in their latest film Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, has got a tremendous response on the box office. In its first four days, the film has done a net box office collection of Rs 75.11 crore.
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (YJHD), produced by Dharma Productions, collected a net of Rs 62 crore during its first weekend, from 3,000 screens. It also displaced previous top weekend grosser, Salman Khan starrer Dabangg 2, which was released in 3,650 screens, which had collected Rs 61 crore in the first three days. YJHD is also the first Ranbir Kapoor film has got such response on the box office.
“YJHD has done miracles at box office. Its highest non-holiday box office earnings, if you compare apples to apples – beats Dabangg 2. This ‘badtameez blockbuster’ has not only conquered audiences’ hearts in India but worldwide,” Suniel Wadhwa, independent film distributor and trade analyst commented.
According to Wadhwa, in India the film garnered around 62 crore at the box office during the first weekend and went to collect over Rs 12 crore on Monday, highest for any film so far.
“It can easily achieve a status of Rs 100 crore in first week itself. Overseas also Monday was strong. Show of Star Trek in Darkness was cancelled to accommodate YJHD in Burwood Sydney, Australia,” Wadhwa added.
The film is distributed by UTV Motion Pictures. Trade experts also believe that the ticket prices were increased, which also helped the film.
“The ticket prices were increased in the range of Rs 20-50, which has increased the volume. The film has worked very well in multiplexes, but small single screen audience have not liked it too much, which is obvious considering it being an urban, youth focussed film,” Shaaminder Malik, senior film trade analyst and film distributor who focuses on the National Capital Region and western Uttar Pradesh, commented.
He however added that the film has done excellent business in multiplexes, considering it’s a non holiday release and the songs have become a rage in all the parties, marriages.
“Ranbir has shown calibre of being the next superstar of the Indian film industry. Negative about the film is only that it is too long and gets too slow sometimes,” Malik added.
Many experts believe that YJHD will manage to cross the Rs 100 crore mark in its first week itself. Early reports suggest that Tuesday collections could be in range of Rs 12 crore.
Surprisingly, the film has performed well in the Southern India, where generally Hindi films fail to do good business. “It is doing exceptionally well across India and even in territories like Tamil Nadu and Kerala where Hindi film business is very limited, it has collected really well. It’s being loved by everyone and we are confident it will create new benchmark at the Box Office,” Gaurav Verma, Director - India Theatrical Distribution, Studios, Disney UTV said.
The fact that YJHD was heavily promoted, also added to its box office advantage. There was a long lull period between Race 2 and YJHD and again, the next big films will be Dhoom3 and Krrish2, to be released later this year.
While this film is creating new records on the box office, it is yet to see if it can break the record of 3Idiots, which in its lifetime, collected over Rs 202 crores.
