Yash's Jhoom ... fails to sway audiences

Bollywood badshah Yash Chopra seems to be losing his magic touch on the silver screen.

First, Rani Mukerjee starrer TaRaRumPum grossed just Rs 16.23 crore in the first week and now Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, released last Friday, has fared scarcely better with first-week revenues of Rs 18-20 crore.

This is almost half of what Bollywood hits traditionally earn in the first week. Yash Chopra's own Dhoom2 made Rs 34 crore in the first week, while even films like Karan Johar's Kabhi Alvida Na Kehanah, which was criticised by Indian audiences, raked in over Rs 27 crore in the first week.

Shah Rukh's remake of Don was able to rustle up over Rs 24 crore on the box office and Mani Ratnam's Guru also earned Rs 20 crore in the first week.

Box office collections of Jhoom Bara Bar Jhoom at leading multiplexes (which account for the bulk of movie revenues) fell much below the expectation from a Chopra blockbuster.

PVR Cinemas has earned around Rs 1.90 crore across its 18 properties in the first week, which is half of what it collects on a hot movie.

Cinemax has garnered around Rs 2 crore across 12 properties, compared to around Rs 3 crore which it generally earns in the first week on a hit movie, despite running it in more auditoriums.

And it's the same story for Inox Leisure which has earned around Rs 1.50 crore across 15 properties, compared to Rs 3.2 crore it collects on a hit film.

Said film analyst Taran Adarsh, "It is a bad film; Yash Raj has had two movies where the content has failed".

Added a senior executive of a leading multiplex owner, "From Monday onwards the occupancy levels drastically dipped to 20 per cent. A Yash Raj movie usually has around 75 per cent occupancy in week one, but this film has been an exception."