 "Can Lunchbox better Paan Singh Tomar?")
Ritesh Batra’s the Lunchbox released on Friday and it seemed the floodgates of praise had been opened as no critic seemed to be able to find a flaw in the film.
The movie, which is a joint effort by Disney UTV Studios, Dharma Productions, Sikhya Entertainment, DAR Motion Pictures and National Film Development Corporation of India, stars Irrfan Khan and newcomer Nimrat Kaur and Nawazundin Siddiqui. It now remains to be seen if the film will be able to repeat what Paan Singh Tomar (also by Disney UTV) did last year at the box office.
The Lunchbox, which has been made on a budget of Rs 10 crore approximately ($1.5 million), collected Rs 1.25 crore nett on the opening day and followed it up with a robust 120% jump on Saturday at Rs 2.6 crore nett.
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The film was released across 400 screens with limited shows per day. The critics’ ratings, its achievements at international film festivals and positive word of mouth is supposed to further push collections on Sunday and the film is set to do good business over the week as well (industry estimates Rs 3 crore on Sunday).
"We have placed the film strategically across 130+ cities / towns across 400 screens - we have carefully selected cinemas but also ensured its within reach to maximum audience. We knew audiences will multiply with positive word of mouth which has been the case so far," says Gaurav Verma, Director - India Theatrical Distribution, Studios, Disney UTV.
However, when one compares Lunchbox’s performance to Paan Singh Tomar however, it seems to have fallen short. Paan Singh tomar, also starring Irrfan Khan, was made ona budget on Rs 8 crore and was released in 325 screens. The movie collected approximately Rs 7.3 crores in its first week. Lunchbox has collected 3.85 crores till now and is expected to add another Rs 3 crore on Sunday taking its three day total to approx. Rs 6.85 crore. It remains to be seen whether the movie can repeat the feat that Paan Singh Tomar achieved by collecting domestic box office revenues of Rs 16 crore approximately in its lifetime with less screens and lower ticket rates.
Also, it must be remembered that The Lunchbox was one of the films expected to represent India at the Oscars this year. However, with Guajarati film, ‘the good road’ being announced as the official Indian entry to the Oscars, one cannot help but wonder if the audience interest in The Lunchbox may decrease since it no longer has the label of a probable Oscar entry.
The other movie to release on 20 September was Phata Poster Nikla Hero (PPNH) starring Shahid JKapoor and Illeana D’cruz and directed by Raj Kumar Santoshi.
PPNH’s first day collection was recorded at approximately Rs 5.5 crore nett which increased slightly on Saturday to Rs 6.25 crore nett, bringing the total to Rs 11.75 crores nett over the first two days. The critical reception of the movie has not been very positive and negative word of mouth may further drive down collections post the weekend. The movie is reported to have been made on a budget of approximately Rs 38 to 40 crores and the makers may find it difficult to recover the same looking at the collections on the first two days. The movie was released across nearly 1900 screens.
The main competition faced by PPNH however came from the previous week’s release Grand Masti (first week collection approx. Rs 68 crore nett), the sequel to 2004 ‘adult comedy’ Masti. The film which again starred the Masti trio of Viviek Oberoi, Ritiesh Deshmukh and Aftab Shivdasani, managed to do very good business in the first week making single screen owners reluctant to reduce its shows much.
Independent distributor and trade analyst Suniel Wadhwa offers, “PPNH got less screens in smaller centers and single screens due to Grand Masti doing exceptional well and exhibitors refused to discontinue the movie.”
PPNH on the other hand boasts of a bigger star cast and is made on a higher budget with a larger release. However, the movie has failed to impress critics and viewers in general and may not be able to pose stiff competition to Grand Masti.