Don grabs Diwali eyeballs away from Jaan-e-Mann

Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Don seems to have scored over Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan's Jaan-e-Mann this Diwali.

According to trade analyst Taran Adarsh, Farhan Akhtar's Don, made with a budget of Rs 30 crore, fetched a good start of nearly 80-90 per cent, compared with the tepid response to Shirish Kunder's directorial debut Jaan-e-Mann (Rs 30-35 crore), which had a slow start at 25-40 per cent.

Even in the overseas market, Don has raced far ahead of Jaan-e-Mann. Don was released in London in 45 screens on October 19 and grossed more than £33,000 on the first day itself.

The film, released with nearly 350 prints abroad, had spent nearly $1.5 million on overseas advertising alone. With releases in 325 screens across 28 countries, Don has seen the biggest overseas print release in the history of Indian cinema.

Komal Nahta, editor, Film Information, says, "Though the reviews of Don have been scathing, the film managed to get an excellent opening because of Shah Rukh Khan and the festive weekend."

According to Nahta, the collections of Don in the bigger cities were as high as 95-100 per cent while in the smaller towns they were 70-80 per cent. "Jaan-e-Mann did not see collections of more than 25 per cent in the first few crucial days."

Ashish Shukla of PVR confirms, "Advance bookings for Don have been almost double compared with Jaan-e-Mann, even though the latter is catching up by word-of-mouth publicity."

While some feel Kunder may have underestimated the power of Don, experts feel Jaan-e-Mann has been a victim at the hands of a film that had garnered enough curiosity in the minds of audiences.

"People were curious to see Shah Rukh break out of his romantic hero image and audiences wanted to see what the remake offered. Besides, it was a film that was being advertised very well even before it hit the screens," Adarsh said, adding, "As far as content is concerned, Don is a perfect example of bad cinema."

Nahta agrees that Don, despite its very weak execution, will still manage to recover costs and break even due to the excellent start it has had during the festive season.

"But there is no way that Don will sustain these collections in the weeks to come. It is actually a very bad film whereas Jaan-e-Mann is a decent film that was released at the wrong time," Nahta said.