 "Neel Sethi steals the show with his boyish charm as Mowgli")
The Jungle Book, which Disney released in India a week before the US, has had a great start. The film, starring newcomer Neil Sethi in the role of Mowgli, the ‘man cub’ raised in the jungle by wild animals, collected Rs 40 crore in its opening weekend.
This makes it the second highest opener from Hollywood after 2015’s F7 (Fast & Furious 7th installment), which collected Rs 48 crore in its opening weekend. The other big release from Hollywood this year was Batman vs Superman: The Dawn of Justice'(March 25). That got Rs 25 crore in the first weekend.
The Jungle Book has been released in India in Hindi, English, Tamil and Telugu, across 1,500-1,700 screens. The film started its box office campaign with Rs 10.09 crore on Friday, a holiday in many states on account of festivals like Ugadi and Gudi Padwa. It saw a jump on Saturday, collecting Rs 13.5 crore. On Sunday, it made Rs 16.6 crore, the highest single day's collection for a Hollywood film in this country.
Suniel Wadhwa, independent distributor and box office analyst, says: “Since it takes place in India, it will drive the family and young audience. Additionally, it has scored in the dubbed versions in all languages, despite huge competition from the Telugu Sardar Gabbar Singh in Andhra, which saw a massive fall of 75 per cent on second day box office numbers. This gives The Jungle Book an edge even in the Telugu market and helped the film register significant growth in Saturday and Sunday numbers.”
Around 52 per cent of the collections are from the dubbed versions. For the Hindi version, Disney pulled out all stops, roping in noted Bollywood talent for the music and voice-overs of the animals — Nana Patekar (Sher Khan), Priyanka Chopra (Ka) and Irrfan Khan (Baloo). The studio even got Gulzar to collaborate and bring out a new rendition of the popular Jungle jungle baat chali hain from the Doordarshan show to be used in the movie and to market the film.
Disney had a sharp focus on India for the film among its overseas territories, mainly because of the connection the story has with this country, and the fact that many adults today had grown up watching the popular animation. Also, it released the film in India a week before to avoid a head-on clash with Fan, the Shah Rukh Khan starrer, which releases on April 15 (worldwide release date for The Jungle Book).
Analysts like Wadhwa believe that India might well see in this its second Rs 100-crore Hollywood movie after Furious 7 last year (Rs 106 crore). It should be noted here that the latter released in non-DCI compliant screens (called e-cinemas) as well, taking the screen count to around 2,800 at one point. This and the fact that the movie released on a Thursday, giving it a four-day first weekend, gave a huge push to lifetime collections in India.
(DCI is a format that almost all Hollywood films follow while releasing their films in the country. E-cinemas is another format for theatrical releases. On rare occasions, studios release movies in both these formats, to get wider theatrical exposure in the country. The DCI format is considered to have better security).
“If The Jungle Book holds on to the opening week's momentum, it can reach Rs 65-70 crore by the end of the first week. Considering this, its box office earnings can be pegged in excess of Rs 100 crore in DCI formats. With huge appreciation, good reviews and positive word of mouth, it shouldn’t be very affected by competition from Fan in the coming weeks,” adds Wadhwa.
COMING NEXT
After the success of the Hindi dubbed version of The Jungle Book, Disney India has collaborated with actor Varun Dhawan on its summer blockbuster, Captain America: Civil War’s Hindi version. Dhawan, a versatile actor and youth icon, is to lend his voice for Steve Rogers, aka Cap Am, in the Hindi version of the action flick.
Captain America: Civil War releases in India on May 6 in 3D, IMAX and 2D. In English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
This makes it the second highest opener from Hollywood after 2015’s F7 (Fast & Furious 7th installment), which collected Rs 48 crore in its opening weekend. The other big release from Hollywood this year was Batman vs Superman: The Dawn of Justice'(March 25). That got Rs 25 crore in the first weekend.
The Jungle Book has been released in India in Hindi, English, Tamil and Telugu, across 1,500-1,700 screens. The film started its box office campaign with Rs 10.09 crore on Friday, a holiday in many states on account of festivals like Ugadi and Gudi Padwa. It saw a jump on Saturday, collecting Rs 13.5 crore. On Sunday, it made Rs 16.6 crore, the highest single day's collection for a Hollywood film in this country.
Suniel Wadhwa, independent distributor and box office analyst, says: “Since it takes place in India, it will drive the family and young audience. Additionally, it has scored in the dubbed versions in all languages, despite huge competition from the Telugu Sardar Gabbar Singh in Andhra, which saw a massive fall of 75 per cent on second day box office numbers. This gives The Jungle Book an edge even in the Telugu market and helped the film register significant growth in Saturday and Sunday numbers.”
Around 52 per cent of the collections are from the dubbed versions. For the Hindi version, Disney pulled out all stops, roping in noted Bollywood talent for the music and voice-overs of the animals — Nana Patekar (Sher Khan), Priyanka Chopra (Ka) and Irrfan Khan (Baloo). The studio even got Gulzar to collaborate and bring out a new rendition of the popular Jungle jungle baat chali hain from the Doordarshan show to be used in the movie and to market the film.
Disney had a sharp focus on India for the film among its overseas territories, mainly because of the connection the story has with this country, and the fact that many adults today had grown up watching the popular animation. Also, it released the film in India a week before to avoid a head-on clash with Fan, the Shah Rukh Khan starrer, which releases on April 15 (worldwide release date for The Jungle Book).
Analysts like Wadhwa believe that India might well see in this its second Rs 100-crore Hollywood movie after Furious 7 last year (Rs 106 crore). It should be noted here that the latter released in non-DCI compliant screens (called e-cinemas) as well, taking the screen count to around 2,800 at one point. This and the fact that the movie released on a Thursday, giving it a four-day first weekend, gave a huge push to lifetime collections in India.
(DCI is a format that almost all Hollywood films follow while releasing their films in the country. E-cinemas is another format for theatrical releases. On rare occasions, studios release movies in both these formats, to get wider theatrical exposure in the country. The DCI format is considered to have better security).
“If The Jungle Book holds on to the opening week's momentum, it can reach Rs 65-70 crore by the end of the first week. Considering this, its box office earnings can be pegged in excess of Rs 100 crore in DCI formats. With huge appreciation, good reviews and positive word of mouth, it shouldn’t be very affected by competition from Fan in the coming weeks,” adds Wadhwa.
COMING NEXT
After the success of the Hindi dubbed version of The Jungle Book, Disney India has collaborated with actor Varun Dhawan on its summer blockbuster, Captain America: Civil War’s Hindi version. Dhawan, a versatile actor and youth icon, is to lend his voice for Steve Rogers, aka Cap Am, in the Hindi version of the action flick.
Captain America: Civil War releases in India on May 6 in 3D, IMAX and 2D. In English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
