For once, it's real life imitating reel,“ says trade analyst Komal Nahta, who believes that producer Karan Johar has restored his late father Yash Johar's pride by remaking Agneepath (1990). “Yashji was extremely disappointed that the original didn't succeed at the box office. Karan has made his father proud, the way Vijay does in the film.
He had wanted to remake the film in his lifetime but couldn't. Karan has done it now and the opening day collections vouch for that.“ Distributors, exhibitors (single and multiple screen) and tradesmiths endorse the fact that the film has broken Salman Khan's Bodyguard's 2011-first-day records. Till the time of going to press, the first-day figures ranged between R 24.5-R 26 crore.
The estimated net collections in India are expected to be between R 110-R 125 crore.
Trade pundit Amod Mehra informs that several multiplexes ran multiple screenings owing to high demand, thanks to Hrithik Roshan, Sanjay Dutt and Rishi Kapoor's applause-worthy performances. “The movie is two hours and 45 minutes long. But since there wasn't any other big release, most multiplex owners opened up more than two screens for the movie,“ says Amod.
Reportedly theatre occupancy on day one was between 90 and 95 per cent in most cinemas across the country. Apparently, producer Karan had insisted that no exhibitor doubles ticket prices.
Sunil Punjabi of the Cinemax chain of multiplexes, admits to this, adding that most tickets for the weekend, and a couple of weekdays too, are already sold out. “In recent times, most films haven't had the kind of advance booking Agneepath had despite it being promoted on an average budget. By Thursday evening, we had sold almost 50 per cent of the tickets, and this was not just for Friday but Saturday as well. We have already got bulk bookings for the coming week,“ says Sunil, adding that it was a sensible decision to keep the prices down since Karan has already made most of his money from the home video, music and TV rights.
Manoj Desai of the G 7 single screen chain, and Maratha Mandir, agrees. “I don't have tickets for any show for the next four days.
It's a sell-out!“ he exults. “The film that is gory and actionpacked is not a typical family film that has repeat value.
Collections may come down by Monday but will not fall drastically.“
Distributor Sanjay Ghai of Mukta Arts points out that had Karan sold the film, some other distributor would have made a killing: “Right now, it's Dharma Productions on a roll and Agneepath's success will benefit its next release, Ekk Main Aur Ek Tu, being the year's first blockbuster.“
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