Box office report: Small victories for local cinema

The Eid weekend remained exciting for cinema-goers despite the uncertainty surrounding the release of some films and banning of others. Eventually, the hyped Main Hoon Shahid Afridi backed out of the race and Chennai Express made its way to local theatres. The final competition was between a Punjabi film, an independent local project and a Bollywood superstar sensation.

Nonetheless, despite the overwhelming success of record-breaking Chennai Express, local films like Ishq Khuda and Josh have fared moderately well. While audiences at the multiplexes had an obvious preference for the Shahrukh Khan blockbuster, single screen cinemas saw local films being appreciated.

Chennai Express

The fate of Chennai Express in Pakistan was no different from what was explicitly evident throughout the world. The movie had the biggest opening in the history of the country, showing at 24 to 25 screens across Pakistan. Over its first week, the film has already grossed more than Rs50 million. “It delivered beyond our expectations and after a long time, an SRK film has delivered. Last time, Don 2 grossed more than Rs25 million in five days – this was twice as much. It will easily cross the benchmark set by Race 2 on the local box office [Rs100 million in one month],” says Amjad Rasheed, Chairman IMGC.

Ishq Khuda

The Punjabi Shaan and Meera-starrer was another blow in the face for Lollywood thanks to the poor quality of production and acting. The movie failed to deliver at multiplexes. Nadir Minhas, exhibitor of PAF Cinema, asserted that it was an utter tragedy that such a regional film was offered to cinemas. “It was very disturbing that the best that we had to offer was Ishq Khuda, and it failed miserably,” says Minhas.

However, the film has managed to succeed at single-screen cinemas among the masses. “We are very happy with the success of the film, it’s a lot better than I had imagined,” says Shehzad Rafique, director of the film. “We were never competing with Chennai Express. People have liked the film and they are going to the cinemas to watch it, that’s what matters,” he adds. According to box-office reports, Ishq Khuda has done business of Rs10.15 million in its first week. It is expected to gross a total of Rs20 million.

Josh

Parveen Bilal’s independent film released over nine screens only and did not manage to compete well with other contenders despite having received international acclaim. Minhas said that the film had the potential to be as successful as Bol but due to a limited marketing budget and inability to provide 35 mm prints, they missed out on a major chunk of the market.

According to sources at Atrium Cinemas, halls playing Josh remained 80% to 90% full throughout the week. The film grossed Rs1.6 million so far. “We were successful in what we wanted to do with it. We did not want exhibitors to discourage such an independent film which is why we didn’t ask them for too many shows either. Exhibitors should be given credit for allowing Josh in their cinemas and this will set an example for other films that will be released through The Platform,” says Nadeem Mandviwalla, managing director of Mandviwalla Entertainment.

Pashto Films

The Eid weekend was far more promising for Pashto cinema than Lollywood. The films released included Arshad Khan’s Loafer, Muzafar Khan’s Shart and the first HD film Zama Arman. Also shown were Sheikh Akram’s Qurbaani and Joni Malik’s Bangi Lalai, a Punjabi movie dubbed in Pashto. Out of all the releases, Loafer was the most successful securing over Rs6 million in its first week even though it was screened at only one cinema in Peshawar. While everyone thought that Zama Arman would fare well considering it was the first HD Pashto film, it wasn’t so successful. “Producers of the film have invested their blood and tears to make this film happen. Huge amounts of money have been spent on its publicity but the outcome was not satisfactory,” says Khalid Khan, the manager of Shama Cinema. Akram’s Qurbaani was declared a flop.

The total box office return of films released on Eid is Rs100 million.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 17th, 2013.