Cloudy weather! - Business Talk With Taran Adarsh

Rs 25 cr nett in the opening weekend and Rs 40 cr in the opening week - that's the yardstick these days. That's the sentiment a lot of industry people communicate when they talk of big-budget films that are given an extensive release. And I don't blame the industry people for feeling that way. Look at the success ratio in these four months [from June to September]. Films like READY, DOUBLE DHAMAAL, DELHI BELLY, MURDER 2, ZINDAGI NA MILEGI DOBARA, SINGHAM, BODYGUARD and MERE BROTHER KI DULHAN not only started with a bang, but have had a successful run at the box-office.

One expected MAUSAM to fetch a flying start at the ticket window, given the fact that the promotion was at an all-time high and also because it had no major opposition to contend with on that particular Friday. But MAUSAM has not performed as expected. The opening weekend didn't witness a major jump in business, while the performance of the film on weekdays is way below the mark. The business has witnessed substantial decline in every circuit.

What does one attribute the below the mark response to? Well, the word of mouth is far from positive. Sure, a section of the audience has liked the film, but a big chunk of movie-going audience hasn't liked it. Plus, the excessive length seems to have proved a spoilsport. That's not all, the youth of today -- which should be the target audience for this love story -- hasn't taken to the film. Films like DELHI BELLY and MERE BROTHER KI DULHAN worked because the youth could connect with these two films. Like someone very rightly pointed out, the audience of today has no patience to watch slow-paced movies that have a running time of close to 3 hours.

The second release, SPEEDY SINGHS, showed hardly any speed at the ticket counters. The film met with a tepid response at the domestic box-office and that, very frankly, doesn't come as a surprise.