It was expected that both Daawat-e-Ishq and Khoobsurat would open in 30%-40% range. However, that didn’t quite happen as the overall footfalls were much lesser. Meanwhile it was predicted that former would have an edge over the latter in the eventual opening numbers and that indeed was the case. It was also highlighted that given the kind of ingredients Khoobsurat carries, it had it in there to enjoy a better run. Now that happened too, as eventually the film caught on decent pass and enjoyed a better weekend for itself.
So while many in the trade and industry were expecting that Parineeti Chopra would emerge as a winner with her Daawat-e-Ishq, they were in for a surprise when Sonam Kapoor’s Khoobsurat went on to not just get better reviews but also stronger word of mouth, and hence good sustenance at the box office. Yes, both films were very slow to begin with, which was particularly surprising in case of ‘Daawat-e-Ishq‘ since Parineeti has enjoyed a very good run so far while Aditya Roy Kapur is coming with a solo blockbuster (Aashiqui 2) behind him. However, as is the saying, it is ‘junta janardhan’ that decides whom to cast its vote.
This means though ‘Daawat-e-Ishq‘ opened better with 3.75 crore coming in on Friday (courtesy its larger release size as well), ‘Khoobsurat‘ trailed by a crore and ended its Day One at 2.75 crore. However, by the time the weekend was through, the margin was diminished as the Yash Raj film ended up in 13-14 crorerange while Disney/Anil Kapoor production gathered speed to be in 11-12 crore range. As things stand, ‘Khoobsurat‘ should enjoy a sustained week at the box office and if it hangs on well to reach at least the 18 crore mark before entering Week Two, it has a chance to score well till ‘Bang Bang!’ arrives.
HARSHVARDHAN SINGH
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