Bollywood asianculturevulture vibes: Vijay last film delivers; Alia Bhatt dips
July was all about the rains in Mumbai, as for cinema there was Vijay, Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn portraying their best on the big screen…
By Rodrigues C
THE JULY rains saved Mumbai from a probable drought situation. The city’s water reservoirs had dipped to an unpreceedented six per cent earlier raising fears among citizens. For now, the lakes are 90 per cent full, bringing big relief.
The heavy downpour even made news when it came to Bollywood stars.
Water entered Amitabh Bachchan’s pads Jalsa and Janak in Juhu. Bachchan didn’t comment on the videos of the waterlogging that flooded the web but the next day he did thank fans for gathering outside his bungalow despite the heavy downpour. The veteran actor shows up at his gallery every Sunday to greet fans.
Waterlogging was also reported at Ajay Devgn’s bungalow. Rains in Mumbai always cause traffic havoc and the best way to deal with chaos is travel by the metro or the train. Actor Randeep Hooda did just that late evening on June 30 and took the metro wearing a mask making sure no one recognised him. He was returning from a shoot in Andheri.
July also turned out to be an action-packed month for movies. Two of the most talked-about releases in Indian cinema—Alia Bhatt’s ‘Alpha’ and Tamil Nadu chief minister ‘Vijay’s ‘Jana Nayagan’ hit screens this month.
Although both films arrived with tremendous expectations, their journeys at the box office turned out to be very different. While ‘Alpha’ relied on the popularity of the YRF Spy Universe and Alia Bhatt’s star power, ‘Jana Nayagan’ benefited from Vijay’s massive fan base and the emotional value attached to what is widely regarded as his final film before focusing entirely on politics.
The former, which marked ‘Bhatt’s’ entry into the YRF Spy Universe, recorded a relatively modest start compared with earlier entries in the spy franchise. On its opening day, July 3, ‘Alpha’ collected approximately £1.2 million worldwide. Although the opening was respectable, trade analysts had expected a stronger start considering the franchise’s value and promotional campaign. The weekend, however, showed encouraging growth. Positive occupancy during evening shows and family audiences helped the film improve over Saturday and Sunday. By the end of its opening weekend, ‘Alpha’ had collected roughly £2.6m. Despite the weekend growth, the film was unable to sustain blockbuster momentum during the weekdays. Collections gradually slowed, and while the movie maintained a steady theatrical run, it did not emerge as one of the highest-grossing films in the YRF Spy Universe. By the end of its theatrical run, ‘Alpha’ had earned about £7.6m making a loss of about £2m to its producers to date.
On the other hand, ‘Jana Nayagan’ exploded at the box office from its very first show, opening amidst extraordinary fan celebrations across Tamil Nadu and several overseas markets. Advance bookings were exceptionally strong, and theatres reported packed houses throughout the opening day.
On July 23, the film registered an impressive first-day collection of around £5.5m, making it one of the biggest openings of the year for an Indian film. ‘Jana Nayagan’ remained extremely strong throughout its first weekend. By the end of four days, the film had crossed £15.7m, becoming one of the fastest Tamil films of the year to reach the milestone. Although weekday collections followed the usual downward trend after the weekend rush, the film continued attracting audiences, particularly in Tamil Nadu. Strong occupancy in its home market helped offset slower business in dubbed versions. The film is expected to again hit peak during the upcoming weekend when it doesn’t have much competition at the box office.
‘Dhamaal 4’ starring Ajay Devgn alongside Riteish Deshmukh and Arshad Warsi but minus Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit, who featured in the franchise’s 2019 instalment ‘Total Dhamaal’ hit screens on July 10. The film opened to a collection of £1.1m on a Friday. Over the next two days, the collections rose to £1.7m and £2.2m. The comedy maintained good momentum over the following weeks, with an eventual worldwide gross of £17m.
In other news, film legend Dev Anand’s son with Kalpana Kartik Suneil Anand, died of a heart attack in London. The actor, who was launched by his father in the 1984 film ‘Anand Aur Anand’ was 70. He was returning to India from the US via UK. Incidentally, his father had also died in London in 2011.
August will see a flurry of activity in India’s theatres especially around the August 15, Independence Day holiday when ‘Awarapan 2’ with Emraan Hashmi, Disha Patani and Shabana Azmi, and ‘Batwara 1947’ with Sunny Deol, Preity Zinta and Ali Fazal hit screens on August 14.
The much-awaited-much-delayed ‘Toxic: A Fairy Tale For Grown-Ups’ staring Yash along with Nayanthara, Kiara Advani, Huma Qureshi, Tara Sutaria (August 26), ‘Khosla Ka Ghosla 2’ (August 28) with Anupam Kher, Divya Khosla Kumar, ‘Eetha’ (August 28) with Randeep Hooda, Shraddha Kapoor, and R Madhavan Tamil flick ‘G.D.N’ (August 7) are also in line. July didn’t have much for an average movie buff but August seems to be far better. Catch you with the numbers and more towards the end of the month.
