Trade Espresso: Reversal of fortunes

Everything was just right — No 1 banner of Yashraj Films, top actors and vacation time. And yet, when Siddharth Anand’s Ta Ra Rum Pum opened, it met with a lukewarm response.

The thanda opening has sent shock waves in the trade. Tradewallas were expecting a thumping response. It got only 20 to 25 per cent collections at some places in the city.

The successful pair of Hum Tum, Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukherji, simply failed to garner audiences on Day 1.

However, the scene wasn’t all that bad nationwide — the first day’s collections were around 50 per cent.

Reason
However, the second day — Saturday — saw a jump in collections.

Bookings for Sunday were satisfactory too, especially in the multiplexes. Tradewallas say the film’s music is a major setback. Also, with the ongoing summer vacation, Yashraj Films should have done some aggressive promotion. They didn’t.

There is hope
Although Ta Ra Rum Pum failed take a big opening, tradewallas are optimistic that the film will prove to be profitable in metro cities. They also feel that the collections will pick up through word-ofmouth praise.

Silver lining: feedback from multiplex audiences is positive. Tradewallas feel the project will cross at least Rs 6 crore gross in Mumbai city alone.

Looking back
As predicted, Tusshar Kapoor‘s and Ayesha Takia’s Kya Love Story Hai met with weak response across the country. Pangaa Naa Lo also flopped.

Guddu Dhanoa’s Big Brother did good business in the Northern belt in its first week, thanks to Sunny Deol’s presence.. but it nosedived in its second week.

Collections for Vikram Bhatt’s Life Mein Kabhie Kabhiee, which were bad in the first week, worsened in the second week. Bheja Fry is doing moderately well at multiplexes.

This Friday will see the release of Goutam Ghose’s Yatra, toplining Rekha and Nana Patekar.

First Published: Apr 30, 2007 10:48 IST