Trade Espresso: Hit or miss

Till now, Jodhaa Akbar has toted decent business in Mumbai, Delhi and some parts in the south like Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore, but only in the multiplexes.

The trade and the media appear to be at loggerheads over Ashutosh Gowariker's Jodhaa Akbar. If a certain section of the media is claiming that it is a big success, a section of tradewallas is saying that the results of a film made with such a mammoth budget cannot be declared in a week

Reason: Jodhaa Akbar couldn't be released in Rajasthan, some parts in Madhya Pradesh, and a few theatres in Punjab and Bihar.

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Plus its excessive length of three hour and 20 minutes has hampered its prospects, with only three shows at most singleplexes.

Not so soon
Till now, Jodhaa Akbar has toted decent business in Mumbai, Delhi and some parts in the south like Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore.. but only in the multiplexes.

The film was released Saturday onwards in the multiplexes because of hassles over percentage sharing.

The Sunday collections were better, touching 80 per cent. However, there was a drop on Monday with 50 to 60 per cent collections.. followed by a further drop on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the collections had dropped to 30 to 40 per cent.

At several places, the first three shows of the day register 20 to 30 per cent collections. The evening and night shows are better.

Big slump
The second weekend collections are nothing to sing and dance about. In Mumbai, on Friday and Saturday, the film recorded 30 to 40 per cent collections in the multiplexes. Collections are poorer in the single screen cinemas across the country .

Saving grace: there was no release this week. No film is scheduled for release next week either. Plus, the film is doing very well overseas. Coming up On March 7, Subhash Ghai returns with Black and White featuring Anil Kapoor, Anurag Sinha and Shefali Shah.