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Trade Espresso: Taare muscles par
Aamir Khan — after Taare Zameen Par — once again demonstrated that marketing and aggressive promotion help a film’s fortunes big time, reports Vajir Singh.
Aamir Khan — after
Taare Zameen Par
— once again demonstrated that marketing and aggressive promotion help a film’s fortunes big time. He went all out to promote
Ghajini
, leading to an awesome opening response.
The film broke box-office records and has emerged as the film with the highest opening collections ever. Sensing the nationwide curiosity about the film, its producer went ahead with opening it with a maximum number of paid preview shows.
Last Wednesday, there were 99 paid previews in Mumbai city and the suburbs, almost all of which were house full. Since the next day was a national holiday for X’mas, the rush was on again.
Last Thursday, the collections ranged between 80 and 90 per cent. On Friday the collections dropped slightly in the morning and afternoon shows. Then, the tickets sold fast and furiously for the evening and night shows.
Curiosity on
The public verdict has been an upper throughout the country but not as good as it is in Mumbai. Going by the drop in the collections on Friday (morning and noon shows) and Saturday (major drop in the morning and noon shows.. and a slight drop in the evening and night shows), tradewallas believe there could be a significant drop during the week days, once the initial curiosity for
Ghajini
is over.
Even though the film has taken a historic opening, the trade is in two minds — will the film be able to recover the exorbitant price that it has been sold for?
Thai, not high
Meanwhile,
Jumbo
failed to attract the audience. The opening has been a disappointment because the animation movie from Thailand had been promoted extensively.
Last Friday, besides the Rajesh Khanna oddity
Wafaa
, no films were released, which augured well for
Rab ne Bana di Jodi
. The film which took a good opening, maintained steady collections during its first week. The second and third week collections have also been heartening.