Bollywood Information

Anurag Kashyap's Ugly after almost a year of delay has finally hit the theaters today. The movie was screened across various international film festivals receiving rave reviews for the story and the performances. Having released a week later a big flick PK, here is what the trade experts have to say about movie's business and the release date strategy.



Tarun Tandon [M.D Indra Films, Nizam and Andhra]: If the content of the movie is good, it will definitely perform, because it has got a holiday period. Ugly is going to be tested on the content. I don't see a big opening for the movie, because it's a small movie and it's been promoted in a very limited scale. They should have started the promotions way before. Anurag Kashyap's small movies have always performed, and for its budget, I think, Ugly will do pretty well and see a decent figure at the Box-Office. PK's performance has been fabulous, but still Ugly is seeing the release and is getting shows everywhere, though less number of screens, but they are not missing out on the holiday period. So I think coming a week later is not a bad call. Probably getting more screens, but not having a holiday period compensates. Coming a week later is not an issue, but having released with PK would be a major issue. However, 2nd January 2015 would have been a better day.
Akshaye Rathi {Exhibitor, Mumbai}: There are a few like The Lunch Box and other small movies that have done phenomenally well, but Ugly doesn't look like that. It's way too niche a film for the numbers to be significant. PK is going to have a phenomenal sustenance of shows and screens in the second week in the multiplexes, as barring a rare few in the metros, PK won’t be showcased much in the single screens. Hence, Ugly will have two to four shows in every multiplex property. But, I don't know if that's good enough to do phenomenally well. It will do fine with a very niche audience but, I don't see it going much beyond that.

Out of a blue, Anurag Kashyap's much delayed Ugly is all set for release today. With just a 10 day window for the film’s promotion, the thought is indeed noble to spend less on marketing.
Having said that, it is pretty much a wait and watch scenario to see if the gamble indeed pays off. After all, PK is doing great guns whereas Ugly doesn't have any star face to fetch audience for itself. It would all boil down to word of mouth.
Now that could still be fine enough for a feel good affair as such films have a bigger chance to grow on the basis of news spreading fast about their worth. However, Ugly is a dark film and hence is aiming for a niche audience to begin with.
As things stand today, the film can't really expect an opening per se, and it would actually be a surprise in itself if it indeed manages to register an impact the box office.

PK has had a smashing start at the domestic box office. The film in merely six days has made a collection of 154.84 crores in India, which is commendable. Since it is a Aamir Khan film, naturally there were high expectations from it and also it was one of the most-awaited films of the year. Releasing it in the opportune time of Christmas, the film will certainly fare well considering it is a vacation time.



In the overseas too, the film has started with a bang. It has now collected 10.5 million US Dollars so far. The film will soon be entering the Top 10 Highest Grossers In Overseas. PK's Overseas collections are slightly behind Shah Rukh Khan's Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna and will soon evict the movie from the list.
PK will mark Aamir’s third film to make it to the Highest Overseas Grossers’ list after Dhoom-3 and 3-Idiots which hold the Top positions.

PK remained rock steady over its sixth day as well. The film collected 19.56 crores on its first Wednesday i.e. Day 6 and now stands with a total collection of whopping 154.84 crores at the domestic box office.



The film is performing extremely strong in multiplexes and with a Christmas holiday on Thursday i.e. today, the advance bookings have shown a good response and the film will surely get a good peak. The Rajkumar Hirani film has received a lot of appreciation from critics as well as audiences.
Starring Aamir Khan in the lead, PK has been consistent in the mass circuits too. The urban centers such as Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore are excellent. Looking at its current pace, PK may have a brilliant first week with collections estimated around 188-190 crores, which will be the Highest 1st Week Collections of All Time.

Aamir Khan's PK seems to be marching totally strong in just five days. The film opened excellently and became the highest non-holiday opening grosser of 2014. Interestingly, the film has so far kept up a good pace over the weekdays. PK has currently collected 135.28 crores in five days at the domestic box office.



PK made commendable business in the week days and it is higher than the likes of Happy New Year and Kick which are the Top Grossers of the year. With a Christmas holiday on Thursday, PK is expected to make a huge business and may be almost equivalent to its Sunday collections.
If PK makes a business in the range of 32-34 crores on Thursday, the film could make the highest first week business of all time as it will reach a total of 190 crores plus. This would be way higher than HNY, Kick, Bang Bang and in fact Aamir may break his own record of Dhoom-3 which had collected 185.50 crores in its first week.