‘Bachaana’ makes Rs20m in three days
Manages to earn a little over Rs20m during its first three days
Cinema owners and producers are confident the film will pick up in the following week, especially given that there are no new major releases. PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI:
When Bachaana was first announced a year ago, it was not exactly the most-anticipated Pakistani film among the local audience. But just three days since its release, the film may have turned that sentiment on its head.
With the Mohib Mirza, Sanam Saeed — starrer sandwiched between two major cricketing events — the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and Asia Cup T20 — there were concerns of Bachaana not performing too well at the box office. However, the movie has managed to punch above its weight.
Although an opening weekend a little in excess of Rs20 million will not break any records or make people sit up and take notice, a positive sign for the movie’s stakeholders was how the film has shown tremendous growth over the course of its initial three days.
Talking to The Express Tribune, managing director of Mandviwalla Entertainment, Nadeem Mandviwalla, said the film fared impressively at both Atrium Cinemas (Karachi) and Centaurus (Islamabad).
Atrium Cinemas recorded an average occupancy of 54% during the three days, bringing the film’s box office collection in the cinema up to Rs1.7 million. Centaurus, on the other hand, saw a healthy turnout of 81% between the same period, with its total collections amounting to Rs1.4 million.
“In comparison to other Urdu movies, Bachaana has surprisingly done better in Islamabad, given that Urdu films tend to do better in Karachi,” said Mandviwalla, pointing out a common trend with local releases.
Judging by the positive word of mouth the movie has garnered during its initial run, cinema owners and producers are confident the film will pick up in the following week, especially given that there are no new major releases.
According to a representative of Eveready Pictures — the film’s distributors — the real takeaway for them has been the film’s growth on a daily basis. “Not just in Pakistan; the movie has shown tremendous growth in Dubai as well,” remarked the official.
Interestingly, the 65% upsurge mentioned by the representative seems to have come on the day of the India-Pakistan T20 match. He added how they had accounted for the match in advance and had shifted a majority of the (Dubai) shows to the afternoon and evening timeslots to ensure that the screening of the film does not coincide with the Asia Cup encounter between the arch rivals.
Yet, even though the movie has done well in multiplexes, it has been unable to maintain the same form at single-screen cinemas. A prime example of this was Capri Cinemas, where the film performed at an occupancy of about 40% to 50%, with the high point coming on Sunday. Despite a dip in performance on Saturday across single-screen cinemas, exhibitors were not surprised, claiming that it was bound to happen given the excitement and hype surrounding the India-Pakistan match.
Having already crossed Rs20 million at the box office, Bachaana’s producer Nasir Khan is optimistic the film’s lifetime grossing would fall between Rs100 to Rs120 million.
Released across 83 screens in Pakistan on February 26, Bachaana is a comedy starring Mirza, Saeed and Adeel Hashmi. Directed and Produced by Khan and Rizwan Saeed, respectively, the movie follows the story of a Pakistan taxi driver, Vicky, and a newly-wed Indian girl, Aalia, on the run from drug lords in Mauritius. It is also expected to release in India as the Times music label, Junglee, recently bought the rights for the film’s music distribution in India.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 1st, 2016.
When Bachaana was first announced a year ago, it was not exactly the most-anticipated Pakistani film among the local audience. But just three days since its release, the film may have turned that sentiment on its head.
With the Mohib Mirza, Sanam Saeed — starrer sandwiched between two major cricketing events — the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and Asia Cup T20 — there were concerns of Bachaana not performing too well at the box office. However, the movie has managed to punch above its weight.
Although an opening weekend a little in excess of Rs20 million will not break any records or make people sit up and take notice, a positive sign for the movie’s stakeholders was how the film has shown tremendous growth over the course of its initial three days.
Talking to The Express Tribune, managing director of Mandviwalla Entertainment, Nadeem Mandviwalla, said the film fared impressively at both Atrium Cinemas (Karachi) and Centaurus (Islamabad).
Atrium Cinemas recorded an average occupancy of 54% during the three days, bringing the film’s box office collection in the cinema up to Rs1.7 million. Centaurus, on the other hand, saw a healthy turnout of 81% between the same period, with its total collections amounting to Rs1.4 million.
“In comparison to other Urdu movies, Bachaana has surprisingly done better in Islamabad, given that Urdu films tend to do better in Karachi,” said Mandviwalla, pointing out a common trend with local releases.
Judging by the positive word of mouth the movie has garnered during its initial run, cinema owners and producers are confident the film will pick up in the following week, especially given that there are no new major releases.
According to a representative of Eveready Pictures — the film’s distributors — the real takeaway for them has been the film’s growth on a daily basis. “Not just in Pakistan; the movie has shown tremendous growth in Dubai as well,” remarked the official.
Interestingly, the 65% upsurge mentioned by the representative seems to have come on the day of the India-Pakistan T20 match. He added how they had accounted for the match in advance and had shifted a majority of the (Dubai) shows to the afternoon and evening timeslots to ensure that the screening of the film does not coincide with the Asia Cup encounter between the arch rivals.
Yet, even though the movie has done well in multiplexes, it has been unable to maintain the same form at single-screen cinemas. A prime example of this was Capri Cinemas, where the film performed at an occupancy of about 40% to 50%, with the high point coming on Sunday. Despite a dip in performance on Saturday across single-screen cinemas, exhibitors were not surprised, claiming that it was bound to happen given the excitement and hype surrounding the India-Pakistan match.
Having already crossed Rs20 million at the box office, Bachaana’s producer Nasir Khan is optimistic the film’s lifetime grossing would fall between Rs100 to Rs120 million.
Released across 83 screens in Pakistan on February 26, Bachaana is a comedy starring Mirza, Saeed and Adeel Hashmi. Directed and Produced by Khan and Rizwan Saeed, respectively, the movie follows the story of a Pakistan taxi driver, Vicky, and a newly-wed Indian girl, Aalia, on the run from drug lords in Mauritius. It is also expected to release in India as the Times music label, Junglee, recently bought the rights for the film’s music distribution in India.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 1st, 2016.