Box office report: ‘Mah-e-Mir’ makes over Rs15m

Meera’s ‘Hotal’ falls flat after earning Rs500,000 only during opening weekend

KARACHI: Unlike last week when there were only two major films, Mah-e-Mir and Captain America: Civil War, battling it out in multiplexes, two new motion pictures, 1920 London and Hotal, entered the race at the box office this week.

Despite competition from local and Bollywood films, the third instalment in the Captain America franchise has managed to come out on top. After nearly 10 days of screening, the movie’s box office gross has gone above Rs55 million.



While the Marvel Cinematic Universe-film continues its dominance at the Pakistani box office, the real success story has been none other than Anjum Shahzad’s directorial debut, Mah-e-Mir.



The drama film has already crossed the Rs15 million-mark. Talking to The Express Tribune, Hum Films President Badar Ikram shared that the movie’s total earnings after seven days stand at Rs16.8 million.

These figures may seem humble, given Captain America’s box office exploits, Ikram seemed satisfied by the movie’s performance. “It is an art film and has a limited audience. So these aren’t bad numbers. If you compare it with films such as Manto, Mah-e-Mir has still made Rs1 million more during its opening week,” he added.



Unsurprisingly, Mah-e-Mir has not done well in single-screen cinemas and is continuing to hold its own at multiplexes. Sharing the movie’s box office collections in Atrium Cinemas, Mandviwalla Entertainment Managing Director Nadeem Mandviwalla said the movie, despite its limited number of shows, managed to earn Rs278,000 during the last week and maintain an average occupancy of 70% to 80%.

On the other hand, Captain America and 1920 London raked in Rs1.28 million and Rs545, 000 at the same cinema, respectively, with an average occupancy of 70%.

When asked about whether Mah-e-Mir would be able to maintain its performance in the coming few weeks, Ikram remained somewhat optimistic. “It will become a little tougher since movies such as X-Men: Apocalypse would also be releasing this week,” he added.

While one Pakistani film continues to gain momentum and is heading into its third week, another one, Meera’s Hotal, has had a disastrous opening weekend. The horror flick failed to do well in cinemas and only managed to earn Rs0.5 million in its opening week.

Produced under the banner of Hum Films, Mah-e-Mir features an ensemble cast of Fahad Mustafa, Iman Ali, Alyy Khan, Manzar Sehbai, Paras Masroor and Sanam Saeed. The film was released on May 6 alongside Captain America: Civil War.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2016.

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