‘Ben-Hur’, ‘A Flying Jatt’ fail to deliver on Pakistani box office

Both ‘Ben-Hur’ and ‘A Flying Jatt’ fail to deliver expected numbers

KARACHI: The last weekend of August saw the release of a reboot of the 1959 classic Ben-Hur, alongside an Indian superhero film, A Flying Jatt.

While the former failed to draw the attention of audiences prior to its release, the Tiger Shroff-starrer had managed to generate some level of interest. Unfortunately, both films have not fared very well at the local box office.

“A Flying Jatt is not doing really well but it has already crossed the Rs10 million mark in its first four days. It is a kids’ movie and Tiger Shroff has a good fan following so we are hoping the business will pick up this week,” said Sabina Islam, the marketing and media manager of IMGC Entertainment, the company responsible for distributing the film locally.

On the other hand, Ben-Hur has raked in Rs3.8 million in its three-day run. “The film could have done better. We are hoping it will eventually touch Rs5 million or so, during its complete run,” shared Saad Baig, general manager of Footprint Entertainment, the local distributor of the movie.

Agreeing with Baig, Atrium Cinemas Managing Director Nadeem Mandviwalla confirmed both films are not performing well. “Ben-Hur had only 35% occupancy during the weekend, while A Flying Jatt managed around 40% to 50% but that is not really a good number. If you do 50% on a weekend, it’s bound to go down during the week. So neither film has done well,” Mandviwalla added.

Cinepax Marketing General Manager Mohsin Yaseen revealed that Ben-Hur has performed well in cinemas around Karachi but not in Lahore. “The occupancy in Karachi was 73% during the weekend. However, it has not done well across Pakistan. A Flying Jatt has done way below expectations. Both films have failed to make a mark but we’re hoping business will pick up with new releases next week,” said Yaseen.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 30^th, 2016.

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