‘Superstar’ shines bright on a dull Eid box office

Mahira Khan-starrer made an impact but all three films combined couldn’t draw in expected numbers

LAHORE: Local cinemas saw three Pakistani films fight for glory on Eidul Azha. With a clashing release between Superstar, Parey Hut Love and Heer Maan Ja, there was tough competition at the box office. Stakeholders had earlier suggested that leading ladies – Mahira Khan, Maya Ali and Hareem Farooq – would determine the fate of their respective projects. While Mahira was expected to lead the pack because of her massive star power, stakeholders speculated Maya to be next, followed by Hareem. Interestingly, all predictions turned out to be true as Superstar held the fort, thanks to Mahira.

The distributors of Superstar have announced a two-day box office collection of 40 million. According to sources, Superstar was indeed the highest earner but the take home for two days was around Rs20.3 million. It was followed by Parey Hut Love and Heer Maan Ja that earned approximately Rs10.8 million and 10.6 million respectively. While the company responsible for distributing Heer Man Ja confirmed the figures shared by the sources, the distributors of Parey Hut Love did not confirm or deny the two-day collection of  Parey Hut Love till the filing of this report. 

The stakeholders were generally satisfied with the footfall of all three films but felt that none of the projects could reciprocate the magic that Wrong No 2 and Punjab Nahi Jaungi created on respective Eid holidays.

It is pertinent to mention that none of these figures can be collaborated further because Pakistan does not have an independent box collection authority.

PHOTO: MOREY SAIYAN/ PAREY HUT LOVE OFFICIAL

Talking to multiple stakeholders, The Express Tribune found out that film-maker Ehteshamuddin’s directorial debut made waves in Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi. They maintained that Mahira was the reason behind the film’s success in the various cinema circuits.

Speaking about all three projects failing to offer ‘complete entertainment’ packages, a distribution club member said, “We were expecting these three films to earn Rs 450 million in their entire run at the box office. But all of them performed below par on the first two days. We are hopeful that with the upcoming weekend, the figures will go higher but our target will not be achieved."

PHOTO: FILE

The insider added, “These films will not even surpass the numbers of Eidul Fitr.”

Nonetheless, the official added that they remain fairly satisfied with Superstar, Parey Hut Love and Heer Maan Ja because of the efforts that went into completing projects of such scale.

General Manager, Sozoworld cinema, Abdul Razzaq observed a similar trend with Parey Hut Love slowly catching up with Superstar's success. "The business has been above average but the films couldn't really churn out business we were expecting on Eid. Lets see how the coming weeks fare for the box office," said Razzaq.



PHOTO: SUPERSTAR/INSTAGRAM

“Besides the investment, the cast, budget, scripts and music, everything combined has an impact on the film’s success. So, while Pakistan Film Distributors Association Chairman, Chaudhry Ejaz Kamran lauded the fact that people continued to flock to cinemas throughout Eid.

“The good thing is that many people showed up in large numbers to watch their favourite films. We cannot expect films to be 100% perfect every year,” he said. Kamran also expressed disappointment at the monotonous story-lines of films.

PHOTO: SUPERSTAR/INSTAGRAM

“We need to come up with new stories and ideas. It is important to take into account the kind of films audiences want to watch on Eid."

Will Parey Hut Love or Heer Maan Ja manage to overtake Superstar? Only time will tell.

Edited by Haddiqua Siddiqui

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