Bollywood Box Office: April 12-14, 2019

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The North American box office was in a holding pattern during the weekend of April 12-14, 2019, in anticipation of the April 17 release of the guaranteed blockbuster Kalank. The only new Hindi film to open in North America on the 12th was The Tashkent Files, which made just $15,368 from 14 theaters ($1,098 average), according to Bollywood Hungama.

Other Bollywood titles fared little better over the sleepy weekend:

  • Romeo Akbar Walter: Week 2; $25,698 from 36 theaters; $714 average; $221,648 total
  • Kesari: Week 4; $19,650 from 16 theaters; $1,228 average; $1,862,580 total
  • Badla: Week 6; $8,286 from eight theaters; $1,036 average; $1,859,793 total
  • Gully Boy: Week 9; $422 from one theater; $5,414,386 total

Meanwhile, Andhadhun is burning up the Chinese box office to the tune of $30 million in two weeks! And I thought the $1.3 million it earned here in eleven weeks was impressive!

Source: Bollywood Hungama

Opening April 12: The Tashkent Files

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With PM Narendra Modi pulled from the schedule at the last minute over concerns for the potential to influence Indian elections, the only new Hindi film opening in Chicago area theaters on April 12, 2019, is The Tashkent Files — a thriller about the death of former Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri starring Naseeruddin Shah and Mithun Chakraborty.

The Tashkent Files opens Friday at MovieMax Cinemas in Niles and AMC South Barrington 24 in South Barrington.

Tickets are already on sale at MovieMax, South Barrington 24, and AMC Woodridge 18 in Woodridge for the Wednesday, April 17 release Kalank.

Romeo Akbar Walter gets a second week at all three of the above theaters. MovieMax also holds over Kesari.

Other Indian and Pakistani movies showing in Chicago area theaters (all films have English subtitles):

Streaming Video News: April 5, 2019

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I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Netflix with the addition of Rajinikanth’s January release Petta, as well as the 2018 Hindi horror flick Lupt. Also new in the last few days is the 2019 drama Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, which made over $1 million in North America but only lasted four weeks in theaters. It’s a great opportunity for those of us who missed out to finally catch up.

I also updated my list of Bollywood movies on Amazon Prime with almost four dozen Indian films added in the last four days. Five 2019 releases were added — Chambal (Kannada), Crazy Crazy Feeling (Telugu), Spot (Tamil), Thadam (Tamil), and Vinara Sodara Veera Kumara (Telugu) — along with a second season of the series Laakhon Mein Ek, now available in Tamil and Telugu in addition to the original Hindi (just choose your desired season in the drop-down menu). Also new on Prime is the 2016 Bollywood romance Mirzya, which is visually stunning and has great music (and is also on Netflix).

My wonderful father-in-law Ron died this week, so I’m taking several days off to be with family. I’ll return next week after his memorial. — Kathy

Bollywood Box Office: March 29-31, 2019

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Brief North American Bollywood box office update for the weekend of March 29-31, 2019. Here’s why the weekend’s two new releases — Junglee and Notebook — won’t get a second week in many theaters:

  • Junglee: $45,221 from 79 theaters; $572 average
  • Notebook: $18,877 from 39 theaters; $484 average

My friend who works at my local theater said that, over the weekend, the staff had to tell quite a few disappointed customers that, no, they weren’t running a special engagement of the Ryan Gosling film The Notebook.

Other Bollywood movies still in North American theaters:

  • Kesari: Week 2; $323,533 from 154 theaters; $2,101 average; $1,600,643 total
  • Badla: Week 4; $75,736 from 58 theaters; $1,306 average; $1,861,000 total
  • Gully Boy: Week 7; $9,587 from 12 theaters; $799 average; $5,407,188 total
  • Luka Chuppi: Week 5; $2,802 from seven theaters; $400 average; $1,014,967 total

Sources: Bollywood Hungama and Box Office Mojo

Streaming Video News: April 1, 2019

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I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Netflix with a few additions to start the month of April. The 2019 Hindi thriller 706 — starring Divya Dutta and Atul Kulkarni — is now available for streaming, as is Arshad Warsi’s 2016 comedy The Legend of Michael Mishra. The most intriguing addition is the series Midnight Misadventures with Mallika Dua, in which the comedian cooks with celebrities like Sanya Malhotra, Vicky Kaushal, Huma Qureshi, Rajkummar Rao, and Radhika Apte.

I also updated my list of Bollywood movies on Amazon Prime with more than 30 additions since Friday. Newly added 2019 titles include the Telugu film Love Game and the Tamil movie Dev, which is available dubbed in Telugu as well.

Streaming Video News: March 29, 2019

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I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Netflix with the premiere of the Netflix Original Marathi movie 15 August. A bunch of Hindi movies expire from the service March 30, so tonight is your last chance to watch these titles:

Shah Rukh Khan’s production company Red Chillies Entertainment has a streaming deal with Netflix that lasts through the end of this year, and I’ve wondered when Zero is going to wind up on Netflix. I checked on the other RCE titles produced since the deal was signed, and Dear Zindagi, Jab Harry Met Sejal, and Ittefaq all became available for streaming five months after their theatrical release. The only exception was Raees, which appeared on the service after four months. We can likely expect Zero to join Netflix at the end of May, maybe end of April. Badla is also an RCE production, so look for that in early July, possibly early June.

I’ve also updated my list of Bollywood movies on Amazon Prime with dozens of Indian titles added in the last week. Newly added 2019 releases include:

Bollywood Box Office: March 22-24, 2019

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From March 22-24, 2019, Akshay Kumar’s Kesari took in $836,065 from 178 North American theaters ($4,697 average), according to Bollywood Hungama. Adding in the $88,308 it earned on its opening day (March 21) brings Kesari‘s four-day total to $924,373.

It took Luka Chuppi four weekends, but the romantic comedy finally crossed the $1 million mark. The $18,920 it earned from 26 theaters over the weekend ($728 average) brought its total to $1,005,283.

With Kesari having passed the $1 million mark itself during the course of the week, Luka Chuppi‘s achievement means that eight of the twelve Hindi movies to release in North America in 2019 have earned at least $1 million. That’s kind of mind-boggling. I expect that ratio to even out a bit with the upcoming weekend’s releases — Junglee and Notebook — likely to fall well short $1 million (though I’m crossing my fingers for Junglee‘s success).

Other Hindi movies still showing in North American theaters:

  • Badla: Week 3; $237,547 from 97 theaters; $2,449 average; $1,712,624 total
  • Gully Boy: Week 6; $49,473 from 40 theaters; $1,237 average; $5,381,387 total
  • Total Dhamaal: Week 5; $4,049 from one theater*; $2,167,632 total
  • Uri: Week 11; $904 from three theaters; $301 average; $4,185,825 total

*Bollywood Hungama’s report only includes Total Dhamaal‘s Canada earnings for the weekend, not its US earnings. The film’s total is from Box Office Mojo.

Sources: Bollywood Hungama and Box Office Mojo

Opening March 29: Junglee and Notebook

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Two new Hindi films hit Chicago area theaters on March 29, 2019. Martial artist Vidyut Jammwal plays a veterinarian fighting elephant poachers in the action movie Junglee, directed by American filmmaker Chuck Russell, who previously directed Dwayne Johnson in The Scorpion King and Jim Carrey in The Mask.

Junglee opens Friday at the AMC River East 21 in Chicago, MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, AMC South Barrington 24 in South Barrington, and Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville. It has a listed runtime of 1 hr. 55 min.

Also new this weekend is the Salman Khan Films production Notebook, starring newcomers Pranutan Bahl and Zaheer Iqbal.

Notebook opens Friday at MovieMax, South Barrington 24, and Cantera 17. It has a listed runtime of 1 hr. 52 min.

Opening in wide release across Chicagoland this weekend is Hotel Mumbai, an English-language fictional retelling of the 26/11 terror attacks starring Dev Patel, Anupam Kher, and Armie Hammer. It sounds problematic.

Kesari carries over at the River East 21, MovieMax, South Barrington 24, Cantera 17, AMC Niles 12 in Niles, AMC Rosemont 18 in Rosemont, and AMC Woodridge 18 in Woodridge.

Badla gets a fourth week at MovieMax, South Barrington 24, Cantera 17, and AMC Naperville 16 in Naperville.

MovieMax holds over Luka Chuppi, the South Barrington carries over Total Dhamaal, and the Woodridge 18 hangs on to Gully Boy.

Other Indian movies showing in Chicago area theaters (all films have English subtitles):

Streaming Video News: March 22, 2019

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I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Amazon Prime with dozens of recent additions to the streaming catalog. Kangana Ranaut’s January theatrical release Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi now available in the original Hindi as well as Tamil and Telugu.

One strange bit of Amazon housekeeping is that Yash Raj Films added new versions of several movies that were already on Prime, and the old links no longer work at all. It’s not that the listing remains and says the movie isn’t available on Prime — you get a “Page Not Found” error when you follow the link. I updated my list with the new links I’ve found, but here they are just in case you’ve got the old links in your bookmarks (if you find any other YRF Amazon Prime links in my list that no longer work, please leave a comment and let me know):

I also updated my list of Bollywood movies on Netflix with a new original Hindi series to binge this weekend: Delhi Crime, starring Shefali Shah, Adil Hussain, and Denzil Smith.

Opening March 21: Kesari

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In time for Holi, Akshay Kumar’s historical war drama Kesari opens in Chicago area theaters on Thursday, March 21, 2019.

Kesari opens Thursday at the AMC River East 21 in Chicago, MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, AMC Rosemont 18 in Rosemont, AMC South Barrington 24 in South Barrington, Marcus Addison Cinema in Addison, Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville, AMC Naperville 16 in Naperville, and AMC Woodridge 18 in Woodridge. It expands to the AMC Niles 12 in Niles on Friday. It has a listed runtime of 2 hrs. 30 min.

On Friday, March 22, Badla starts its third week at the River East 21, MovieMax, South Barrington 24, Cantera 17, and Naperville 16.

Gully Boy gets a sixth week at the South Barrington 24, Cantera 17, and Woodridge 18.

Luka Chuppi holds over for a fourth week at MovieMax and the South Barrington 24, while Total Dhamaal gets a fifth week at the South Barrington 24 and Cantera 17.

In news of movies that aren’t playing in Chicago right now, I’m super bummed that we didn’t get Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota (“The Man Who Feels No Pain“). I also expected The Wedding Guest to expand out from Chicago into suburban theaters, but that didn’t happen either. In better news, it looks like Dev Patel & Anupam Kher’s Hotel Mumbai will open wide across the Chicago area next weekend, so that’s cool.

Other Indian movies showing in Chicago area theaters (all films have English subtitles unless indicated):