Tag Archives: Kesari

Bollywood Box Office: August 19-22, 2021

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Akshay Kumar’s period drama BellBottom released into theaters in India and abroad on August 19, 2021, heralding what could be the resumption of regular Hindi theatrical releases (fingers crossed). While cinema restrictions still in place in India limited the film’s earnings potential there, BellBottom‘s North American collections provide some insight into conditions here as well.

According to Bollywood Hungama, BellBottom earned a total of $274,753 from 100 theaters ($2,748 average) in North America in its opening four days. Here’s how those numbers break down by country:

USA – $148,074 from 74 screens = $2,001 average per screen
Canada – $126,679 from 26 screens = $4,872 average per screen

What immediately jumps out is Canada’s contribution of 46% of the total earnings. That’s a really high percentage. But what should we expect from a typical Akshay Kumar movie in North America?

Looking back at Kumar’s four 2019 releases — Kesari, Mission Mangal, Housefull 4, and Good Newwz — here’s what an average opening weekend looked like:

  • 240 theaters — 30 theaters in Canada and 210 in the US
  • $1.1 million total earnings
  • 24% of the earnings from Canada

The amazing thing to me is that the number of theaters showing BellBottom in Canada is about what you’d expect it to be in non-COVID times. (Mission Mangal also opened in 26 theaters.) Compare that to BellBottom opening in about 1/3 of the theaters it would have in the United States, and you can see two very different theatrical landscapes at present.

So what does this mean for other Bollywood movies on the release calendar? Temper your expectations for what you can earn in North America. While earnings in Canada are well below what one would expect under pre-COVID conditions, the country’s theater landscape is downright robust compared to the anemic earnings and small footprint available to Hindi films in the US. BellBottom‘s $2,748 per-screen average is respectable compared to Hollywood theatrical releases right now, but that’s for a highly anticipated film from a marquee star. A smaller movie like Chehre will earn much, much less. I suspect it’s going to be a while before the US is again a big contributor to a Hindi film’s box office haul.

Streaming Video News: May 17, 2019

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I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Amazon Prime with more than a dozen new additions in the last two days, including Akshay Kumar’s March release Kesari, which showed up on the service with no fanfare. The 2019 Telugu film Chitralahari is also available in both standard format and 4K Ultra HD.

I also update my list of Bollywood movies on Netflix with several more titles that snuck onto the service since Wednesday:

Shah Rukh Khan’s Zero comes to Netflix on May 21, so make plans now for all of the things you’ll do that day instead of watching this ridiculous movie.

Bollywood Box Office: May 3-5, 2019

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Kalank closed out its third weekend in North America with $84,217 from 85 theaters ($991 average), according to Box Office Mojo. Its total earnings stand at $2,699,301.

Other Hindi movies showing in North American theaters over the weekend:

  • The Tashkent Files: Week 4; $6,845 from five theaters; $1,369 average; $56,633 total
  • Kesari: Week 7; $1,807 from four theaters; $452 average; $1,904,557 total
  • Badla: Week 9; $76 from one theater; $1,863,375 total

Sources: Bollywood Hungama and Box Office Mojo

In Theaters: May 3, 2019

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It’s a super slow weekend for Chicago area Bollywood fans. (Better get hyped for Student of the Year 2 next week, y’all.) As of Friday, May 3, 2019, Kalank carries over in just three theaters: the AMC South Barrington 24 in South Barrington, AMC Woodridge 18 in Woodridge, and MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, which also holds over Kesari and The Tashkent Files.

Other Indian movies playing in the Chicago area this weekend (all films have English subtitles):

Bollywood Box Office: April 26-28, 2019

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Kalank‘s second weekend in North American theaters could have been worse, but it was still pretty bad. From April 26-28, 2019, the period drama earned $278,720 from 283 theaters ($985 average), according to Box Office Mojo. That brings its 12-day total to $2,482,587.

For perspective on Kalank‘s performance, I looked at the 25 most widely released Hindi films in North America since 2014 (excluding multilingual movies like Baahubali 2) to see how they fared from their first weekend to their second. Kalank released into the 8th highest number of theaters in its opening weekend (320), and it ranks 10th in terms of second-weekend theater count (283). Nevertheless, its second-weekend gross of $278,720 ranks way down in 18th (the median is $600,000). Its per-screen average of $985 is even worse, tied for 20th place with Zero. Only six movies among the 25 failed to average $1,000/screen in their second weekends here: Kalank, Zero, Jab Harry Met Sejal, Tubelight, Thugs of Hindostan, and Befikre. This is not a group any movie wants to be a part of.

To be fair to Kalank, it was up against literally the toughest box office competition of all time in Avengers: Endgame, which broke pretty much every record on its way to earning $1.2 billion globally in its opening weekend. That Kalank did as well as it did is kind of remarkable, especially since — at least in the Chicago region — a number of theaters gave Kalank only one showing a day at off-peak times in order to accommodate more showings of Avengers. Still, Kalank‘s underwhelming-on-paper showing will likely cause it to drop at least 2/3 of its remaining theaters in North America come Weekend 3.

Other Hindi movies showing in North American theaters:

  • The Tashkent Files: Week 3; $6,355 from five theaters; $1,271 average; $44,542 total
  • Kesari: Week 6; $1,972 from three theaters; $657 average; $1,901,536 total
  • Badla: Week 8; $348 from two theaters; $174 average; $1,863,181 total

Sources: Bollywood Hungama and Box Office Mojo

In Theaters: April 26, 2019

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Avengers: Endgame takes over theaters across the globe this weekend, so it’s no surprise that there are no new Hindi movies opening in the Chicago area on Friday, April 26, 2019. Despite a somewhat lackluster opening weekend, Kalank carries over at the AMC River East 21 in Chicago, MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, AMC Niles 12 in Niles, Regal Round Lake Beach 18 in Round Lake Beach, AMC South Barrington 24 in South Barrington, AMC Rosemont 18 in Rosemont, Marcus Addison Cinema in Addison, Regal Cantera 17 in Warrenville, AMC Naperville 16 in Naperville, Cinemark at Seven Bridges in Woodridge, and AMC Woodridge 18 in Woodridge.

There’s a big caveat to the above list. In order to accommodate the huge crowds anticipated for Avengers, several theaters are showing Kalank only once per day — and at off-peak times. The Marcus Addison has the worst of those showtimes, running Kalank at 8:30 a.m. (and only through the weekend). The Cantera 17’s lone showing is at 10:10 a.m., the Round Lake Beach 18 at 11:50 a.m., and Seven Bridges at 4:20 p.m. All those theaters add shows starting Monday.

MovieMax carries over Kesari and The Tashkent Files.

Other Indian and Pakistani movies playing in the Chicago area this weekend (all films have English subtitles):

Bollywood Box Office: April 19-21, 2019

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Kalank stormed into North America with the biggest theatrical footprint of the year so far for a Bollywood film, but emerged from its first weekend with less-than-stellar results. From April 19-21, 2019, Kalank earned $1,276,581 from 320 theaters ($3,989 average), according to Box Office Mojo. Adding in collections from the period drama’s first two days of release brought its total to $1,786,766 by the end of the weekend. While Kalank is only the second movie this year to earn more than $1 million in its opening weekend in North America — Gully Boy being the first — it had 60 more theaters than Gully Boy in which to do so. Total Dhamaal was just $11,000 shy of $1 million in its opening weekend, and it only opened in 202 theaters. It was fair to expect better returns given Kalank‘s big theatrical advantage.

143 Cinema reports that Kalank earned another $100,000 on Monday, so it will head into the weekend with $2 million in the bank. I’m interested to see how the movie holds up in its second weekend and beyond since there are no new Hindi films likely to release in the United States and Canada until Student of the Year 2 on May 10 — although Avengers: Endgame is competition enough.

Kesari closed out its fifth weekend with $15,091 from seven theaters. Though that makes for a per-screen average of $2,156, its four US theaters contributed just $1,159 to its haul, according to Bollywood Hungama. Three Canadian theaters accounted for $13,923, making for a Canadian PSA of $4,641. Kesari‘s total stands at $1,893,451.

Other Bollywood movies still in North American theaters:

  • The Tashkent Files: Week 2; $11,592 from five theaters; $2,318 average; $35,058 total
  • Romeo Akbar Walter: Week 3; $1,408 from four theaters; $352 average; $226,901 total
  • Badla: Week 7; $640 from two theaters; $320 average; $1,862,767 total

Sources: 143 Cinema, Bollywood Hungama, and Box Office Mojo

Opening April 17: Kalank

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The Karan Johar-produced period drama Kalank hits Chicago area theaters on Wednesday, April 17, 2019. The stellar cast — which includes Madhuri Dixit, Sonakshi Sinha, Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Aditya Roy Kapur, and Sanjay Dutt — is directed by 2 States helmer Abhishek Varman.

Kalank opens Wednesday at the AMC River East 21 in Chicago, MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, AMC Niles 12 in Niles, Century 12 Evanston in Evanston, Regal Round Lake Beach 18 in Round Lake Beach, AMC South Barrington 24 in South Barrington, AMC Rosemont 18 in Rosemont, Marcus Addison Cinema in Addison, Regal Cantera 17 in Warrenville, AMC Naperville 16 in Naperville, Cinemark at Seven Bridges in Woodridge, and AMC Woodridge 18 in Woodridge. It has a listed runtime of 2 hrs. 46 min.

MovieMax carries over Kesari and The Tashkent Files.

Other Indian and Pakistani movies playing in the Chicago area this weekend (all films have English subtitles):

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):