Tag Archives: Padmaavat

Streaming Video News: May 2, 2018

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I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Amazon Prime with two new additions to the catalog. Amitabh & Rekha’s 1977 film Alaap is now available for streaming, as is Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety. Prime now has two 2018 theatrical releases — SKTKS and Padmaavat — in its catalog, while Netflix has none (although it is the exclusive home of Love Per Square Foot). Oh, and Eros Now has Mukkabaaz.

We’re approaching the time of year when we can expect to see 2018 theatrical releases show up on streaming services more regularly. On May 26 of last year, Netflix added Raees, and Amazon’s Heera (R.I.P.) added Commando 2. Two more 2017 titles showed up in June before things really picked up in July. If there’s a movie you missed seeing in the theater earlier this year, you may not have to wait much longer before you can watch it from the comfort of home.

For everything else new on Amazon Prime — Bollywood or not — check Instant Watcher.

Opening March 23: Hichki

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The great Rani Mukerji is back with the drama Hichki (“Hiccup“), in which she plays a teacher with Tourette Syndrome. Rani recently did a video interview with Brad Cohen, whose own experience as a teacher with Tourette’s — chronicled in his book, Front of the Class — inspired the movie. It’s worth checking out.

Hichki opens in the Chicago area on Friday, March 23, 2018, at MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, AMC South Barrington 24 in South Barrington, and Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville. It has a listed runtime of just 1 hr. 46 min.

Raid gets a second week at all three of the above theaters. The South Barrington 24 carries over Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety, while MovieMax hangs on to Pari and Padmaavat.

Other Indian movies showing in the Chicago area this weekend:

Bollywood Box Office: March 16-18, 2018

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Raid got off to a great start in North America, earning $345,668 from 78 theaters ($4,431 average)* during the weekend of March 16-18, 2018, according to Bollywood Hungama. Box Office Mojo reported even higher earnings of $423,817 from 77 theaters ($5,504 average).

Other Hindi movies still in theaters in the United States and Canada:

  • Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety: Week 4; $65,647 from 32 theaters; $2,051 average; $910,572 total
  • Padmaavat: Week 8; $18,678 from 16 theaters; $1,167 average; $12,140,306 total
  • Pari: Week 3; $9,197 from nine theaters; $1,022 average; $320,641 total
  • Welcome to New York: Week 4; $2,417 from two theaters; $1,209 average; $225,366 total
  • Pad Man: Week 6; $716 from four theaters; $179 average; $1,667,233 total
  • Aiyaary: Week 5; $65 from one theater; $642,278 total

*Bollywood Hungama routinely counts Canadian theaters twice in its weekly reporting, at least for a movie’s first few weekends of release. When possible, I try to verify the correct theater count with other sources, like Box Office Mojo. The above figures represent what I believe to be the actual theater counts. Bollywood Hungama’s reporting technically puts Raid in 91 theaters (making for a $3,799 per-theater average).

Source: Box Office Mojo and Rentrak, via Bollywood Hungama

Opening March 16: Raid

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Ajay Devgn reunites with his Baadshaho costar Ileana D’Cruz for the crime drama Raid, which hits Chicago area theaters on March 16, 2018.

Raid opens on Friday at MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, AMC South Barrington 24 in South Barrington, and Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville. Raid has a listed runtime of 2 hours.

All three of the above theaters hold over Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety. Pari gets a third week at the South Barrington 24 and MovieMax, which also carries over Pad Man and Padmaavat.

Other Indian movies showing in the Chicago area this weekend:

Bollywood Box Office: March 9-11, 2018

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Even though no new Bollywood movies released in North America during the weekend of March 9-11, 2018, there’s still plenty to write about. Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety went gangbusters in its third weekend of release with earnings of $124,250 from 45 theaters ($2,761 average). Its business fell just 16% from its second weekend to its third, which is remarkable considering the 2nd-3rd weekend drops for other Bollywood releases this year: Padmaavat (-56%); Pad Man (-70%); Welcome to New York (-81%); Aiyaary (-86%); Mukkabaaz (-99%). Great word of mouth — including a 7.8 user rating at IMDb and an 84% “liked it” score at Rotten Tomatoes — continued to drive audiences to the theater for SKTKS, which has current total earnings of $781,009.

Pari likewise held up really well in its second weekend of release, dropping just 46% of its opening weekend business (second best for the year behind SKTKS‘s 38% drop). It earned $64,247 from 37 theaters ($1,736 average), bringing its total to $281,324 so far. I wish more theaters had taken a chance on this horror flick (and I suspect they do, too).

Even in its seventh weekend of release, Padmaavat was still the third highest earning Hindi film in North America, taking in $49,494 from 26 theaters ($1,904 average). It finally crossed the $12 million mark, with total earnings of $12,093,933.

Welcome to New York was vastly more popular in Canada than the United States, with three Canadian theaters earning $4,245 compared to $911 from three US theaters. Contributions to its $220,383 North American total are almost evenly divided between the two countries, with Canada taking a slight edge despite the standard US-heavy screen disparity.

Other Bollywood movies showing in US theaters:

  • Pad Man: Week 5; $4,409 from seven theaters; $630 average; $1,664,077 total
  • Aiyaary: Week 4; $2,205 from four theaters; $551 average; $641,064 total

Source: Rentrak, via Bollywood Hungama

In Theaters: March 9, 2018

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Although trailers for 3 Storeys and Dil Juunglee ran before Welcome to New York locally, neither movie is releasing in Chicagoland. Here are the Bollywood movies carrying over in Chicago theaters the weekend beginning Friday, March 9, 2018:

The horror flick Pari gets a second week at MovieMax Cinemas in Niles and the AMC South Barrington 24 in South Barrington. Both theaters and the Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville hang on to Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety and Padmaavat as well.

The South Barrington 24 gives Aiyaary a fourth weekend, and MovieMax carries over Welcome to New York and Pad Man.

Other Indian movies showing in the Chicago area this weekend:

Bollywood Box Office: March 2-4, 2018

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Pari‘s seemingly modest opening weekend numbers in North America are more impressive than they appear, given a few mitigating factors. From March 2-4, 2018, Pari earned $118,906 from 45 theaters ($2,642 average). A six-figure opening weekend for a Hindi horror movie is darned good here (more on that later this week). It also made several thousand more dollars than Welcome to New York did on twice as many theaters last weekend. Pari‘s performance cements Anushka Sharma as one of the few Bollywood actresses who can bring international moviegoers to the theater on her name alone, without an A-list male co-star.

Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety posted a super second weekend, carrying over more than 60% of its opening weekend business. The romantic comedy earned $147,989 from 72 theaters ($2,055 average), bringing its total after ten days to $519,080.

Welcome to New York headed in the opposite direction, losing 75% of its opening weekend business. It took in $27,423 from 28 theaters ($989 average), pushing its total to $193,254.

Other Hindi movies still showing in North American theaters:

  • Padmaavat: Week 6; $72,310 from 63 theaters ($1,148 average); $11,978,304 total
  • Pad Man: Week 4; $19,179 from 25 theaters ($767 average); $1,642,915 total
  • Aiyaary: Week 3; $11,844 from 26 theaters ($456 average); $628,417 total

Sources: Box Office Mojo and Rentrak, via Bollywood Hungama

Opening March 2: Pari

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Anushka Sharma’s latest home production — the horror movie Pari — hits Chicago area theaters on March 2, 2018.

Pari opens on Friday at MovieMax Cinemas in Niles and the AMC South Barrington 24 in South Barrington. It has a listed runtime of 2 hrs. 14 min.

Welcome to New York gets a second weekend at MovieMax, South Barrington 24, and Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville. All three theaters also hold over Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety, as does the AMC River East 21 in Chicago.

Pad Man carries over for a fourth week at MovieMax, Cantera 17, and AMC Dine-In Rosemont 18 in Rosemont. All three theaters hold on to Aiyaary for a third week, as does the South Barrington 24.

Padmaavat — which continues to perform well at the North American box office — sticks around for a sixth week at MovieMax, South Barrington 24, Cantera 17, AMC Showplace Niles 12 in Niles, and AMC Loews Woodridge 18 in Woodridge.

Other Indian movies showing in the Chicago area this weekend:

Bollywood Box Office: February 23-25, 2018

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After four weeks atop the North American box office, Padmaavat was finally unseated by Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety. From February 23-25, 2018, Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety earned $239,955 from 66 theaters ($3,636 average). That’s about $2,000 less than the lifetime North American earnings of Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2, the last film by writer-director Luv Ranjan and his cast of regulars.

Padmaavat was still the second highest earning Hindi film in North America in its fifth weekend of release, taking in another $173,915 from 89 theaters ($1,954 average), bringing its total earnings to $11,833,407. Gitesh Pandya reports weekend earnings for Padmaavat of $187,949 from 91 theaters ($2,065 average), and a total of $11,846,060.

The weekend’s other new Bollywood release — Welcome to New York — only managed to land in third place, with $111,044 from 84 theaters ($1,322 average). That’s a somewhat disappointing total considering that it showed in both 2D and 3D, which inflates tickets prices.

Pad Man earned $95,877 from 95 theaters ($1,009 average) in its third weekend of release, bringing its total to $1,588,321. Last weekend’s new release, Aiyaary, lost over 3/4s of its opening weekend business, taking in $81,709 from 74 theaters ($1,104 average). Its total earnings stand at $587,041.

*Bollywood Hungama routinely counts Canadian theaters twice in its weekly reporting, at least for a movie’s first three weekends of release. When possible, I try to verify the correct theater count with other sources, like Box Office Mojo. The above figures represent what I believe to be the actual theater counts. Bollywood Hungama’s reporting puts Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety in 77 theaters (making for a $3,116 per-theater average), Welcome to New York in 99 theaters ($1,122 average), Aiyaary in 87 theaters ($939 average), and Pad Man in 102 theaters ($940 average).

Sources: Box Office Mojo, Gitesh Pandya, and Rentrak, via Bollywood Hungama

Bollywood Box Office: February 16-18, 2018

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Padmaavat can’t be stopped. Even in its fourth weekend of release, up against two newer Hindi films, Padmaavat remained the top-earning Bollywood movie in North America. During the weekend of February 16-18, 2018, the period drama earned $412,633 from 135 theaters ($3,057 average). Its $11,365,693 total is less than $1 million behind the current all-time highest-earning Bollywood movie in North America: Dangal, which earned $12,357,576 in 2016.

The weekend’s new release, Aiyaary, finished in second place, with earnings of $350,425 from 118 theaters ($2,970 average). It marks the lowest opening weekend for a film by director Neeraj Pandey, whose debut A Wednesday didn’t release in North America.

Pad Man closed out its second weekend with $318,001 from 131 theaters ($2,427 average), a 46% holdover from its opening weekend. It’s earned $1,313,120 so far.

*Bollywood Hungama routinely counts Canadian theaters twice in its weekly reporting, at least for a movie’s first two weekends of release. When possible, I try to verify the correct theater count with other sources, like Box Office Mojo. The above figures represent what I believe to be the actual theater counts. Bollywood Hungama’s reporting puts Aiyaary in 152 theaters (making for a $2,305 per-theater average) and Pad Man in 173 theaters (for a $1,838 per-theater average).

Sources: Box Office Mojo and Rentrak, via Bollywood Hungama