Tag Archives: PK

Bollywood Box Office: January 16-18

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Tevar‘s business took a huge hit in its second weekend in U.S. theaters. According to Rentrak figures supplied to Bollywood Hungama, Tevar earned $7,274 from 14 theaters ($520 average) during the weekend of January 16-18, 2015 (not taking into account the Monday Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday). That’s less than 6% of what it earned in its opening weekend, bringing Tevar‘s total earnings to $164,351. It is worth pointing out that, according to Box Office Mojo, Tevar had already earned $214,635 during its first full week in theaters. However, without second weekend figures to augment that data, I’m sticking with the lower Rentrak total.

PK continued its exceptional run, adding another $101,350 from 43 theaters ($2,357 average), bringing its North American total to $10,433,363. That puts it in 24th place all time among foreign-language films released in North America.

Perhaps Gangs of Wasseypur waited too long to make its North American theatrical debut. The first part of the 2012 epic debuted on January 16, 2015, in 13 theaters, earning a measly $5,167 ($397 average). Here’s hoping business picks up during the week before the release of Part II on January 23.

Of the $1,206,346 that the multi-language release I earned in its first weekend in theaters, just $14,382 came from the 47 theaters showing the Hindi-dubbed version ($306 average).

Sources: Box Office Mojo and Rentrak, via Bollywood Hungama

In Theaters: January 16, 2015

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While there are no new Bollywood movies opening in the Chicago area on Friday, January 16, 2015, there are still plenty of Hindi movies to see in local theaters.

Two recent releases — Tevar and PK — continue their theatrical runs. Tevar gets a second week at the Regal Gardens Stadium 1-6 in Skokie, AMC South Barrington 30 in South Barrington, and Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville. PK gets a fifth week at the South Barrington 30 and Cantera 17.

One older Hindi film finally makes its U.S. theatrical debut on Friday. 2012’s 5-hour epic Gangs of Wasseypur is being released in two parts in select theaters across the country, including the South Barrington 30. Part 1 debuts on January 16, and it will be replaced the following Friday, January 23, by Part II.

The Indian movie that is dominating local screenspace in unprecedented fashion is the sci-fi/fantasy adventure romance I, which opens today. Originally shot in Tamil, I is also dubbed into Telugu and Hindi. It’s showing all across the Chicago area, with different theaters carrying different versions (all of them supposedly have English subtitles). Here’s a list based on info available at Fandango:

Tamil: AMC River East 21 in Chicago; Century 12 Evanston in Evanston; Century 16 Deer Park in Deer Park; MovieMax Cinemas in Niles; Muvico Rosemont 18 in Rosemont; Cinemark Melrose Park in Melrose Park; Century Stratford Square in Bloomingdale; Marcus Addison Cinema in Addison; Cantera 17; Cinemark at Seven Bridges in Woodridge; Cinemark Louis Joliet Mall in Joliet

Telugu: River East 21; Century 12 Evanston; Century 16 Deer Park; MovieMax; Rosemont 18; Cinemark Melrose Park; Century Stratford Square; Marcus Addison Cinema; AMC Showplace Naperville 16 in Naperville; Cinemark at Seven Bridges; Cinemark Louis Joliet Mall

Hindi: MovieMax; South Barrington 30; AMC Loews Woodridge 18 in Woodridge

I’m not sure which language version is showing at the Regal Gardens 1-6, but I’m betting Tamil since that’s what’s showing at the Cantera (another Regal theater). Considering that several theaters are showing multiple versions of I, be sure to check the schedule before you head to the theater to make sure you select the correct showtime.

Bollywood Box Office: January 9-11

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I had a hunch Tevar wasn’t going to light up the box office when only one other person joined my friend, Melanie, and me in the theater at Friday’s first showing. The North American box office figures for January 9-11, 2015, proved my hunch correct.

From 125 theaters in the United States (it didn’t open in Canada, apparently), Tevar earned just $125,908, an average per screen of $1,007. To give that per-screen average context, the median PSA in 2014 was $1,977.

That average looks sadder still when compared to PK‘s performance during the same weekend. In its fourth weekend in U.S. and Canadian theaters, PK earned $244,370 from 115 theaters: a per-screen average of $2,125.

Despite being the first new Hindi movie to release in North America in three weeks, people still skipped Tevar in favor of PK. Wow.

Opening January 9: Tevar

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The first Bollywood film to hit Chicago area theaters in 2015 is Tevar, opening January 9. The action drama stars Manoj Bajpayee, Arjun Kapoor, and Sonakshi Sinha.

Tevar opens on Friday at the AMC River East 21 in Chicago, Regal Gardens Stadium 1-6 in Skokie, MovieMax Cinemas in Niles, AMC South Barrington 30 in South Barrington, and Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville. It has a listed runtime of 2 hrs. 30 min.

PK carries over for a fourth week at all of the above theaters (except for the River East 21), plus the AMC Loews Woodridge 18 in Woodridge.

Other Indian movies playing at MovieMax this weekend include Gopala Gopala (Telugu), Nagaravaridhi Naduvil Njan (Malayalam), Mukunda (Telugu), Chinnadana Nee Kosam (Telugu), and Lingaa (Tamil).

Bollywood Box Office: January 2-4

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After a great third weekend in theaters, PK now ranks 27th on a list of the highest earning foreign language films of all time in North America. From January 2-4, 2015, PK earned another $743,879 from 245 theaters in the United States and Canada ($3,036 average), bringing its total to $9,836,052.

Sources: Box Office Mojo and Rentrak, via Bollywood Hungama

Best Bollywood Movies of 2014

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2014 delivered a bunch of well-crafted films aimed at a savvy audience. Here are my ten best of the year. (Click on the title of each movie to read my original review.)

Films with budgets large and small took aim at social issues affecting ordinary citizens.  Siddharth powerfully explores poverty through the experience of a man searching for his missing child. The divisive intersection of politics and religion is skewered both by indies — Filmistaan and Dekh Tamasha Dekh — and the year’s biggest hit, PK.

Other films put creative spins on existing formulas. Highway turns a typical damsel-in-distress scenario into a young woman’s journey of self-discovery. Dedh Ishqiya features a budding romance between a middle-aged couple, played by Madhuri Dixit-Nene and Naseeruddin Shah. I thought I’d seen enough gangster movies for a lifetime until Kill Dil revitalized the genre in stylish fashion.

Ankhon Dekhi challenges the notion that a movie has to be “about” a specific theme, instead presenting itself as a movie to simply experience.

My sentimental favorite film of 2014 is Queen. Watching Kangana Ranuat as charming small-town girl Rani gallivanting about Europe on her solo honeymoon is a joyous experience. It’s a movie I look forward to revisiting.

Yet one movie stood out from the rest because of its riveting story and immaculate direction. The best Hindi movie of 2014 is Haider.

I’m a huge fan of director Vishal Bhardwaj, and even with high expectations going in, I was still blown away by Haider. It’s gorgeous, thanks both to the natural beauty of Kashmir and Bhardwaj’s use of a bold color palette against a snowy backdrop. Kudos to cinematographer Pankaj Kumar as well.

Bhardwaj — who also wrote the film’s music — maximizes the potential for song as a narrative device in a sequence in which Haider (a modern Hamlet, played by Shahid Kapoor) publicly implicates his uncle in his father’s disappearance. The scene is much more effective as a musical performance than it would have been as a speech.

Bhardwaj also deserves credit for placing his version of Hamlet in such a politically and emotionally charged environment. Notes at the end of the movie highlight how ongoing tension between India and Pakistan have cut off a beautiful place like Kashmir from the rest of the world, to the detriment of regular people simply trying to exist. Placing a 400-year-old story within the context of a modern conflict emphasizes that quelling the dangerous temptations that come with political ambition is a problem humans haven’t yet solved. Haider is a magnificent piece of visual storytelling.

Best Bollywood Movies of 2014

    1. Haider — Buy/rent at Amazon or iTunes
    2. Queen — Buy/rent at Amazon
    3. Siddharth — Buy/rent at Amazon or iTunes
    4. Ankhon Dekhi — Buy/rent at Amazon or iTunes
    5. Highway — Buy/rent at Amazon or iTunes
    6. Dedh Ishqiya — Buy/rent at Amazon or iTunes
    7. PK — Buy/rent at Amazon or iTunes
    8. Dekh Tamasha Dekh — Buy/rent at Amazon or iTunes
    9. Kill Dil — Buy/rent at Amazon or iTunes
    10. Filmistaan — Buy/rent at Amazon or iTunes

Previous Best Movies Lists

In Theaters: January 2, 2015

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On Friday, January 2, 2015, PK extends its impressive run for a third week at the following Chicago area theaters:

Bollywood Box Office: December 26-28

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I guess I was a little conservative regarding PK‘s North American box office prospects after its first weekend. During the weekend of December 26-28, 2014, PK added another $1,642,262 from 289 theaters ($5,683 average), bringing its total to $7,785,486. That’s easily the best performance by a Hindi film in United States and Canada in 2014.

In fact, as of Wednesday, December 31, PK‘s total earnings stand at $8.3 million (according to SIMoviesUSA). That already puts it ahead of Dhoom 3‘s North American total of $8,090,250. Considering that PK won’t face competition from any new Hindi films until Tevar opens on January 9, $10 million seems within reach.

In Theaters: December 25, 2014

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This weekend’s new theater schedule starts on Thursday, December 25, 2014, to take advantage of the Christmas holiday. The following local theaters hold over PK for a second week (note that, starting Thursday, the only showings of PK at the Marcus Addison and Crestwood 18 are scheduled after 9 p.m.):

Other Indian movies showing in the Chicago area on Christmas include Mukunda (Telugu w/English subtitles) and Chinnadana Nee Kosam (Telugu w/English subtitles) at the Cinemark at Seven Bridges in Woodridge and MovieMax, which also carries Cousins (Malayalam) and the Tamil films Kayal, Kappal, Meaghamann, Pisasu, and Lingaa.

Bollywood Box Office: December 19-21

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Update: Box Office Mojo lists PK‘s North American earnings as $3,565,258 from 272 theaters ($13,108 average). The movie finished in ninth place overall in the weekend rankings, just behind Top Five and ahead of Penguins of Madagascar.

Aamir Khan’s PK just posted the biggest opening weekend for a Hindi film in North America in 2014. During the weekend of December 19-21, 2014, it earned $3,508,980 from 296 theaters ($11,855 average). That total already puts it in third place for the year behind The Lunchbox and Happy New Year. PK will claim the top spot in a matter of days.

What remains to be seen is how close PK can come to matching the remarkable success of last year’s Dhoom 3, which earned $8,090,250 during its seven-week run in the United States and Canada. A more attainable goal is the $6,533,849 earned by 2009’s 3 Idiots, the previous collaboration between Khan and director Rajkumar Hirani.

Action Jackson closed out its three-week run by adding $179 from three theaters ($60 average), bringing its North American total to $256,872.

Sources: Box Office Mojo and Rentrak, via Bollywood Hungama