I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Netflix with three new additions to the catalog. One of the year’s biggest box office hits — Sanju — is now available for streaming. The 2017 Bengali movie Meghnadbodh Rohoshyo is also new to the list, as is the TV series Devlok with Devdutt Pattanaik, which explores the origins of Indian mythology. For everything else new on Netflix — Bollywood or not — check Instant Watcher.
I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Netflix with more than fifty Indian titles that are now available for streaming. Most of the new films are in Hindi (23 titles), Punjabi (22), or Tamil (7), with one new addition each in Marathi and Bengali (as well as one Urdu movie from Pakistan). The full list of titles is available in the “Newly Added” section at the top of my Netflix page. Here are all of the Bollywood films that were just added:
Supposedly, Soorma is scheduled to join Netflix in India on October 20, with Sanju set to join the catalog this month as well, so we’ll keep an eye on that. For everything else new on Netflix — Bollywood or not — check Instant Watcher.
I also update my list of Bollywood movies on Amazon Prime with one new addition to the streaming catalog: the road trip movie Karwaan, which hit in theaters back on August 3, 2018. The July, 2018 theatrical release Dhadak comes to Prime in India on October 4, so hopefully we’ll get it here in the US as well.
Update: Thanks to my Twitter pal Gaurav for letting me know that Fanney Khan debuts on Amazon Prime on October 12, and Sanju hits Netflix on October 15.
2018’s two Indian Independence Day releases turned in middling performances in their first weekend at the North American box office. Leading the way was Gold, which opened in about five times as many theaters as Satyameva Jayate and made about five times as much money. From August 17-19, 2018, Gold earned $444,267 from 190 theaters ($2,338 average), according to Bollywood Hungama. Including earnings from August 15-16, Gold‘s total after five days stood at $578,617. This is down a bit from the performance of star Akshay Kumar’s 2017 Independence Day release — Toilet: Ek Prem Katha — which earned $670,447 in its opening weekend in North America.
Satyameva Jayate earned $84,772 from 39 theaters ($2,174 average), for a 5-day total of $111,632.
Most of the attention over the weekend went to the Telugu movie Geetha Govindam, which made $760,765 from 161 theaters ($4,725 average), bringing its 5-day total to $1,492,256. The rest of the Hindi films still showing in US and Canadian theaters are clearly on their way out:
Sources: 143 Cinema and Bollywood Hungama
It was a slow weekend for Bollywood movies at the North American box office, with audiences holding off in anticipation of Wednesday’s Independence Day releases (or maybe everyone was watching The Meg). The only new Hindi release was Vishwaroop 2, accompanied by its Tamil counterpart, Vishwaroopam 2. Most Indian movies that release in multiple languages don’t publish separate earnings figures for each language, but Viswaroop(am) 2 did. According to Bollywood Hungama, Vishwaroop 2 (Hindi) made $17,865 from 41 theaters in North America ($436 average), a figure I assume includes earnings from Thursday night previews. 143 Cinema reports Thursday-Sunday earnings for Vishwaroopam 2 (Tamil) of $353,321 from 127 theaters ($2,782 average).
Other Hindi movies still in North American theaters:
Sources: 143 Cinema, Bollywood Hungama, and Box Office Mojo
Kamal Haasan’s multilingual action film Vishwaroop 2 hits Chicago area theaters on August 10, 2018. Shot simultaneously in Hindi and Tamil (as Vishwaroopam 2), the film’s Telugu-dubbed version releases locally as well.
Vishwaroop 2 (Hindi) opens on Friday at MovieMax Cinemas in Niles and the AMC South Barrington 24 in South Barrington, with preview shows starting Thursday night. Vishwaroopam 2 (Tamil and Telugu-dubbed) opens Thursday night at MovieMax, South Barrington 24, Marcus Addison Cinema in Addison, Century Stratford Square in Bloomingdale, and Cinemark at Seven Bridges in Woodridge. All versions have English subtitles and listed runtimes of 2 hrs. 25 min.
Fanney Khan gets a second week at MovieMax, South Barrington 24, and the Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville. Karwaan and Mulk also carry over at the South Barrington 24 and MovieMax, which holds on to Dhadak and Sanju as well.
Other Indian movies showing in the Chicago area this weekend:
Three new Bollywood releases, three lackluster opening weekends. Fanney Khan, Karwaan, and Mulk struggled during the weekend of August 3-5, 2018, with all three posting totals well below $200,000, the median opening weekend total for Hindi films in North America for the year so far. Fanney Khan scored the widest release, giving it the biggest returns: $139,584 from 69 theaters* ($2,023 average), according to Bollywood Hungama. Karwaan was next with $91,108 from 58 theaters ($1,571 average), followed by Mulk, with $53,747 from 25 theaters ($2,150 average). Those low totals aren’t just a result of modest theater counts. All of the films’ per-theater averages were far below this year’s median average of approximately $3,000, indicating a lack of audience interest.
Other Hindi movies still showing in North American theaters:
*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. The above figures represent what I believe to be the actual theater counts. Bollywood Hungama’s reporting technically puts Fanney Khan in 83 theaters (making for a $1,682 per-theater average), Karwaan in 68 theaters ($1,340 average), Mulk in 31 theaters ($1,734 average), and Sanju in 22 theaters ($1,033 average).
Sources: 143 Cinema, Bollywood Hungama, and Box Office Mojo
It’s a busy weekend for Chicago are Bollywood fans with three new Hindi films opening locally. The movie getting the widest release on August 3, 2018, is Fanney Khan, starring Anil Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao, and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
Fanney Khan 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 2 hrs. 9 min.
Also new this week is the road trip flick Karwaan, featuring Irrfan Khan and Malayalam-film star Dulquer Salmaan in his Bollywood debut. Karwaan opens Friday at the River East 21, MovieMax, and South Barrington 24. It has a listed runtime of 1 hr. 54 min.
Last among the new releases is the courtroom drama Mulk, starring Taapsee Pannu and Rishi Kapoor. Mulk opens Friday at MovieMax and the South Barrington 24. It has a listed runtime of 2 hrs. 20 min.
Sanju carries over for a sixth week at MovieMax, South Barrington 24, and the AMC Loews Woodridge 18 in Woodrige. Dhadak gets a third week at the South Barrington 24 and MovieMax, which also holds over Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3.
Karwaan isn’t Irrfan Khan’s only new local release this weekend. He co-stars in the English-language film Puzzle, a drama about a New England housewife whose life changes after receiving a puzzle as a gift. It debuts Friday at the River East 21, Century Centre Cinema in Chicago, and Century 12 Evanston in Evanston before it opens region-wide on August 24. I haven’t stopped thinking about Puzzle since I watched it.
Other Indian movies showing in the Chicago area this weekend:
It appears North American fans would rather watch movies about Sanjay Dutt than movies starring him. From July 27-29, 2018, Dutt’s latest film — Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3 — earned $22,695 from 41 theaters* ($554 average), according to Bollywood Hungama. That per-screen average is second worst for the year. Releasing the movie overseas seems like a last-minute attempt to capitalize on the phenomenal success of Sanju, because I don’t recall much publicity or buzz in the run-up to its release. The original Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster did so poorly in North America — with lifetime earnings of $14,231 — that they didn’t bother to release the sequel here in 2013, so opening Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3 here was always going to be a gamble.
Speaking of Sanju, the biopic earned $69,508 from 44 theaters* ($1,580 average) in its fifth weekend of release, bringing its total to $7,777,222.
Dhadak held up reasonably well in its second weekend, holding over about 34% of its opening weekend business with earnings of $107,635 from 44 theaters* ($2,446 average). It has total earnings of $719,382 so far.
Other Hindi movies still showing in North American theaters:
*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. The above figures represent what I believe to be the actual theater counts. Bollywood Hungama’s reporting technically puts Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3 in 49 theaters (making for a $436 per-theater average), Sanju in 59 theaters ($1,178 average), and Dhadak in 58 theaters ($1,856 average).
Sources: Bollywood Hungama, Box Office Mojo, and Gitesh Pandya
Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3 — the latest installment in director Tigmanshu Dhulia’s thriller franchise — hits Chicago area theaters on July 27, 2018.
Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3 opens Friday at MovieMax Cinemas in Niles and the AMC South Barrington 24 in South Barrington. It has a listed runtime of 2 hrs. 20 min.
Dhadak, Sanju, and Soorma all carry over at both of the above theaters. Dhadak also gets a second week at the Regal Cantera Stadium 17 in Warrenville, while Sanju holds over at the AMC Loews Woodridge 18 in Woodridge.
Other Indian and Pakistani movies playing in the Chicago area this weekend:
All the pre-release hype for Janhvi Kapoor’s debut Dhadak resulted in a solid opening weekend in North America. From July 20-22, 2018, Dhadak earned $318,204 from 99 theaters ($3,214 average), according to Bollywood Hungama. The true total is undoubtedly higher, since Bollywood Hungama only posted earnings info for two of the sixteen Canadian theaters carrying the film. Also, 143 Cinema reports Dhadak as having earned $282,728 as of Saturday, and there’s no way the movie only took in another $35,000 on Sunday. Something closer to $400,000 would make more sense.
In its second weekend of release, Soorma earned $78,483 from 50 theaters ($1,570 average), bringing its total to $329,930, according to Box Office Mojo. Sanju earned another $223,338 from 112 theaters ($1,994 average), raising its phenomenal total to $7,634,206 after four weekends of release.
Other Bollywood movies still showing in North American theaters:
Sources: 143 Cinema, Bollywood Hungama, and Box Office Mojo