O'ROMEO had a dull second weekend collecting just 7.25 crore nett adding to the 40 crore nett in the first week which takes the film to 47.25 crore nett. The drop in collections from the first weekend is around 75% and this is too high when the opening collections are not good. You need to be dropping 50% or ideally even less. There was the match on Sunday but even putting that aside, the weekend was going nowhere.

This director-actor combo has had films like KAMINEY and HAIDER which saw modest results but even those AVERAGE results are a dream as the film FLOPS badly. Its almost two months into the year and four major films have released. While BORDER 2 and MARDAANI 3 are fine, O'ROMEO joins IKKI as the second dud of the year.

The numbers for O'ROMEO till date are as follows.

Friday - 7,50,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 11,00,00,000 apprx

Sunday - 8,25,00,000 apprx

Monday - 4,25,00,000 apprx

Tuesday - 4,25,00,000 apprx

Wednesday - 2,75,00,000 apprx

Thursday - 2,00,00,000 apprx

Friday - 1,75,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 2,75,00,000 apprx

Sunday - 2,75,00,000 apprx

TU YAA MAIN has collected 5 crore nett plus in ten days It will do a little more than the likes of HAPPY PATEL KHATARNAK JASOOS and RAHU KETU released last month but that is no consolation prize.

The collections of TU YAA MAIN are as follows.

Friday - 50,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 1,35,00,000 apprx

Sunday - 75,00,000 apprx

Monday - 40,00,000 apprx

Tuesday - 45,00,000 apprx

Wednesday - 35,00,000 apprx

Thursday - 30,00,000 apprx

Friday - 25,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 40,00,000 apprx

Sunday - 40,00,000 apprx

DO DEEWANE SEHER MEIN did poorly on Saturday as collections were pretty much flat as it collected under 1.50 crore nett. The collections were never going to be much but at least the film should show some sort of jump especially on the Saturday. The film got a helping on Friday at PVR. That maybe the reason as the bulk of collections are from there and it has gone up by just 2 lakhs nett.

When 55% of your collections go up by this measly amount, then there is little chance of growth though other places the growth is more. However, that's hardly an achievement.

The collections DO DEEWANE SEHER MEIN are as follows.

Friday - 1,25,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 1,40,00,000 apprx

ASSI has fared better than DO DEEWANE SEHER MEIN but again that hardly matters as overall it is also doing poorly. The film managed to jump around 60% which is good in comparison to the competition but for even a chance of a result the growth had to be at least 100%. The film collected a little more than 1.50 crore nett for a two day total of 2.50 crore nett plus.

The collections of ASSI till date are as follows.. 

Friday - 1,00,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 1,60,00,000 apprx

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DO DEEWANE SEHER MEIN collected 4 crore nett over its first weekend with a dull trend as Saturday did not grow much while Sunday was never going to do much as the film has nothing for the core Hindi circuits.

The other release, ASSI, collected a similar amount of 4 crore nett it though had a better trend but it wont matter much as the collections are so low. The general assumption is that these films will not work at the box office but if they are good, they will have a better trend especially with no other film really collecting.

The collections of ASSI till date are as follows.

Friday - 1,00,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 1,60,00,000 apprx

Sunday - 1,50,00,000 apprx

Saturday evening saw actor Shah Rukh Khan visit veteran screenwriter Salim Khan at Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital, extending support to the Khan family after the 90-year-old’s recent health scare.

Salim, father of actor Salman Khan, has been admitted since February 17 after suffering a minor brain haemorrhage. Pulmonologist Dr Jalil D Parkar had earlier told the media that Salim’s condition is stable and he is under observation in the ICU following a medical procedure that did not require surgery.

SRK spent over an hour at the hospital before leaving late in the evening. Soon after, actor Malaika Arora, former wife of Salim’s son, actor-producer Arbaaz Khan, was also seen arriving to check on the veteran writer. Zeeshan Baba Siddique, son of late politician Baba Siddique who was a close associate of Salman, along with photographer Avinash Gowariker, were also spotted visiting the same evening.

Hospital authorities have said that the veteran screenwriter is responding well to treatment. Meanwhile, the Khan family has requested privacy as Salim continues his recovery.

Days after the Bombay High Court granted ad-interim relief to actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha by restraining certain websites, social media accounts, AI-linked entities, and others from misusing and exploiting his personality rights, his lawyer explains what the order entails and why it was necessary.

“Various forms of illegal exploitation of his persona were being done for commercial gain. This included merchandise being sold on online platforms without his permission, such as mugs, fridge magnets, etc. People were making money out of it.”

Hiren Kamod, counsel and IP expert, Bombay HC, tells us. He adds, “There were a lot of fake profiles in his name. The third infringement was distorting his pictures to make GIFs and memes. There was also pornographic material on which his face was morphed. We wanted to curtail this rampant usage.”

However, this order does not stop comics from mimicking Shatrughan and his iconic dialogue, ‘Khamosh’. Kamod explains, “If Sunil Grover or any comedian wants to imitate him, there can’t be any injunction against them; there is no commercial exploitation. What you can’t do is sell any product with the actor’s name or mannerisms like ‘Khamosh’. None of the personality rights protection orders can stop any actors from impersonating/mimicking artistes.”

It’s not every day in the industry that a one line idea gets a star to commit to a film. But filmmaker Suresh Triveni tells us that rarity happened when he narrated the idea of Subedaar to Anil Kapoor. “Our man said yes and then asked, ‘Kab banana hai?’” the director recounts the phone call he had with Kapoor.

The Prime Video film, also starring Radhika Madan, tells the story of a former army man (Kapoor) coming to terms with the civilian life. For his protagonist, Triveni drew inspiration from Kapoor’s iconic characters of the ‘80s.

“He is one actor, who has over the period of time, adapted himself beautifully in different roles. But we can never forget Munna from Tezaab (1988) or Mr India (1987). He has a presence, which is cinematic. So that inspired me. And I wanted to write a story of a man of the soil. That’s where it started,” he shares.

And it’s only been a joy ride for him to direct the star, not only for his dedication towards his craft but his hunger as a performer, despite his four-decade long experience in the industry.

“Anil sir does not like to be reminded about his past work. He says, ‘Tell me about today and tomorrow. Don’t tell me about yesterday. And I’m not kidding’,” the director says, adding that he has his lead star’s professionalism to thank for being able to wrap up the film in just over 40 days.

“He is so particular about the details [of the character]. Like, he’s got a book of records where he has actually noted down that what’s his hair growth and moustache growth like. He maintains a diary. His team knows that. That’s the amount of professionalism he brings to a film. Otherwise, I won’t be able to shoot a film in 44 days. It’s impossible. He is not complacent at all.”

Mumbai: Pure-play streamers have begun actively exploring and acquiring satellite rights, particularly for mid- and small-budget movies, over the past two months, according to producers and legal experts involved in negotiating these deals, marking a shift that could further cement the growing dominance of such platforms in the film distribution ecosystem.

A partner at a leading law firm in India said that, in the past two months, both pure and hybrid streamers had been showing clear interest in buying satellite rights.

"If streamers are in an advantageous position, then they ask for satellite rights. But if producers are in a precarious situation, then they bundle satellite rights with digital rights and sell them to streamers," said the lawyer, who didn't want to be named.

India's cinema ecosystem is witnessing a structural shift, said Suniel Wadhwa, co-founder and director, Karmic Films.

"Streaming platforms are moving upstream in the content value chain," he said. "Streamers are increasingly acquiring digital streaming and satellite rights, sometimes across all languages."

He cited films such as Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon 2 and Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu (for all languages), the satellite and digital rights of which were acquired by streamers JioHotstar and Zee5, respectively.

According to film trade analysts, valuations of satellite and digital rights have changed considerably, largely because of meagre growth in television advertising (less than 5%) compared with the digital space (growing at over 20%). Consequently, digital rights contribute at least 75% of a film's non-theatrical revenue, followed by satellite rights, which contribute 20-25%, analysts said.

Also, the merger of Viacom18 and Disney Star has triggered a power shift as it has reduced opportunities for producers in satellite deals. "Today, satellite rights valuations have declined sharply, in the range of 80-90% in many cases," said producer Sunil Bohra, cofounder of Bohra Brothers. "Channels have become more selective in acquiring films. In this ecosystem, producers can no longer rely on satellite rights as a primary revenue stream. Therefore, producers are bundling satellite rights with digital rights and selling them to streamers."

Apart from the declining valuation of satellite rights, another factor behind pure streaming platforms buying satellite rights is their competition with linear television players. "For pure-play streaming platforms, acquiring linear rights is a defensive masterstroke," said Anushree Rauta, equity partner and head of media, entertainment and gaming practice at ANM Global. "By 'ring-fencing' content, these platforms can effectively limit competition with linear television to preserve digital exclusivity and drive subscriber growth."

In addition to reducing competition with television and enabling the migration of traditional TV audiences to streaming platforms, streamers may monetize these rights in the future, producers said.

"Streamers are building multi-language catalogues that can be monetized later through syndication, bundled licensing or strategic broadcasting deals," Wadhwa said.

O'ROMEO collected 1.75 crore nett on its second Friday which is around 15% down from the previous day. The buy one get one free offer still remains which will be adding to the business though maybe in the 10-20 lakh range. However, that still can be around 10% of the business for the film. The offer is there on Saturday also when the film can show growth even without it but obviously it wont be the same growth.

The film now stands at 41.75 crore nett and should get some good growth over the weekend but it will hardly matter as the first week is dull and actuals will be even less than 40 crore nett due to the film being helped along through the week.

The numbers for O'ROMEO till date are as follows.

Friday - 7,50,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 11,00,00,000 apprx

Sunday - 8,25,00,000 apprx

Monday - 4,25,00,000 apprx

Tuesday - 4,25,00,000 apprx

Wednesday - 2,75,00,000 apprx

Thursday - 2,00,00,000 apprx

Friday - 1,75,00,000 apprx

TU YAA MAIN has limited collections on the second Friday and is going nowhere.

The collections of TU YAA MAIN are as follows.

Friday - 50,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 1,35,00,000 apprx

Sunday - 75,00,000 apprx

Monday - 40,00,000 apprx

Tuesday - 45,00,000 apprx

Wednesday - 35,00,000 apprx

Thursday - 30,00,000 apprx

Friday - 25,00,000 apprx

There were two new releases this week with DO DEEWANE SEHER MEIN and ASSI with neither taking much of an initial which is expected as they have nothing much in them to get the audience to the theatres, be it star cast or music. Its just down to public reports but when a start is at these levels, then the reports have to be very good with the target audience which is limited to make a change to the scenario.

DO DEEWANE SEHER MEIN is a little better at 1.25 crore nett but it had some tie up with the PVR app and its mainly the PVR total that has come out better than ASSI with the rest being in a similar range. The film is a romantic drama but like last week's TU YAA MAIN, these sort of male leads in commercial genres will not be able to bring and audience. These genres need some sort of start as reports cant be strong as concept films.

ASSI collected close to 1 crore nett on its first day and its a female social drama and probably has chances to get more growth than DO DEEWANE SEHER MEIN. But it has to be more than double just to stay in the race. The film looks like one of those pre-pandemic female content type of films but today they need to be updated in some way due to this content being hugely prevalent on television.

Its another dull Friday and its all about Eid now with the second part of historic blockbuster DURANDHAR and TOXIC (dubbed) unless THE KERALA STORY 2: GOES BEYOND can spring a surprise next week.

Director Ahmed Khan has brought Welcome To The Jungle to the finish line. Well, almost. All that’s left is the shoot of an elaborate song featuring the ensemble cast, including Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Raveena Tandon, Disha Patani, Jackie Shroff, and Arshad Warsi. We’ve heard that Khan called action on the song earlier this week, and intends to conclude the shoot in 10 days.

Sources close to the unit describe it as a high-energy celebratory number. An expansive set depicting a jungle has been built at Bahubali Studios in Borivali for the track, choreographed by Adil Shaikh.

“Shooting a song with so many stars isn’t easy. Every actor has their moment in the song. Before beginning filming on February 17, extensive rehearsals were conducted so that principal actors and background dancers move seamlessly through the frame without disrupting camera continuity. It will be used as a post-credit track,” revealed a source.

After this leg, Welcome To The Jungle will move to post-production.

At a time when actors such as Kajol, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Salman Khan, among others, are increasingly moving court to safeguard their personality rights, Sunil Grover has a clear take. The actor-comedian, who is known for mimicking several celebrities, believes mimicry, when done right, is a celebration, not a violation.

The 48-year-old shares, “When I impersonate them, it’s a tribute and is not meant to make fun in any way. I understand the problem when someone misuses it to endorse a brand or a thought which the artiste doesn’t want. But these personalities have become so big ke ab wo public ke bhi ho gaye hain and we celebrate them.”

The comedian reveals that his latest act, a mimicry of Aamir Khan on The Great Indian Kapil Show, had received praise from the actor himself, who called it “priceless” and “authentic.” Sunil recalls the experience fondly: “It felt good. People even referred to me as ‘Aamir sir.’ I am a big fan of Aamir and his work, and it’s his greatness that he also took it all in zest.”

While he advocates for such acts to continue as a form of celebration, Sunil draws a clear line at offensive humour. He says, “I don’t support below-the-belt and offensive jokes. I don’t like to talk about their personal lives too. Jo garima mein hai, wo theek hai; hum koshish karte hain ki uske paar na jaye.”

On a lighter note, he shares, “One of my friends told me that I should get an order for my personality rights and I told him, ‘Sharam nahin aati hai. Main duniya bhar ke logon ki nakal kar raha hun aur tu mujhe bol raha hai.’”