It’s final: OSO wins Saawariya loses
The SRK-Farah Khan combo is setting new box office records
Johnny Vaz | Buzz18
Last updated : Nov 12, 2007
After the lavish publicity and hype created around the two biggest releases of the year, the box office verdict is out. Farha Khan’s Om Shanti Om has won the box office battle against Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya hands down. OSO has managed to collect more business than Saawariya. Even the critical and audience response has been favourable towards the SRK starrer. OSO has taken the year’s biggest opening surpassing that of Sohail Khan’s Partner. The film opened to a record shatterin 95-100% response all over with 2000 prints (including digital prints) released.
According to reports in the trade circle, the reports of OSO are in fact very positive from all parts of the country and is poised to be an all-India hit. Saawariya may not have opened as well as Om Shanti Om but the opening is still amongst the best of 2007. The film had collections of 95-100% at multiplexes while single screens were around 80-85%.
Trade pundit, J Popat says, “OSO is the winner all over the world. Be it India or overseas. It will collect 100 % collections in the first week. I can’t predict the business of OSO, but can cross the 200-crore figure. Industry insiders were scoffing at Eros International when they acquired a 45 crore movie for 75 crore. Now I think the 75 crore will be recovered in the first week itself. Regarding Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya, it is a disaster. It has opened well but will collect 70 per cent in the first week.”.
Another trade pundit Amod Mehra predicts, “OSO will collect around 95 % and Saawariya will be around 75 % in the first week. In my opinion the collection of Jab We Met will increase from this weekend because of the Saawariya disaster. OSO will be strong in the 2nd week also because of Saawariya and no releases. I think OSO will crosss 70 plus figure in the first week itself. The collections of OSO in UK has crossed 1 million and 1.25 million in the US. For Saawariya the collections in UK and US is only 40 per cent. It looks like SRK’s fourth best hit of the decade after Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kabhi Kushi Kabhie Gham. The reason Saawariya was not accepted by the audience is that the movie is not a love story but a one-sided love story.”
However, Manoj Desai of G 7 theatre, Mumbai, says, “Apart from Saawariya, my audience in G 7 also not liking OSO as well. Collection-wise, OSO has beaten Saawariya. We were selling tickets of the 12.00pm Saawariya show well after 12.30pm. On Friday itself, during the interval some people who cam to watch the movie were asking the address of the producers, directors and actors of both the movies so that they can give them some advice”.
Abhijit Mhamunkar, journalist and film critic says, “Both OSO and Saawariya had been very high on hype with record-breaking amount spent on their promotions. With 24/7 hammering of both these films on all available media, the curiosity had reached its peak amongst the audience by the time these both films were about to release. That, coupled with the individual fan following for those associated with these films, OSO and Saawariya had almost all the shows for the first three days, especially in the multiplexes, booked full in advance.
On the opening day itself the verdict was clear and loud. OSO had emerged as the audience favourite as compared to Saawariya. OSO being a thorough entertainer as compared to the artistically made Saawariya made the difference as during Diwali period the audience expects to have fun at the cinemas and not go through a slow-paced film with an unexpected ending. With a weak word of mouth the Sanjay Leela Bhansali films stands to lose its ground in the following days ahead by the time the week ends. Next week this will benefit OSO immensely as it has no competition. OSO distributors had paid the heaviest price for any Bollywood film - Rs 75 crore. They stand to recover their investment plus profits in a matter of 4-5 weeks if the OSO euphoria continues.
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well that was gona happen….who told SLB 2 release his movie against SRK movie??? eventhough the reviews r bad 4 sawariya but having a compititor like SRK is causing more negativity n loss in profit…
theres nthing in oso except srk……….n theres nthing in saawariya except ranbir(sonam stinks)…i didnt find anything frm both the 2 movies as for oso…….sab kuch bhar diya……..this n that.it was goin to a bit pakauuuuuuuuuuu
Princess2aditi…….. What..? Sonam Stinks…!!! by the way.. HOW DO YOU KNOW… Change your taste.. There are so many prince.