Abid, Bollywood Trade News Network

The coming Friday will see an interesting clash between the 'actor perfectionist', Aamir Khan and the 'box-office star' Akshay Kumar. It is obvious that we are referring to the two new releases, Aamir Khan's TAARE ZAMEEN PAR and the Feroze, Anil, Nana, Akshay, Katrina and Mallika (guest appearance) starrer WELCOME. While WELCOME is going ahead with a huge release, both in India and Overseas, TAARE ZAMEEN PAR has chosen to go in with a limited number of prints (around 300), predominantly in the multiplexes/cineplexes. As far as the opening predictions go, it is clear that WELCOME is all set for a bumper opening , while TAARE ZAMEEN PAR will take slow start. However, the well made TAARE ZAMEEN PAR will definitely pick up as the week progresses.

The only release of last Friday, Jimmy, Kay Kay, Nandana and Sonali starrer, STRANGERS was off to a poor to weak start across India. The collections became worse as the week progressed. STRANGERS will follow the outcome of KHOYA KHOYA CHAND that is a trade disaster.

Coming to Sanjay Gupta's DUS KAHANIYAAN, the movie could not generate interest anywhere. Looking at the numbers, DUS KAHANIYAAN collected 1.61 crores from Bombay, 29 lakhs from Ahmedabad, 1 lakh from Himmatnagar, 4 lakhs from Rajkot, 2.50 lakhs (gross) from Bhavnagar, 3 lakhs from Nasik, 61 lakhs from Delhi city, 6.70 lakhs from Noida, 12.50 lakhs from Ghaziabad, 7.70 lakhs from Lucknow, 1 lakh from Agra, 1.10 lakhs from Meerut, 11.50 lakhs from Gurgaon, 4 lakhs from Faridabad, 7.20 lakhs from Nagpur, 1.30 lakhs from Raipur, 6.30 lakhs from Indore, 14.50 lakhs from Jaipur, 21.50 lakhs from Calcutta and 28.30 lakhs from Hyderabad. In its first week, DUS KAHANIYAAN managed to net around 8 crores from India, and there is little or no hope for the movie. In the Overseas too, DUS KAHANIYAAN has failed with $148,640 from UK and $219,071 from the US.

Sudhir Mishra's Shiney Ahuja-Soha starrer KHOYA KHOYA CHAND is a supreme disaster, as was obvious from the first show. Looking at the collections, KHOYA KHOYA CHAND collected 34 lakhs from Bombay, 7.25 lakhs from Ahmedabad, 28 lakhs from Delhi city, 3.50 lakhs from Noida, 5.20 lakhs Ghaziabad, 3.10 lakhs from Lucknow, 5.80 lakhs from Gurgaon, 1.75 lakhs from Faridabad, 1.80 lakhs from Indore. In its first week, KHOYA KHOYA CHAND has netted around 1.75 crores from India and is a trade disaster. The movie is also a washout in the Overseas.

Meanwhile Yash Raj's AAJA NACHLE had a pronounced fall in its second week. The Anil Mehta directed, Madhuri Dixit starrer collected 62 lakhs from Bombay, 16 lakhs from Ahmedabad, 1.60 lakhs from Bhavnagar, 1.60 lakhs from Nasik,36.50 lakhs from Delhi city, 2.50 lakhs from Noida, 7.15 lakhs from Ghaziabad, 5.20 lakhs from Lucknow, 1.15 lakhs from Agra, 1.13 lakhs from Meerut, 1.75 lakhs from Aligarh, 5 lakhs from Gurgaon, 2.35 lakhs from Faridabad, 4.75 lakhs from Nagpur, 5.30 lakhs from Indore, 8.20 lakhs from Jaipur, 19.70 lakhs from Calcutta and 7.50 lakhs from Hyderabad. With another 4 crores, AAJA NACHLE has netted around 15 crores in two weeks from India. Given its budget and the worldwide earnings, and also the fact that Yash Raj have released it globally, AAJA NACHLE will not be a loss making venture for the makers. In the Overseas, AAJA NACHLE hangs on in the US with lower side collections of $473,806, but is much better in the UK with $788,570.

UTV's John, Arshad, Boman and Bipasha starrer, DHAN DHANA DHAN GOAL, is now ending its run in India. The movie collected 18.30 lakhs from Bombay, 1.70 lakhs from Rajkot, 1 lakh each from Nasik and Belgaum, 11.70 lakhs from Delhi city, 1.65 lakhs from Noida, 3.10 lakhs from Ghaziabad, 1.60 lakhs from Lucknow, 3.40 lakhs from Gurgaon, 1.10 lakhs from Nagpur and 5.85 lakhs from Hyderabad. During the week GOAL mopped up another 1.20 crores for a total of around 15.25 crores in three weeks from India. The Vivek Agnihotri directed venture is now an average in India. DHAN DHANA DHAN GOAL has however failed in the Overseas with $219,338 from the UK and just $125,547 from the US.

While the collections of Farah Khan's OM SHANTI OM dropped a lot (compared to the initial blitzkrieg), in effect it was just a fall of 50 percent from the fourth to the fifth week. Checking out the numbers, OM SHANTI OM collected 32.20 lakhs from Bombay, 5.50 lakhs from Ahmedabad, 1 lakh from Rajkot, 1.30 lakhs from Jamnagar, 21.70 lakhs from Delhi city, 2 lakhs from Noida, 4.50 lakhs from Ghaziabad, 5 lakhs from Lucknow, 1.20 lakhs from Agra, 1.40 lakhs from Meerut, 4.25 lakhs from Gurgaon, 1.80 lakhs from Faridabad, 2.50 lakhs from Nagpur, 1.15 lakhs from Jabalpur, 4.65 lakhs from Jaipur, 10.70 lakhs from Calcutta, 1.30 lakhs from Vijaywada and 17.20 lakhs from Hyderabad. In its latest outing, OM SHANTI OM mopped up another 2.50 crores, netting a five week all-India total of 83.50 crores. The Shah Rukh, Arjun, Shreyas and Deepika starrer is an ATBB (All Time Blockbuster). In the Overseas, OM SHANTI OM, already a blockbuster, continues its record breaking run. The film has so far grossed $2,622,627 from UK and a new record gross of $3,597,372 from the US.

In the end let us checkout the Shahid-Kareena starrer, JAB WE MET, which continues its rock-steady run, collecting 18.40 lakhs from Bombay, 2.85 lakhs from Ahmedabad, 10.80 lakhs from Delhi city, 1 lakh from Noida, 2.45 lakhs from Ghaziabad, 1.85 lakhs from Lucknow, 3.50 lakhs from Gurgaon, 1.10 lakhs from Faridabad and 5.80 lakhs from Hyderabad. With another 75 lakhs, JAB WE MET has so far netted 30.25 crores from India and becomes the second superhit of Shahid Kapoor's career, the first being last year's, VIVAH. The movie is also a big success in the UK grossing $867,194, especially in view of the costs involved.