Good weekend for 'Delhi-6'

New Delhi, Feb 24 (IANS) Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's highly promoted film "Delhi-6" failed to meet the pre-release hype, but it has managed to have more than 70 percent collections at the weekend.

"The weekend collections for the film have been very good. The film has done a business of around 75 percent and raked in Rs.38.3 million in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh itself over the first three days," Joginder Mahajan, a Delhi-based distributor told IANS.

"Delhi-6" hit the screens Feb 20 after a disappointing week that saw the release of duds like "Billu", "Jugaad" and "The Stoneman Murders". Made on a budget of approximately Rs.470 million, the film was released with close to 1,200 prints worldwide.

The Abhishek Bachchan - Sonam Kapoor starrer was anticipated to be a saviour for Bollywood especially after "Chandni Chowk To China" fell flat on its face at the box office.

Considering its big budget and the big names associated with it, "Delhi-6" though has not been an instant favourite in terms of content, but it did manage an impressive initial, say experts.

"The film received a mixed response from the audiences. Those who really understand cinema with such deep themes have really appreciated the film vis-୶is others who didn't like it at all," he added.

Girish Johar, associate vice-president of UTV Motion Pictures that distributed the film, said: "We've had a great weekend considering the three-day off and multiplexes' offering around 25 shows for the 'Delhi-6'. We have done a business of around Rs.180 million across India so far.

"Though there is a slight fall in the collections Tuesday, we are still hoping to stretch for at least two more weekends as the cinegoers have no other options at the theatres," he added.

Produced by UTVs Ronnie Screwvala, "Delhi-6" also stars Amitabh Bachchan and veteran actress Waheeda Rehman.

Trade analysts are, however, speculating the future revenue of the movie, terming it to be a "monkey business".

"There isn't any major release for the entire month of March, but it would still need a miracle for 'Delhi-6' to survive all the backlash coming its way," said a source from Mumbai.

Meanwhile Danny Boyle's Mumbai-based rags-to-rajah story "Slumdog Millionaire" has climbed back up the collections ladder with the brouhaha it gained courtesy eight Oscar awards Feb 22.

"Slumdog?" has been made tax-free in North India and Maharashtra offering another option for cinegoers as the coming week is lean in terms of any Bollywood release.

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