Mumbai: Don, who brags that police in 11 countries are chasing him, may have fallen short of Bodyguard in his first-day box office dash. The numbers are not officially out yet but trade experts put the opening-day collections of Shah Rukh Khan’s Don 2 between Rs 15 crore and Rs 17 crore. Salman Khan’s Bodyguard had grossed Rs 21.5 crore on its first day.
Bollywood trade analyst Komal Nahta said the first show of Don 2 registered 40 to 50 per cent collections in Mumbai and Nagpur. “The territories that reported the best start are Delhi, UP and Rajasthan. They recorded 70 to 80 per cent bookings. Most of the multiplexes in Ghaziabad and Noida in the north reported full houses in the morning show,” Nahta said.
The low collection in Mumbai is not good news, though. Success in the Mumbai circle is mandatory for a film to do good business, trade watchers said. In Calcutta, Don 2 got off to a good, not super, start. “The footfall for Don 2 has been in the range of 60 to 70 per cent which should touch 95 per cent on Saturday and Sunday,” said a Fame Cinemas official. Bulk bookings from corporate houses through the Christmas weekend should boost collections. At Inox in Calcutta, there were more than a few full shows during Friday.
“We have been getting very good reports about the film and audience curiosity is at an all-time high. The first weekend should be huge,” said Subhasis Ganguli, the regional director of Inox. Nahta said: “In terms of trade, I expect Don 2 to make about Rs 15 crore on the first day. That is a fair-to-good report card,” but certainly not in the league of a Bodyguard, or even Shah Rukh’s last release Ra.One.
“Don 2’s first-day box office collections will be around Rs 16-17 crore,” said Manoj Desai, who owns at least seven single-screen theatres in Mumbai. Don 2 disappointed fans in the second half, he said. “Audiences these days… want pace. Don 2 loses traction after the interval. It drags at times and the plot wavers,” Desai said, pointing out how “Shah Rukh and only Shah Rukh has the swagger to pull off the role of a new- age Don he portrays in the film”.
The earlier Don film by Farhan Akhtar — Don: The Chase Begins — was a remake of the 1978 classic starring Amitabh Bachchan. It rebooted the original script, written by Farhan’s father Javed Akhtar and his then professional partner Salim Khan.
To the uninitiated, Salim Khan is Salman Khan’s father. Salim and Javed are not the thickest of friends now. Nor are Shah Rukh and Salman, although their families remain friendly. Salman’s brother Arbaaz attended the Don 2 premiere. Farhan and Shah Rukh have co-produced the Rs 75-crore Don 2 and Bollywood insiders said a lot more than money was riding on the film.
“Farhan and Shah Rukh both have points to prove with Don 2 — remake, sequel or whatever it may be,” Desai said. Don: The Chase Begins was released in 2006 and was the fifth biggest grosser of the year with revenues of Rs 51 crore from the domestic market.
