Following up with the success of The Dirty Picture, Vidya Balan registered her presence at the box office yet again, with Kahaani. Although the film had a slow start, its pick-up on Saturday and consolidation on Sunday saw the trade pandits dub it a hit. However, they're not upbeat about the week's other release, Chaar Din Ki Chandni. The Vidya Balan thriller raked in about Rs 4.25 crore across India till Sunday, which tradesmiths consider an impressive number after opening with about Rs 80 lakh.

Veteran trade analyst Amod Mehra says, "Maybe people expected another The Dirty Picture, that's why the opening was slow. The collections would have been higher if it were not for the ongoing exams. Apart from making money over and above its investment of about Rs 18 crore, including prints and advertising, Kahaani has also established Vidya as one of the top actresses."

As for the Tusshar Kapoor-Kulraj Randhawa rom-com, Mehra concludes that after opening to about Rs 80 lakh, the numbers of Chaar Din Ki Chandni went down during the weekend. Delhi-based distributor Sanjay Ghai adds that Paan Singh Tomar continued to hold strong in the second weekend too.

"Had it been given a wider release, it would have fared better. Maybe the producers didn't expect this Irrfan Khan movie to do so well," he says, adding that while Kahaani was a plus film from the beginning, Chaar Din Ki Chandni didn't work for the audience. Girish Wankhede of Cinemax attributes the success of Kahaani to raving reviews and subsequent strong word of mouth on the social networking sites. "Just like Paan Singh Tomar, Kahaani too saw the collections double up on Saturday and more on Sunday.

The strong word of mouth has generated considerable curiosity of Paan Singh in the second weekend. And with no film coming up this Friday, Kahaani and Paan Singh will continue to draw in their audiences," he concludes. Among the Hollywood imports, John Carter registered average numbers over the weekend. As Prakhar Joshi of PVR Cinemas tells us, "Overall, it saw an occupancy of about 50 per cent during the weekend. But with no film this Friday, Kahaani and Paan Singh Tomar will continue to run well."