Aamir Khan's "Ghajini" set collection records unheard of until then and started the ₹100 crore club in 2008.
With several movies entering this club in the last six years, the league of ₹200 crore films seems to be the latest fashion in B-Town. The latest expected entrant in the this club is none other than Shah Rukh Khan's latest outing "Happy New Year" (HNY).
Although Aamir Khan's "3 Idiots" had collected ₹202 crore at the domestic box office back in 2009, it was Shahrukh Khan's "Chennai Express" which revived the club of ₹200 crore movies in 2013.
Today, the Bollywood boasts of five movies in the club - "3 Idiots", "Chennai Express", "Krrish 3", "Dhoom 3" and "Kick".
Except "3 Idiots", all these Bollywood movies were released in about 4,500 cinema halls in the domestic market and they crossed ₹200 crore mark within 15 days. "Dhoom 3", "Krrish 3", "Kick" and "Chennai Express" took nine days, 10 days, 11 days and 15 days respectively to achieve this magical number at the Indian box office.
Shah Rukh Khan's "Happy New Year" was released in around 5,000 screens in the domestic market. Trade experts predicted that it would cross ₹200 crore mark at the Indian box office in its opening week. Their belief was strengthened after the film collected ₹44+ crore net on the first day and became the all-time biggest opener Bollywood movie in the domestic market.
But "Happy New Year" failed to maintain the momentum on the very next day with its business falling 25% on the second day. Its collection went on collapsing on the following days and the film ended up raking in ₹157+ crore net at the domestic box office in its opening week. It fell short of ₹42+ crore and failed to live up to the calculations of the trade analysts.
Later, trade analysts predicted that "Happy New Year" would collect the much need ₹42+ crore to join the club of ₹200 crore films at the domestic box office in the second weekend. However, the movie gave away a large number of screens to the new Bollywood and Hollywood releases, which resulted in further dip in its collection. Having collected ₹22.23 crore in the second weekend, the film once again failed to cross the mark.
"Happy New Year" still needed ₹20+ crore and on its second Monday, its business witnessed drop of another 40%, compared to its second Friday collection. Although the film did good business on Tuesday, due to Muharram holiday, the entry of ₹200 crore club still seems to be a distant dream. As per the latest trends, the film is likely to collect ₹15 crore to ₹18 crore on the weekdays, taking its 14-day domestic total to ₹195 crore to ₹198 crore.
However, two upcoming movies, "The Shaukeens" and "Rang Rasiya", are scheduled to be released this Friday. They are sure to snatch a huge chunk of the screen count from "Happy New Year" and take a toll on its business. Will the Shah Rukh Khan starrer cross ₹200 crore mark in its third weekend? Only time will answer this question. Stay locked to this space to read latest box office reports on "Happy New Year".
