Bachna Ae Haseeno breaks Yash Raj`s box office jinx

Yash Raj Films has finally broken the one-year jinx at the box office. After a string of flops following the success of the Shahrukh Khan-starrer Chak De India! in August 2007, India’s leading film production house has finally hit the jackpot with Bachna Ae Haseeno.

The film, which hit the screens on Friday with around 700 prints, is expected to fetch Rs 35-40 crore in the first week alone. Leading cinema chains such as PVR Cinemas, Adlabs Cinemas, Inox Leisure, Shringar Cinemas, Cinemax India confirmed that the occupancy of Bachna... has been over 95 per cent during the long weekend.

While some said that the long weekend helped, others compared Bachna’s performance with the other big release on Friday — God Tussi Great Ho. The film, which has big stars like Amitabh Bachhan, Salman Khan and Priyanka Chopra, has managed a mere 40-45 per cent occupancy during the weekend.

“Bachna... has opened extremely well and is proving to be very popular amongst youngsters, whereas God Tussi Great Ho has not performed as per expectations,” Utpal Acharya, vice president (programming & distribution), Inox Leisure, said. That’s excellent news for Yash Chopra whose Yash Raj Films churned out four box office duds last year — Ta Ra Rum Pum, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Laga Chunari Mein Daag and Aaja Nachle. It was only Chak De India! that earned around Rs 36 crore.

The same pattern is being witnessed this year, too. Its first release in 2008, Tashan, was a disaster from the word go. Apart from the film content, what went against the film was the production house’s’ inability to reach a consensus with the multiplexes on revenue sharing. Chopra finally had to back down from his earlier demand of a revenue share of 50 per cent and 45 per cent in the first and second week, respectively. Tashan was released in the multiplexes after Chopra agreed to a revenue share of 48 per cent and 38 per cent in Mumbai and 50 per cent and 40 per cent in other territories.

Chopra’s second release this year, Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic, also did not draw the audience.

But market players said the success of Bachna... shows India’s leading “film factory” hasn’t lost its magic touch yet. Devang Sampat, vice president (marketing & programming), Cinemax India, said “with the top-notch performance of Bachna..., we are hoping that Yash Raj Films’ forthcoming films will continue to set the cash registers ringing.”

The forthcoming releases of Yash Raj Films this year are Roadside Romeo, an animation flick, and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, starring Shah Rukh Khan.