Aamir Khan sets cash-registers ringing with Ghajini

After Shah Rukh Khan’s successful run with Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, it’s Aamir Khan who is bringing in all the earnings for Bollywood this year with Ghajini raking in Rs 40 crore in the first four days of its inauguration.

This means, Rab Ne… and Ghajini together are likely to contribute over 20 per cent to the overall box office collections of top 50 Hindi films released in calendar 2008. Trade pundits estimate that 2008 will now generate Rs 900 crore to Rs 1,000 crore, or about 15 per cent more than last year’s collections.

Before the release of both Rab Ne… and Ghajini, box-office collections of top 50 Bollywood films was estimated at Rs 700 crore, about Rs 150 crore short of the collections of 2007 films, say trade experts.

Now the Aamir-starrer remake of Tamil film by the same name, Ghajini, is pegged to generate about Rs 100 crore within three weeks of its release on December 25, while Shah Rukh’s Rab Ne… has already crossed collections of Rs 100 crore, including those from the overseas market.

“I do not expect any significant dip in the weekday’s collections of Ghajini. The box office report is overwhelming…,” Aamir Khan said on a television channel on Sunday.

According to a Mumbai-based trade analyst, Rab Ne… has already generated profits of Rs 35 crore for Yash Raj Films, while Ghajini will do the same for its producers Geetha Arts and its Indian distributors.

Earlier this month, leading box-office analysts, including Komal Nahata and Taran Adarsh, had told Business Standard how these two films were most likely to bring back audiences to the theatres after the Mumbai terror attacks at the end of November.

“The weekend shows were mostly booked well in advance in our Mumbai and Delhi-NCR multiplexes. We expect a similar response the second weekend,” a senior marketing executive of a leading multiplex chain said.

In January, the focus will shift from Aamir and Shah Rukh to Akshay Kumar, who will be starring in Chandni Chowk to China another awaited film for which the expectations are high.