Delhi scores, Bbuddah bores?

Delhi Belly (DB) has beaten Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap (BHTB) to the boxoffice top spot in the opening weekend. With 40 to 70 per cent collections, the Aamir Khan production has sprinted ahead of the AB Corporation Limited (ABCL) and Viacom 18 co-production, that, in some pockets, has fared even lower than the Hollywood franchisee, Transformers 3, with 15 to 25 per cent collections. However, the coming weeks will indicate whether the A-rated crime caper, DB, will remain over the Amitabh Bachchan family entertainer.

“The youth is loving DB. The film is a first-of-its-kind, no one has seen such bold scenes and foul language on screen before,” says trade analyst, Komal Nahta. “BHTB unfortunately seems to have gotten sandwiched between DB and Transformers 3.”

Both the films had the backing of star power, good production budgets and were promoted aggressively in the lead-up to the July 1 release date, yet their performances at the boxoffice has reaffirmed the fact that just star presence can’t guarantee a film’s success. “People are judging the films solely on the basis of their stories,” says Bharathi Pradhan of Film Street Journal. “Both used the promotional item song route, but can hardly be considered conventional. Though DB got off to a flying start, its run may be limited due to its ‘adult’ content, whereas BHTB will appeal to a wider audience in B sectors.”

The Hindi dubbed version of DB apparently isn’t faring well in single screens, and the film made on a budget of Rs 30 crore, has a lot of money to generate in comparison to the more modest Rs 17 crore BHTB. “There have been complaints about the sound and the dubbing in the first half. Single screen collections are not encouraging,” reiterates trade analyst Vinod Mirani. “The film may not be able to sustain its flying start. The vacations are coming to an end, and not all sections of the audience will be comfortable with the cuss words.”

Some multiplexes like Cinemax, have decided not to comment on the collections of these talked-about Bollywood movies in the the first week of their release. But a source, on the condition of anonymity, revealed that the afternoon and morning shows for Delhi Belly have attracted a lot of college crowd, and Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap has been just the opposite.”

Holding the chart-busting track, ‘Bhaag DK Bose…’, also responsible for DB’s opening collections, trade analyst Taran Adarsh goes to say that DB may have one of Bollywood’s biggest openings ever: “It looks like Brand Aamir Khan is too big an opposition for Bbuddha Hoga Terra Baap.”