Performance in India

The entire film industry is in a state of shock. Believe me, I was inundated with calls from reputed film-makers and distributors, all wanting to know one thing: Why didn't ‘Kurbaan’ fetch an initial?

‘Kurbaan’ had everything going in its favour...

Karan Johar has an impeccable track record as a film-maker. Every film produced by Karan has had a potent start at the ticket window.

Saif Ali Khan's status, after ‘Love Aaj Kal’, has been at an all-time high.

The Saif - Kareena combo had hit headlines since the time they made their relationship public. The combo looked great.

UTV, the global distributors of ‘Kurbaan’, had promoted the film extensively.

Solo release status. ‘Kurbaan’ had no major opposition to contend with. Naturally, everyone expected ‘Kurbaan’ to start with a bang for the above-mentioned five reasons.

But the opening weekend numbers were shockingly low. Despite glowing reviews from critics who matter, ‘Kurbaan’ showed no signs of pick up after a weak Friday. So what went wrong?

A section of the industry feels that moviegoers aren't interested in watching serious/intense stories. Another viewpoint is that a big chunk of movie-going audience stayed away from the film. Yet another opinion is that the common man had already exhausted his budget after watching ‘Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani’ and ‘2012’.

A section of the industry also feels that UTV shouldn't have released ‘Kurbaan’ extensively [approx. 1700 screens globally]. ‘Kurbaan’ is not a mass appealing film like ‘Ghajini’ or ‘Wanted’, so why such a wide release?

... contd.