Sridevi’s English Vinglish earns `27 cr in first 3 days
The occupancies strengthened over the weekend because of good reviews and word of mouth, says an expert
Mumbai: Sridevi’s comeback film English Vinglish had a strong opening weekend, proving wrong those who were sceptical about a film with a 49-year-old woman actor in the lead role. Bollywood hits are typically male-dominated, formulaic fare.
In its first three days, the movie grossed around ₹ 27 crore from box-office collections in India and overseas from its Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions, according to multiplex executives and trade analysts.
The film, with a budget of around ₹ 35 crore (including promotional and marketing spends), released across 900 screens in India and around 250 overseas.
“The movie has received phenomenal response worldwide," said a spokesperson of Eros International Media Ltd, which co-produced the film that’s directed by Gauri Shinde.
“If the story line is strong, audiences are not concerned if the heroine is from a different generation," said an executive from a leading production house, who did not want to be identified as he works for a rival. “Sridevi has played a role as per her age, which has worked in favour of the film."
The film picked up after a dull first day.
It opened with around 30% occupancy on day one, rising to 60% on Saturday and nearly 85% on Sunday.
“The occupancies strengthened over the weekend because of good reviews and word of mouth. We expect the film to hold up through this week," said Thomas D’ Souza, programming head at Cinemax India Ltd, which runs multiplexes.
Gautam Dutta, chief operating officer, PVR Cinemas, which also runs multiplexes, said the film had been much awaited and marked Sridevi’s comeback to the industry after 15 years. The movie has performed well at the box office, he said.
The last Bollywood movie Sridevi acted in was Judaai alongside Anil Kapoor and Urmila Matondkar in 1997.
Other female actors who’ve attempted similar comebacks haven’t done too well. Karishma Kapoor’s Dangerous Ishq was a flop this year. Madhuri Dixit’s Aaja Nachle in 2007 also didn’t meet with too much commercial success.
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