After a great end to the year 2008 with blockbusters like Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Ghajini, all eyes were on the first big release of 2009. Chandni Chowk To China starring Akshay Kumar was expected to do the following
1) Open big all over India and overseas.
2) Match the opening weekend collections of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Singh Is King and Golmaal Returns.
3) Further consolidate Akshay Kumar’s position as one of the biggest stars in Bollywood, one who can guarantee a historic initial.
The other debate on discussion boards and blogs was; Can Chandni Chowk to China match or even beat the opening of Aamir Khan’s historic Ghajini?
Unfortunately, Chandni Chowk To China (CC2C) has shocked the trade! The film opened to a worst possible start with most critics, International and Indian, slamming the film. Then came the next shocker, the occupancy at the paid preview shows was somewhere between 65 – 75%, which is not bad but well below what was expected from a Akshay Kumar film.
On Friday with a much wider release, CC2C managed about 65 – 70% collections all over India, again not bad for a film that has released on such huge number of prints, but nothing great either.
On Saturday, the film was expected to further pick up momentum which again didnt happen. Which probably was due to the bad word of mouth surrounding the film. At some places the collections were less than half of Ghajini and Singh Is King!
Sunday the collections have improved slightly, but much lower than expected. Can it sustain on Monday or will the film directed by Nikhil Advani witness a heavy fall? We feel due to the negative reviews, word of mouth and the fact that many viewers have rejected the film outright, CC2C should fall heavily on Monday.
Now what about the overseas collections? The initial reports have a similar story to tell. Here are the estimate figures from a reputed Box office site, Boxofficemojo.com
Lets compare it to the other releases in recent times.
Chandni Chowk To China – $651,000 on 130 screens (Rs 3.18 crores) Estimate
Singh Is King – $1,154,528 on 112 screens (Rs 5.63 crores)
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi – $920,995 on 83 screens (Rs 4.49 crores)
Ghajini – $766,859 on 83 screens (Rs 3.74 crores)
Jodha Akbar – $1,300,000 on 100 screens (Rs 6.34 crores)
So even with the most number of screens amongst all the other big films of 2008, CC2C could possibly (going by estimate) be the least grossing film overseas.
The failure of CC2C should affect Nikhil Advani the most, as after a highly successful debut with Kal Ho Na Ho, he followed it up with the box office disaster Salaam-e-Ishq and now CC2C. Next comes Akshay Kumar and like last year with Tashan, he has failed with this year’s first release. Deepika Padukone should experience her first career failure.
CC2C has a tough ride ahead and to cover its huge costs, the film should sustain on Monday and do well the next weekend. Highly unlikely, but still quite possible. Lets wait and watch. More Soon.
thanks raj.we wish that all the Indians think similar to you.otherwise movie industry in India will sink deep down to history.when lot of money is been spent to make movies in India it should go to international stars like Akshay kumar. people like stupid karan johar,aditya chopra,ashutosh gowariker are only making crap movies we audience have to suffer inside theatres for3 or 4 hours. along with srk,they are playing politics to push out akshay.everybody knows that.indian audience has to change,think and select like western audiences. cc2c will be ahit and it has started improving its box office collections and have crossed 45 crores.we will wait for 2 more weeks before we say its a flop. i strongly recommend to all people visiting indicine site to go and watch this movie.
it’s better than Rab ne Bana di JOdii and lesser than Ghajaniiiii……….N who says it’s not better than Rab ne Bana…… ya they are just tryin to dominate Akshay but buddha was bourned in Nepal not in India…… n it can be said that script writer is……… so first read Buddha’s history and tell me where is “Lumbini, kapilbastu”…………..
i m da big fan of akshay but dis film dissapointed me very much. it is as well sad part to bring misconceptions about the buddha’s birth place. this is not only the indian movie but international one. we should care about the sentiments of others and specially of country like nepal which is da closest neighbour of ours. they respect our culture, traditions, religions and of course movies so it is not a good idea to repay them in such a crap manner!
the thing is CC2C is a crap movie… but I will not blame akshay in any way…. i think he is a v versetile actor and a natural comedian…. 1000 better than SRK … so there is no comparision…
SRK only choses big banners like yash and Aditya chopra, karan johar… n akshay however is on a diff. pace…
he only needs to make sum right choices.. thts all.. and an actor who has given so many hits to India should not be let down by public just coz of one flop…. hits n flops r the part of journey.. but i hope he has learnt the lesson now…
n plz there is no comparision b/w hollywood movie n CC2C.. the action was childish and the jokes were literally vulgar.. c the movie if u dunno wht i m talking abt….
actually, bushra, you are wrong in many respects. the film is on par with hollywood movies.
you cannot say the action was childish,. i think this is the first bollywood film to showcase such advanced action sequences with top special effects. name me one bollywood movies that has done this type of action sequences in the past ? none.
remember, the action sequences were directed by one of the top hollywood stunt directors who worked on the action sequences and special effects of great hollywood blockbusters like ‘crouching toger hidden dragon,’ etc.
btw, i think shekhar suman is jealous of akshay, and is only trying to seek publicity for himself by saying such nasty things about CCTC. he knows he can promote himself this way.
shekhar suman is the bollywood tv actor and tv show host.
shekar suman is a rat who competes with a polar bear.thats the difference between him and akshay kumar.no doubt.its just for seeking publicity.no need to talk about such crap people who finds tv shows as their 7th heaven .you shekar ,better take care of yourself,and seek your own future.
i think akshay is a 1 man army cc2c has real good n super cool action ,i hate people with diffrent point of views . people who r calling the stunts childish r the same people who would appriciate the stunts in matrix.but when india is trying to excel they will not appriciate it. ghar ki murgi daal barabar thing.i think that humor in the film is amazing though the movie gets a little dull after interval but in no way it is abad movie n to all srk fans i have only one thing to say srk is not in race with akshay its only aamir khan. i have allready seen the movie cc2c 3 times n ill watch it 7 more times .i request all akki fans to go n watch it again n again n make it a hit .otherwise our phattu producers will not make movies like this again. akshay u r a rockstaaaaar
its a really waste movie , dont ever watch it and akshay pls learn few tips from amir khan all the best
mr.kamlesh,dont compare aamir khan with akshay.aamir is in this business for last 21 years and akshay for 19 years.butaamir has never got the tag of a superstar yet ,because he is not around everytime,just doing one movie in 1 or 2 years is more easy than doing 4 or 5 years a year and making most of it a superhit.thats akshaykumar!!! okay?aamir has to take another 7 lives to be like akshay.doing all roles possibletill date,comedy,action,romance,serious,breathtaking stunts,dance,and overall the looks of tom cruise.tell aamir to do one film without a.r.rahman,s music and produce a hit then we willappreciate him.people are still aware of the fact that he stole the script of taare zameen par from amole gupte and took his seat of direction ,better not to be a cheat!!! akshaykumar is uncomparable in whole india and he will be there for another 25 yearsin the samesuperstardom.
I like akshay and I respect his body of work… but plz Aamir is such a versetile actor.. he is 100% in comedy n 100% when he does romantic movies// not sure abt action as he hasnt dun much… but what ever he does he does to a perfection….which an actor should do..
its upto us who we think our supertstar is.. but sumtimes its a shame to see ppl who dunt deserve this title gets it… but a true and deserving artist doesnt/…… n i m not only taking abt akshay there are other so called superstars.. who just charge millions n millions from our money for which we do hardwork….. n show us the crap.. n there are still sum idiots in this world who are happy to waste there money on those ppl . n call them their god……
these ppl are just humans like us….. we dun respect n luv other profession as much as we do them…… plz bring them on ground n dun call them superstars…
a person’s money is used for spenting on what he likes .some actors are born to be icons,idols,role models,classic personalities,or even gods.it varies from people to people.and such actors give the people what they want with hardwork,passion,and with talents unlimited.they are called directors actor.akshay kumar is one among the few in india.,with such a trademark.he has comefrom nothing and today he is on topof the world with billions of fans,international offers,awards and to add the greatest honour PADMASHREE AWARD.he dont have to prove young kids like BUSHRA or other stupid critics what he is.youwill change your attitude once you grow up.when people go for movies ,spenting money on an actor thats what you call a superstar.
people spent money on what he or she likes.some actors are born to be icons,idols.,role models ,classic personalities,or even gods.selection varies .there are only very few actors who are talented and being icons or gods due to their hardwork or passion for acting they are called director’s actor.akshay kumar comes on top of that list. its not the actor who produces the crap movies its the scriptwriters.kids and retards like BUSHRA simply drop a comment not understanding this.akshaykumar dont haveto prove anything anymore to people like you.after all the awards and international status today he is been awarded greatest honour PADMASHREE AWARD.when they create such movies we will have to spent money,its a reward for their hardwork.yes its time ,to bring srk,hrithik on ground,but identify the true entertainers,true superstars ,thats akshaykumar.he is here to stay for another 25 years and he will bring more international fame and glory than amitabh bachchan.its not only my word,but of the billion fans and sincere lovers of akki and indian cinema.
Xcuse me……
did i say anyhting wrong here …… i did not say anything abt akshay kumar…
n plz stop calling me a kid Dr. Hussain and Praveen ……
whtever i talked tht wasnt abt akshay read it properly.. i said that there are so many other professions in the world n so many other ppl in this world who work harder.. I am a fan of akshay too but now if u like 100000000 times harder than akshay n die unkown….. I know he is a true entertainers n tht is the reson in my previous email i said im not taking abt akshay ….. i didnt want to tak the name of those actors coz there are so many …… SRK is no.1 but I guess u have to be more grown up to understand what I meant there, no offense
sorry BUSHRA.i didn’t intend to make wrong statements.it was just on the fury that somebody criticizing akki for the mistake he had not done ,like many other billion fans i couldn’t bear it,its for the scriptwriters and director to be blamed.once again sorry.lets pray cc2c reach 80 crore mark in coming weeks.
Its OK….. i know what u mean…
welll there definetely wasnt wrong with akshay.. he acted the same way he did in his previous movies because of which he has become a supertsar……. the things about CC2C is that it was just a crap n senseless movie which I will not promote to do a good business.. because if it does .. we will c a list of more of those bakwaas movies.. i understand comedy n entertainment sumtimes be sensless….. but clearly not that much..
in this movie the screenplay…editing,,directing,and SCRIPTWRITING was soo poor….that acing cannot make any difference to it…..
A huge buzz had been created in the media and by the critics that C2C is a worthless movie. Because of this many people opted not to watch the movie on big screen and i was also among those people but i m telling u when i watched the movie at home , i found that the movie was ossom. It has some fresh scenes. Akshay really rocked in some scenes like dado hazo, chuchi etc. I really enjoyed the movie and i m sure movie will be a huge hit on television.
who cares if nepalese people are offended by the statement that buddha was born in india. whats the big deal ? its only a film, and its supposed to be a fantasy film meaning most of the stuff in the film is fictional, and not true. its not a real life documentary, is it ?
so why are you nepalese people taking the buddha statement literally ??? are you stupid or something ?? do you not have anything better to do ?? get a life for goodness sake !!! and get real.
why r u talking like this Raj? what happened 2 u? i am nepali n i am the greatest fan of Akshay kumar. Ya You r right. Now all nepalese peple say Tajmahal is ours! then who cares! ya then stupid u or us! Raaj it’s the matter of recognition. Tajmahal recognizes INdia N Buddha recognizes Nepal. Isn’t It?
Again u tell us we r stupid then you r great stupid. Am i right?
no, you are wrong. again you fail to see the point. the film is a fantasy film, it is fictional. this means that everything in the film is made up, and it is not true. its a made up story. anything can happen in the film and one should not take it seriously. its all made up.
so, if it is all made up, then why do you take the buddha statement in the film to be true ? and then get offended by it ??? its obviously not true. so, get real you people and use your brains. otherwise, who is stupid ?
if it was a real life documentary or a statement of fact boasting that buddha was born in india, then that would have been a different matter, and a cause for concern. but it isn’t.
so why are you people creating such a hoo haaa over nothing ? and something which is part of a fantasy film where everything is made up.
please get a life. there are a lot more important and serious things to worry about in life. surely you must have more important things to worry about ???
I saw this film it is very big flop movie. what is in thiss film people money waste movie RNBDJ is very nice movie ghajini also a nice movie but only amir’s acting not a story only promotion reoson to hit this movie
Shahrukh khan is the very good actor his film is very nice his acting is very good in rab ne bana di jodi
Shahrukh is only one king of Bollywood he is no. One superstar
shut up javed khan you are just another stupid shahrukh khan fan thats all! cc2c was a good movie, only the direction was bad thats why the movie didnt do so good! srk is not an good actor he is just overrated!!! Billu is a bigger flop than cc2c so just shut ur mouth and dont say anything about akshay and his movie you ass!!! akshay is the true king of bollywood!!!
I watched the movie, its great! It targetted NRI’s too much. Akshay forgot about the domestic audience. ANyways better luck next time!
I saw last night an interview on Dubai One channel with Akshay Kumar, talking about cc2c.. and what he said made me “laugh” I don’t know if this interview is old or new, if it was before the movie releases or after, but he said the following: “If you watched the movie and didn’t like it then you need to see a doctor”!!!!! he’s so confident about this low class movie of his!!!
Akshay Kumar is a good actor, but not great as Bigb, Shahrukh, Aamir or Hrithik, and 17 years of working as an actor didn’t teach him yet how to distinguish good from bad scripts?! we as audience, who only watch movies are able to judge any movie we watch, wheather it’s good or bad.. but how someone who’s working and dealing in this job could not?!! We don’t need any doctor to check on our brain! but he needs to learn how to select his movies, and here we’re.. the movie “flopped”!
I wish to see him in some good movies, that’s what I really wish.
i actually don’t think cc2c was a bad film it was ok so i’d say it was average those of u who think it is a flop n u shouldn’t watch it just go out there n watch it u might think it was a good film like me