October 2014 Box Office Report: Super month for Bollywood

October was a great month for the industry, with two highly anticipated films featuring two of the biggest superstars, releasing in theatres – Bang Bang and Happy New Year. As far as the domestic collections are concerned, both films weren’t upto trade expectations, but did blockbuster business in the overseas markets.

Bang Bang: The month began with Hrithik Roshan’s Bang Bang, his first film after the super-success of Krrish 3 and his leading-lady Katrina Kaif’s first film after Dhoom 3. The film opened very well at the box office, but failed to sustain well enough to be a mega-grosser. Bang Bang is still running at select few screens, and even though the pre-release expectations were much-higher the film finishes with lifetime business of Rs 182 crore in India (gross of Rs 240.8 cr – including entertainment tax) and Rs 80.3 crore overseas. The worldwide gross of Bang Bang stands at a huge Rs 321.1 crore. The film would have probably collected around 5-10% more if not for the clash with Haider. India – Hit, Overseas – Blockbuster.

Haider: Vishal Bhardwaj’s critically acclaimed Haider did fairly well at the box office too, even though it clashed with a big film like Bang Bang. It took a decent start and remained steady through the entire week. The growth in business didn’t match the appreciation that the film was receiving, because the audience for these kind of films is limited to select few big cities only. Haider is also one of those few films of Bhardwaj to recover its costs through theatrical business. Verdict – Hit.

Between the first week of October and Diwali weekend, 6 small films released – Ekkees Toppon Ki Salaami (1.62 cr), Tamanchey (1.5 cr), Spark (0.1 cr), Jigariyaa (0.2 cr), Sonali Cable (1.2 cr), Mumbai 125KM (1.71 cr)  - all of these films released during the dull pre-Diwali days and failed to make any impact. The collections of all these films combined was less than Rs 6.5 crore.

And then came the most awaited release of the year – Shahrukh Khan’s ambitious Happy New Year also starring the most popular leading lady in the country Deepika Padukone. With an eye on box office records, Khan decided to release his film on the day after Diwali. The film took a earth-shattering opening at the box office and became the first film to collect more than 40 crore on its opening day. The first day business of Happy New Year was higher than the lifetime collections of several medium budget films released this year. The SRK starrer also went on to record the highest weekend collections, after which business came tumbling down. The drop on Monday was huge, and the film continued to fall during the weekdays. To put things into perspective, Happy New Year was leading Salman Khan’s Kick by Rs 25.01 crore after the first weekend, but eventually fell Rs 6.64 crore short of the first week business of Kick. Still, HNY had a huge first week of Rs 157.57 crore and added around 35.87 crore to its total in Week 2. The film will finish with lifetime collections of around 205 crore, which is lower than what you’d expect after a 44.97 cr opening day. Verdict – Super Hit.

In the overseas markets, Shahrukh Khan proved yet again why he is by far the biggest and most consistent star. Almost all his films make it to the Top 3 biggest opening overseas, and Happy New Year was no different. The film went past the lifetime overseas collections of Bang Bang (currently the second highest overseas grosser of 2014) in less than 10 days. Depending on how well it performs this weekend, Happy New Year could be the highest worldwide grosser of 2014. Overseas Verdict – Blockbuster.

A week after Happy New Year, two more films released in theatres. Super Nani marked the comeback of the legendary Rekha. The film proved to be a non-starter faring worse than a single-screen targeted film like Roar – The Tigers of the Sunderbans (Rs 7.78 cr) – which collected almost 3 times more than Super Nani (Rs 2.6 cr).

Note: Happy New Year is expected to collect Rs 205 crore, the film has collected around 195 cr so far.

Box Office Report Card for October 2014

• Total collections of all films released in the month - 459 cr
• Biggest hit - Happy New Year
• Biggest grosser - Happy New Year
• Highest single day - Happy New Year (44.97 cr)
• Highest opening day - Happy New Year (44.97 cr)
• Most expensive film - Bang Bang
• Biggest flop - Super Nani
• Surprise hit - Haider
• Critical acclaim - Haider

Overall, October was the biggest month of the year as far as footfalls in theatres and collections are concerned. It should remain the biggest unless the combined business of Aamir Khan’s PK and Ajay Devgn’s Action Jackson exceeds the 450 crore mark. With the best director in the industry in Rajkumar Hirani and arguably the most respected actor in Aamir Khan, who knows what PK can achieve on December 19?

While the industry awaits the release of PK and remaining release of 2014, do vote for the best film of October 2014. Is it Haider, Bang Bang or Happy New Year? Take your pick!