Both the releases of this week — KOI JAANE NA and FLIGHT — opened to dismal houses.

Saina proved to be a damp squib in the first week itself. It started on a horrifyingly slow note with a first-day collection of Rs. 22 lakh. Collections on Saturday increased to Rs. 25 lakh but the total for Sunday went down to Rs. 20 lakh. After a first weekend total of Rs. 67 lakh, collections for the weekdays were as follows: Monday – Rs. 20 lakh, Tuesday – Rs. 11 lakh, Wednesday – Rs. 9 lakh, Thursday – Rs. 8 lakh. In this way, the total for the weekdays was Rs. 48 lakh, and for the first week, Rs. 1.15 crore only. The film has turned out to be a total loss.

Godzilla Vs. Kong (English and dubbed in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu) did extremely well in the first 9-day week. Collections in the Southern territories were especially outstanding. The film (all versions) opened on Wednesday with a total of Rs. 6.50 crore. Collections on Thursday and Friday were Rs. 5.25 crore and Rs. 4.25 crore respectively. The total for Saturday went up to Rs. 6.50 crore once again. Sunday ended at Rs. 6 crore. In this way, the first 5-day weekend closed at Rs. 28.50 crore. Collections for the weekdays were as follows: Monday – Rs. 4.50 crore (Holi holiday), Tuesday – Rs. 2.50 crore, Wednesday – Rs. 2.25 crore, Thursday – Rs. 2 crore. Therefore, the total for the weekdays was Rs. 11.25 crore. Total for 1st week: Rs. 39.75 crore.

Mumbai Saga added Rs. 3.35 crore to its kitty in the second week. It netted Rs. 0.45 crore on the first day of the second weekend. Collections for Saturday and Sunday were Rs. 0.55 crore and Rs. 0.45 crore respectively. The total for the second weekend was, therefore, Rs. 1.45 crore. Collections for the weekdays: Monday – Rs. 0.75 crore (Holi holiday), Tuesday – Rs. 0.50 crore, Wednesday – Rs. 0.35 crore, Thursday – Rs. 0.30 crore. In this way, the total for the weekdays was Rs. 1.90 crore. Total for 2nd week: Rs. 3.35 crore. Grand total for 2 weeks: Rs. 16.13 crore.

Roohi collected Rs. 20 lakh on the first day of the third weekend, Rs. 28 lakh on the second day, and Rs. 24 lakh on the third day, taking the third weekend’s total to Rs. 72 lakh. Collections for the weekdays were: Monday – Rs. 28 lakh (Holi holiday), Tuesday – Rs. 25 lakh, Wednesday – Rs. 22 lakh, Thursday – Rs. 20 lakh. Therefore, the total for the weekdays was Rs. 95 lakh. Total for 3rd week: Rs. 1.67 crore. Grand total for 3 weeks: Rs. 21.82 crore.

Today’s release, SAINA, has opened to dismal houses — and not just because of the increasing number of coronavirus cases in the country! The word of mouth for the Saina Nehwal biopic is so negative that collections failed to pick up at most of the places after a horrifyingly poor start this morning… On the other hand, this week’s other release, GODZILLA VS. KONG, opened (on Wednesday, March 24) to excellent (considering that audiences are not visiting cinemas in large numbers due to the second coronavirus outbreak) houses. Of course, the major collections came from South India where audience attendance is far higher than in the rest of the country. The film (original English and dubbed Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions) netted Rs. 6.40 crore on the first day, and Rs. 5 crore on the second day. With three more days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) to go for the first weekend to come to a close, the film will easily net upwards of Rs. 28 crore in the first five-day weekend. Phenomenal, considering that times are pretty abnormal!

Mumbai Saga did quite well in the first week in single-screen cinemas mainly. At places, collections were rather impressive, with some single-screen cinemas recording house-full collections in a couple of shows in the weekend. The action film netted Rs. 2.82 crore on the first day. Collections fell by just Rs. 42 lakh on Saturday which, therefore, ended at Rs. 2.40 crore. Sunday closed at a fairly impressive Rs. 3.52 crore. After a weekend total of Rs. 8.74 crore, collections for the weekdays were as follows: Monday – Rs. 1.49 crore, Tuesday – Rs. 1.10 crore, Wednesday – Rs. 0.75 crore, Thursday – Rs. 0.70 crore. By adding Rs. 4.04 crore to its kitty in the weekdays, the film took its grand total for the first week to Rs. 12.78 crore.

Roohi added Rs. 2.70 crore in its second weekend. It collected Rs. 0.55 crore on the first day of the second week. Collections increased to Rs. 0.90 crore on Saturday, and further to Rs. 1.25 crore on Sunday. After a total of Rs. 2.70 crore for the second weekend, the film collected as follows in the weekdays: Monday – Rs. 0.45 crore, Tuesday – Rs. 0.40 crore, Wednesday – Rs. 0.30 crore, Thursday – Rs. 0.30 crore. In this way, the film netted Rs. 1.45 crore during the weekdays, taking the total for the second week to Rs. 4.15 crore. Grand total for two weeks: Rs. 20.15 crore.

MUMBAI SAGA opened better in single-screen cinemas today than multiplexes because of the action content. The opening show’s figures were just about average but collections in several single-screen cinemas picked up during the day.

Roohi did well in the first four-day weekend as it got the advantage of being the first star-cast release post-lockdown and, more importantly, after more than half the states in India allowed cinemas to work at full capacity. The public reports, except in pockets in the hinterland, were not upto the mark and hence collections were down during the weekdays. The first day’s (Thursday) net all-India total was Rs. 2.75 crore. The film reaped the advantage of the Maha Shivratri holiday too. Collections on Friday dropped to Rs. 2 crore. Collections on Saturday and Sunday picked up again as the film netted Rs. 3.25 crore and Rs. 3.65 crore respectively. In this way, the film netted Rs. 11.65 crore in the first four-day weekend. Collections during the weekdays were: Monday – Rs. 1.30 crore, Tuesday – Rs. 1.15 crore, Wednesday – Rs. 1.05 crore, Thursday – Rs. 0.85 crore. With the total for the weekdays being Rs. 4.35 crore, the first week’s total went up to Rs. 16 crore. The figure was good, considering that the coronavirus scare actually rose during the week gone by as the number of cases went up dramatically.

Mera Fauji Calling recorded horrendous collections throughout the first week. The daily collections were in a few lakh rupees!

Time To Dance did not give any reason for the producers of the film to dance as it proved a disastrous fare with horrifyingly low collections in the firts week.

Jeene Ki Umeed Tumse Hi collected poorly in the first week everywhere, proving to be a total loss.

Master (dubbed) as also the original Tamil and dubbed Telugu versions together netted Rs. 5.91 crore in India other than South India in its first 9-day week. It collected Rs. 91 lakh on Wednesday, Rs. 94 lakh on Thursday, Rs. 88 lakh on Friday, Rs. 84 lakh on Saturday, and Rs. 95 lakh on Sunday, taking the 5-day extended weekend total to Rs. 4.52 crore. Collections on the weekdays were as follows: Monday – Rs. 48 lakh, Tuesday – Rs. 38 lakh, Wednesday – Rs. 29 lakh, Thursday – Rs. 24 lakh. Total for the weekdays – Rs. 1.39 crore. In this way, the first 9-day week closed at Rs. 5.91 crore. Of course, the original Tamil and dubbed Telugu versions have done phenomenally well down South and could well net Rs. 200 crore in two weeks. The dubbed Hindi version did not perform too well because of lack of promotion.

Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari found appreciation but since people have still not started visiting cinemas in large numbers, it did not manage to garner even average collections, leave alone impressive collections in the first week. The public is still not sure about the safety and security of enclosed spaces like cinema halls and is, therefore, not coming to the cinemas in substantial numbers. This was the main reason why a comedy entertainer like Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari could not deliver in monetary terms despite delivering in terms of content. The film netted Rs. 65 lakh on the first day (Sunday, New Year holiday), Rs. 51 lakh on day 2, Rs. 36 lakh on the third day, Rs. 27 lakh on the fourth day, and Rs. 15 lakh on day 5. The first week’s (5 days) total, therefore, was only Rs. 1.94 crore.