What’s common between Phoonk 2 and Paathshaala? Of course, clearly visible, the alphabet ‘P’. That was easy. But there is another thing – the directors of both the films have their first name in common - Milind. However, nothing is common in the fate of the two movies. Paathshaala has had a decent opening at the box office. Shahid Kapoor joins the league of teachers in Bollywood in Paathshaala. Actors who have played educators in B’wood earlier include Sushmita Sen in Main Hoon Na, Shah Rukh Khan in Mohabbatein, Aamir Khan in Taare Zameen Par, Amitabh Bachchan in Black, Boman Irani in Munnabhai series, and Nasseruddin Shah in Sir.
On the other hand Phoonk 2’s performance has been poor over the weekend and even on Monday. If one remembers RGV’s Phoonk did not fare well at the box office and sadly enough the sequel too is not having a good time.
As it is often observed, the star cast of a movie plays a very important role when it comes to the sale of tickets. Paathshaala has Shahid Kapoor, and so attracting the crowds on the first day was not really a problem. Phoonk 2 has Sudeep, who is also a superstar, but down south. A spokesperson from 24 Karat Jogeshwari multiplex said, “Both Paathshaala and Phoonk 2 are doing average business. The crowd is equally divided.”
Paathshaala also has some good hummable songs to boast of. Aye Khuda Tujhko Pata has already made it to the Top 10 music chart. The only way Phoonk 2 had to attract audiences to the theatres was through the promos. But even that couldn't create the desired buzz. Anita from Globus Cinema said, “Paathshaala is doing decent business with around 40-50 per cent of tickets sale. However Phoonk 2 is doing very badly. Not many people are inquiring about that film.”
It might be a possibility that a scary movie is not the flavour of the season but one doesn’t need a season to get scared. Phoonk 2 has failed to live up to its expectations. Shamil Gosadkar from Movie Hub Goregaon said, “Paathshaala got 41 per cent opening on Friday, 53 per cent on Saturday and 61 per cent on Sunday. So it is doing alright. But Phoonk 2 is disappointing.”
Even though Paathshaala is doing better than Phoonk 2, people are walking out a little disappointed after watching the former. Somewhere, the storyline has not been up to the mark. But, the little audience that Phoonk 2 has got, the film hasn’t disappointed them and has given them the share of scary elements.
Vikram Varma, senior marketing manager, Fun Republic also pointed out that Paathshaala is the winner at the box office. “The weekend has been good for Paathshaala but Phoonk 2 has been dull.”
We spoke to the director of Phoonk 2, Milind Gadagkar, who gave a new insight to the story. He informed, “Ram Gopal Varma called me up saying that the film is picking up outside Mumbai. Now, that's good news.”
The films up for release next week are Apartment, Muskurake Dekh Zara, City of Gold, and Bird Idol.
Keep checking this space.
By Mehul Satish Thakkar
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