Ajay and Shahrukh films lose crores

Two big films (JTHJ and SOS) were released on Diwali. Despite releasing on a Tuesday, the beginning of a long festive week, Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Son Of Sardaar did not really get off to a flying start.

The very next day, the films were dealt a blow after news of Balasaheb Thackeray’s critical health started filtering out of his Bandra East residence, Matoshree. When he passed away on Saturday afternoon, the city came to a standstill with theatres pulling down the shutters. The Diwali releases had approximately lost out on a net collection of Rs 16 crore by then.

Reportedly, theatres in Mumbai and other towns in Maharashtra – Pune, Nasik, Solapur, Sangli, Kolhapur, Satara, Nagpur, Amravati, Akola and Jalgaon cancelled movie shows adding to the films’ losses.

Over the weekend (Saturday and Sunday) the loss ratio for JTHJ and SOS was estimated to be 7:9. In fact, according to leading distributor Ramesh Sippy the two films put together have lost out on Rs 12 crore.

Explaining his take, Shah added, “Many did not get to see the films on Tuesday or Wednesday owing to Diwali celebrations. People had planned to watch JTHJ or SOS over the weekend.

Owner of the leading single screen chain Gaiety-Galaxy, Manoj Desai told us, “We would surely have had 100 per cent occupancy on Saturday and Sunday. But honestly, I wouldn’t like to talk about the losses the films have suffered. We closed the theatres as a mark of respect to Balasaheb.” Anand Vishal, Head Of Operations at Fun Republic shared similar sentiment.

Nobody must have thought that two such big films will be stopped in their tracks.”