It is a Karan Johar [Images] and Shah Rukh Khan [Images] production collaboration and it is distributed by Yash Raj Films, but the much-hyped Kaal just did not have enough favorable word of mouth to open strongly in the United States and Britain. 

In America, it grossed about $164,000 over the weekend and opened at number 28 on the chart. The previous week, Amitabh Bachchan [Images] and Akshay Kumar [Images] starrer Waqt opened at number 19 with $454,000.

Kaal was not doing much better in the UK. The estimated three-day gross for both North America and Britain was $380,000. Not bad, but not qualifying for hit status. In its first weekend, Waqt had grossed over $900, 000 in both territories.

Many fans in New York and New Jersey cinemas complained that the Ajay Devgan [Images], Vivek Oberoi [Images], John Abraham [Images], Lara Dutta [Images] and Esha Deol [Images] starrer just did not live up to expectations. Some viewers did not even know that the movie was not directed by Johar. Some said they weren't worried by the lack of songs and dances, but the film was not gripping. Conversely, many older viewers gave the film a miss after seeing the promos, thinking it had too much sex.

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It followed the tradition of many films including Dhoom, also distributed by Yash Raj, that have done well in India but refused to fly abroad. But then, given the fate of recent Vivek Oberoi and Ajay Devgan films, and the total lack of John Abraham appeal abroad, Kaal's opening might have surprised a few box-office observers.

The Salman Khan [Images] film Lucky too opened to disappointing numbers in recent weeks but it is a bit early to write Kaal off. If it does not drop by a huge margin in the second week and holds well for couple of weeks after that, the supernatural thriller could end up as an average hit.

Meanwhile, Waqt remained at number 10 for the second consecutive week on the British charts. It came down by about 30 percent in its second week, and its 10-day gross there came to about $900,000. In North America, it grossed about $800,000 for the same period. The film is projected to gross a healthy $3 million in both the markets, giving Bachchan back-to-back hits, following Black. And if you include his cameo in Veer-Zaara, it would be his third hit in a row.

In other box-office news, the Oscar-winning documentary Born Into Brothels is ending its North American run with a heavenly $3.3 million gross. The documentary about the resilience of the children of commercial sex workers in Kolkata should be available on DVD after a few weeks.