The
desi movie market looked up in North America as Sanjay Gupta's
Kaante entered its third week. The film grossed a healthy $813,000 in two weeks, just as Deepa Mehta's
Bollywood/Hollywood ended an eventless run in America.
Going by the
desi box-office tradition,
Kaante, shot extensively around Los Angeles, lost about 50 percent of its clout in its second weekend. Even with the attrition, the film stands a good chance of reaching $1 million. The movie would have made much more money but for the persistent complaint that it is too violent.
Many viewers in New York and New Jersey cinemas said the film has very little appeal to the families, and they would recommend their friends to see it on video. There is no question of
paisa vasool as far as families are concerned, said several men.
In Britain, the film has done disappointing business. It grossed about $330,000 in two weeks and will have to struggle hard to reach $400,000.
Shaad Ali's
Saathiya, which was released the same day as
Kaante, had a disappointing run on both sides of the Atlantic. It is quite possible its distributor might argue to the contrary since it was not a very expensive film. The movie is heading for a $150,000 to $170,000 gross in North America and $200,000 in Britain.
Another film to perform below expectations is Deepa Mehta's romantic comedy,
Bollywood/Hollywood. One would have expected that, following its popular run in Canada, it would be a hit in America, too.
In Canada, the movie caught the attention of mainstream
audiences and the mainstream media which reviewed it, apart from running long features on actress Lisa Ray. The film grossed an impressive US $1.2 million on about 40 screens in four weeks. In America, it grossed a paltry $250,000. There was hardly any mainstream audiences for the movie, and very few mainstream publications reviewed it.
The film, which was made for about $1.2 million, needs to have a good run in Britain and elsewhere to recoup its investment. A strong video and DVD sale would also help. "Potentially it looked like it would be another
Monsoon Wedding, and many people would have thought it would at least make half the business of that film," said one exhibitor who asked for anonymity. Mira Nair's
Monsoon Wedding grossed about $14 million in North America.
Though Canadian publications like
Toronto Star gave
Bollywood/Hollywood good reviews, American trade publications like
Variety and
Hollywood Reporter slammed it. 'A movie that tries to fuse the two 'woods' but winds up a Bolly-Holly
masala mess,' complained
Hollywood Reporter. 'Setting a Bollywood-like story of conflict between traditional and modern values among Canadian Indians, the Toronto-based writer-director has concocted a misshapen production that no one from any culture will appreciate. Theatrical prospects outside of Canada and the Indian Diaspora, where the film may be treated as a curio, are poor.'
'Mehta, an astute, world-class filmmaker, somehow got a bad idea in her head and refused to let it go,' the review added.
