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NRIs want a hit film!
UK, USA starved of a solid Hindi blockbuster
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Arthur J Pais
Two movies by Indian filmmakers have featured in the top 15 box-office earners in Britain for three weeks in a row.
The Sanjay Gadhvi directed movie Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai, which is in its third week and fast disappearing from the movie houses, grossed a reasonably strong 220,000 pounds (about $300,000) while Bend it Like Beckham, Gurinder Chadha's English language soccer drama revolving around young desis in Britain, has taken in 11 weeks about 11.3 million pounds ($16 million).
The Gadhvi movie was 14th on the list and the Chadha movie was the 15th top grosser last week.
One of the most profitable films in last six months, Bend It Like Beckham, made at a modest $3 million, is expected to be one of the hot video sellers in a few months.
Right now, one of the hottest selling movies on video is Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding. The bittersweet comedy, which grossed about $4 million in Britain, has sold about $500,000 worth videos in about a week, trade sources say. The movie, which earned $12 million in North America, would continue to be shown in about 50 theatres for the next several weeks. It will be available on video after three months.
Though pirated versions of the movies video are widely available in Britain and the US, the authorised video sale is doing well in Britain with the mainstream moviegoers. In America, too, non-Indian audiences are expected to make it a hot sell.
Meanwhile, despite the good showing of films like Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai, exhibitors of Hindi movies in Britain say they are starved for a solid hit. The box-office situation in the UK almost mirrors that in India with not a hit in sight so far. Vikram Bhatt's Raaz, a runaway hit in India, did not make much impact here.
It is a box-office famine for desi movies in America, too. There has not been a hit since Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham grossed about $4 million several months ago.
Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam, which has done well only in a handful of states in India, was a surprise hit with a 650,000 pounds (about $950,000) in four weeks in Britain, surprisingly doing well in upscale and downtown theatres.
Exhibitors hope Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas could change the scene. They remember fondly how filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam was a major hit in Britain and North America. They hope for similar magic with his Devdas. But for the movie to claim the crown, it will have to make more than the $3 million earned by Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.
Trying to give Devdas a big push, Bhansali is taking its artistes Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai to several American and British cities to promote the movie.
Eros Entertainment, the biggest distributors of Bollywood movies in Britain and North America, will release the movie in about 80 theatres early next month.