Chandni Chowk to China loses way to Box Office

New Delhi: He was the man with the Midas touch. But it seems even Akshay Kumar couldn't save his first big release of the year Chandni Chowk To China. Somen Mishra finds out what went wrong with this big one from Warner Brothers.

Chandni Chowk To China had everything going for it to make a big splash at the box-office. With Hollywood giant Warner Brothers' backing, Akshay Kumar at his career's best phase pulling off both action plus comedy and a double dose of gorgeous Deepika Padukone - it was a recipe complete with the makings of a hit Bollywood masala flick.

But the film proved everyone wrong. Not only did it fail to register a decent opening, it also disappointed die-hard Akshay fans.

Was Chandni Chowk To China carrying the burden of over hype and great expectations or was it just a bad film?

Neeraj Goswami, the Director of sales & marketing of the studios Warner Brothers said, "All this put together, Akshay alongwith Deepika and with the music doing well, there definitely was a lot of expectations from Chandni Chowk To China. Lately, the film that came before us did extremely well at the Box Office. So expectations were that we would definitely do well. To a certain extent there was too much that was expected."

Warner Brothers has currently put the film's worldwide collections at 45 crores. But trade analysts believe that the film no longer has a chance at the box-office as the second week's collections have been disastrous.

Chandni Chowk To China was marketed worldwide with four city premiere and had the widest release for a Bollywood film with 1400 prints released globally.

Amod Mehra, Trade Analyst said, "We were expecting that it would do better that Singh is Kinng or at least that it will open at par. But it opened at 50-55 per cent, which is very bad and ofcourse there was no appreciation. It fell to 45 per cent during weekend. On Monday it was 10 per cent and that's very less. And today its less than 10 per cent, it's so bad."

Akshay Kumar's last big hit Singh is King was also panned by critics but it went on to become a big hit. So, has the critic-proof Akshay lost his magical touch?

Joydeep Ghosh Roy, the GM of Marketing & Sales at PVR Cinemas put it in prespective when he said, "A fraction of people strongly belived that the film was not good, though everyone liked Akshay. First negative reviews and then mixed response from audience, there was not a negative word of mouth like say Ghajini and others."

Though the debacle of Chandni Chowk To China may not harm Akshay's career immediately, the budget of Khiladi Kumar's under production films and his astronomical fees have reportedly taken a hit.

By:

Somen