Devdas still raking in big moolah

SUBHASH K JHA

IANS [ FRIDAY, JULY 26, 2002 9:26:28 AM ]

MUMBAI: That Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Rs.500 million epic tragedy Devdas is a big hit is a fact. How big is a question that defies imagination.


The film made a cool Rs 400 million from music and distribution rights, including in the overseas market. It had about Rs.100 million more to recover before it would begin posting profits. In the first week itself Devdas reportedly made about Rs 55 million in just 23 cities and towns, with about Rs 12 million in Mumbai and Rs 13 million in New Delhi. It also made about Rs 65.1 million in Britain since its release July 12.


Although the entire picture will emerge only after a few weeks, trade sources say Devdas has not only recovered its money, it has also begun earning profits from the first week of its release. While its makers are chary of revealing the profits Devdas made, collections continued to remain strong in the second week as well, putting Bhansali's version of Saratchandra Chatterjee's Devdas firmly on the path to becoming one of the biggest box-office successes in Bollywood history.


Collections are set to become bigger with demands for extra prints pouring in to producer Bharat Shah from across the world. Trade experts are now calling Devdas bigger than Oscar-nominee Lagaan. They say it is fast catching up with Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and might even overtake the impressive earnings of Bollywood's biggest hit Gadar- Ek Prem Katha, which made about Rs 695 million worldwide.


Ace filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma, who has seen the film twice, says: "If it was a Rs.300-350 million film, it would've already been declared a super-duper hit. Because of its budget, trade watchers are being more cautious." That's as close as one can get to summing up the box-office status of this year's most talked-about film that has raked in handsome profits of about Rs 65 million in the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh circuit and about Rs 80 million in the Maharashtra circuit since July 12.


Figures from south, central and eastern India along with the Rajasthan circuit are still awaited. Shravan Shroff of Shringar Films, one of Mumbai's main distribution concerns, says: "Devdas is an absolute winner in all large, semi-large and non-metropolitan centres. There has been a slight drop in the absolute interiors of Maharashtra in the second week, but that's an inevitable marginal drop."


Patna-based exhibitor Roshan Singh said: "I haven't witnessed a craze like this for a long time. Our theatre is screening the film in five shows. But the audience just can't seem to get enough." But Bhansali is neither triumphant nor relieved. "I see no reason to rejoice in the profits. For me the audiences' acceptability was important only to the extent that my faith in my vision needed to be endorsed by them. Having achieved that I'm not the least concerned with the whole commercial aspect of the film.


"When people tell me they continue to keep going back even after seeing it thrice, and when I'm told 50 extra prints have been introduced in Maharashtra and three more in Bihar (in the third week), it feels good. "It was very important for Devdas to succeed, and not just because of the money that has gone into the project. If a quality product succeeds, other filmmakers too are encouraged to give the audiences aesthetic experiences beyond the traditional parameters of mainstream entertainment.


"My problem was - how to better the aesthetics of my last film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. I think I did it in Devdas. But where do I go from here?" Relaxing after a bout of viral infection, the film's star Shah Rukh Khan says: "The best compliment I received for the film was when my wife, who's my most exacting critic, said she liked me in Devdas.


"Though my children haven't seen the film -- I think it's a bit too dark for them -- they call me Devdas. They also call Sanjay Devdas. People on the streets shout the film's dialogues to me. It feels good."

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DEVDAS BECOMES THIRD HIGHEST GROSSER EVER IN UK!
The blockbuster has beaten Mohabbatein to third place!

Bollywood blockbuster Devdas has slipped down the UK charts in its second weekend of release and is current number seven in the British Box Office Charts.

However its still doing fantastic business and made an impressive £248,538 during its second weekend alone, bringing its total collections so far to £944,079.

That means the movie, which stars Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai, has become the third highest grossing Bollywood movie in the UK…ever!

It managed to top the collections of Mohabbatein, which was previously the third highest grosser with £928,921 after three weeks in the charts.

Devdas now has to battle with the second highest earning Bollywood movie in the UK, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (£1,441,000) and the current record holder Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (£2,222,898).