May 29, 2010 (Sampurn Wire): ‘Kites’ has failed and in fact failed big time! If the first weekend was terrific (though not as superb as the paid previews and opening Friday), the weekdays saw a total fall as predicted.
The first three days of the movie saw 30 crores net in collections while the remaining four days of the week, struggled to accumulate even 10 crores more, something which Kites had managed on a single Friday. This pretty much tells the tale that the film has been totally rejected by the audience.
Now, this is a huge downfall for the film considering the fact that till the first Friday of the film, everyone believed that the first week total of Housefull and My Name Is Khan (in the whereabouts of 50 crores) was all set to be eclipsed. However, a 40 crores first week means that Kites is even lower than the likes of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Kambakkth Ishq and Love Aaj Kal.
The pace, at which the negative word of mouth spread for the film, was unbelievable, as never before in the history of Bollywood cinema, has a movie seen such widespread reactions from people in such less time period. Yes, we have seen it last year in case of Chandni Chowk To China and earlier in the case of Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag but still, Facebook and Twitter were in their infancy then. Also, some out there were still trying to salvage the film.
However, in case of Kites, it was quite apparent that even Roshans had given up. While there were no press statements being made and the father-son ‘Jodi’ weren’t really enthusiastic (rightly so) about defending their film much, director Anurag Basu simply refused to be drawn into any more conversations. It seemed quite obvious that he had chosen to be associated with the film only till the day of the release. No wonder, he wasn’t around even as the film took a record start in paid previews and opening Friday.
So, what does the failure of Kites do to Hrithik Roshan? Actually, not much because the film is more of a failure of Rakesh Roshan, Anurag Basu and BIG Pictures due to the high price that they paid for the film. Of course, soon there would be talks about Hrithik being finished but the fact remains that he is not going anywhere. The film should end its lifetime run in the vicinity of 50 crores and that should be respectable box office failure for Hrithik. Also, it is widely speculated that the film was basically made as a show reel for Hrithik for the West. In that aspect, the film has done reasonably well for Hrithik as he is now a reasonably recognizable face in the West, courtesy the positive reviews that Kites has fetched there. However, as for the Indian audience, he would now have to get something really special rolling for himself in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzaarish.
-Rudhir Burman/ Sampurn Wire
