As if the shock of the dull opening of Patiala House last week wasn’t bad enough for the trade, this week’s 7 Khoon Maaf struck another blow by its poor initial. Nobody had expected the Vishal Bhardwaj film to break box-office records on the opening day but what the know-alls in the industry had predicted was that it would at least open decently well in the good multiplexes of big cities like Bombay, Delhi, Bangalore, Pune, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad etc. Vishal Bhardwaj’s films have a loyal fan base and they watch his films irrespective of the box-office reviews. But this time over, things aren’t the same. Maybe, it has something to do with the film being female-oriented.
Dressed For The Funeral?: Priyanka Chopra & Vishal Bhardwaj.
Everyone knows that in India, it is the male actors who command an opening, not the female stars. No One Killed Jessica may have been a happy exception but the rule is that heroes command an initial, heroines don’t. The Dar-r-r-r-ling song in ‘7 Khoon Maaf’ had already become very popular before the film’s release, which is also what led to the speculation that it would muster enough support on the first day. But what may have kept the audience away from the cinemas is the depressing nature of the film’s subject which has not been kept under wraps by the producers (UTV and Vishal Bhardwaj). After all, the prospect of watching a film in which a woman gets married seven times and kills her husbands one after another is not a very happy one!
7 Khoon Maaf: Dull Opening At Box-Office
The opening response to the Priyanka starrer has been so dull all over, whether in the big cities or in the smaller towns, that it has stunned the trade people. The worst part is that collections did not pick up much after the dull morning shows were over. This could well be a pointer to the public reports for the dark film.
