With Fida opening to mediocre numbers, the overseas desi box office continues to take a beating. Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Swades, which was expected to be released on August 15, might have enlivened the scene but moviegoers will have to wait for quite a while to see it.
Two weeks ago, it was the turn of Kyun? Ho Gaya Na... to open on a disappointing note. KHGN has made about $400,000 in North America and about $360,000 in UK, having come down by about 50 percent from the first week. With a projected $1 million gross in the two markets, it would be an also-ran film.
Like in India, the buzz about the romance between Vivek Oberoi and Aishwarya Rai did not help KHGN abroad either. Many viewers at two New York theaters said they found the second half of the film boring. Yet, they recommend it to their friends -- but to be seen only on video.
"Don't mind seeing it on DVD or video at home," a viewer said. "But in a theater, and at $10 per ticket, this is not a paisa vasool movie."
Fida, which grossed about $100,000 in USA and about $120,000 in UK in the three-day opening weekend, fared worse than
KHGN.
The tagline for
Fida says 'All love stories do not have the perfect ending.' Forget about the ending. This love story did not even have a decent opening abroad!
Meanwhile, the certified hit
Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, which is in the fourth and final week of its first run, is inching towards $1 million gross in North America. In UK, it has grossed about $1.2 million, giving Salman Khan his best hit abroad in years.
But the film to beat this year still remains
Main Hoon Na with a gross of $3 million in North America and UK. It was followed by the comparatively inexpensive
Hum Tum, which grossed over $2 million in the two markets.
While
Main Hoon Na, Mujhse Shaadi Karogi and
Hum Tum are this year's major hits, the Hrithik Roshan starrer
Lakshya fared average on both sides of the Atlantic. It grossed about $800,000 in North America, and took a similar collection in UK.
The movie suffered as the audience felt that its second half wasn't gripping. It received a bigger blow when Pakistanis and Bangladeshis also stayed away from it, complaining that they did not want to see an Indian war film. Its distributors had hoped the film would gain acceptance following good word of mouth after the first week, and non-Indians would then see it in a different light.