Entering its final first-run release Kal Ho Naa Ho reached $4 million in its fifth week in North America and United Kingdom, while the newcomer LoC-Kargil fell hard at the box-office.
In the UK, LOC grossed just about $80,000 on 27 screens at the 14th position on the box-office chart, while KHNH grossed about $110,000 at 12 screens over the year-ending weekend. In America, too, LoC was just not winning. The film could end up with just about $400,000 in both markets.
Munnabhai MBBS was 15th on the British charts, having earned $120,000 in two weeks. It was not a winner in America too. It is estimated to gross $110,000.
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Yash Raj Films made more from the film in UK than in the US, even though the film played on just about 30 screens, as opposed to 40 screens in the US.
The film also set a record of sorts in Britain with the best per screen average there for three weeks in succession.
Two things were reiterated by the recent box-office verdicts: the risk of the desi war movies in the international market, and Sanjay Dutt's lack of appeal to the overseas audiences.
Like Govinda and several other actors who enjoy success in India but fail abroad, Dutt too has had an unlucky streak. Though Munnabhai, with its $350,000 gross on both sides of the Atlantic, has fared much better than most of his recent movies.
LoC proved once again that unless a war-themed movie strikes a massively powerful chord, as Mission Kashmir did in UK and North America a few years ago, it will be a loser.
For one thing, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, who often constitute nearly 40 per cent of the audiences for hit Bollywood films, stay out. So if Mission Kashmir becomes a success abroad, it is mostly due to the repeat business they have from Indian and West Indies immigrants.
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