'Lafangey Parindey' fails to fly high

Deepika-Neil movie managed opening day box office collections of just Rs 3.5 crores

The title of the movie might be as crisp, but the Neil Nitin Mukesh and Deepika Padukone starrer 'Lafangey Parindey" was not crunchy enough to attract the audiences to theatres.

"The business of 'Lafangey Parindey' was nothing great. It was below expectations as the movie could manage only 50 percent occupancy over the weekend on an average," Amit Awasthi, senior manager (Programming and Operations) of Spice Cinemas, said.

"The content was appreciated, but it couldn't gather hype because of the star cast. We are hoping it stretches till the second weekend," he added.

'Lafangey Parindey' opening day's collection was approximately Rs.35 million (Rs.3.5 crore) across India. According to estimates, the movie's opening weekend net collections should be in the range of Rs.100-Rs.110 million, reports businessofcinema.com. Aamir Khan Productions' 'Peepli Live', that was made at a budget of Rs.100 million has earned about Rs.210 million in its first week at the Indian box office.

Yogesh Raizada, corporate head (cinemas) of Wave Cinemas said: "'Lafangey Parindey' is over as far as business is concerned. It could manage an occupancy of only 30-40 percent over the weekend. Though the content was OK, it had no buzz."

Produced by Yash Raj Films (YRF), directed by Pradeep Sarkar, the story revolves around a street fighter Nandu (Neil), who can combat blindfolded and a visually challenged Pinky Palkar (Deepika) who can dance on skates.

While Deepika's performance in the movie has won her appreciation, it has proved a disappointment for Neil, whose last release 'Jail' too bombed at the box office.

"The movie has been average with only 30 percent occupancy over the weekend. It wasn't appreciated that much and now we have no hopes for it," said a source from PVR cinemas.

Amit Shah, chief manager (programming) of DLF DT cinemas, however, blamed the incessant rains for low footfalls.

"The weekend was not at all good. Despite a pretty OK content, the rains played spoilsport in New Delhi for footfalls. People just didn't come out of their houses to watch a movie. We got only 30-35 percent occupancy over the weekend," said Shah.

"Considering tomorrow (Tuesday, August 24) is Raksha Bandhan, hope it gets some footfalls but otherwise now there is no scope for the movie picking up," he added.

Deepak Taluja, senior vice president (business and operations) of Fun Cinemas, said: "The weekend business was lukewarm. The occupancy was 30-35 percent. The content was OK but not very highly appreciable. Though weekdays now look slightly down, it looks positive for the next week as there are no big releases as such."